Bex Caducea
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- reviews
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- helpful votes
- 4
- ratings
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Songmaster
- By: Orson Scott Card
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 708
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 529
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 530
Kidnapped at an early age, Ansset has been raised in isolation at a mystical retreat called the Songhouse. His life is filled with music, and having only songs for companions, he develops a voice that is unlike any other. But Ansset's voice is both a blessing and a curse, for it reflects all the hopes and fears of his audience, and, by magnifying their emotions, can be used either to heal or to destroy.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Terrible and Beautiful
- By hopalong on 12-17-06
- Songmaster
- By: Orson Scott Card
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
I didn't move for 5+ hours when I started the book
Reviewed: 03-10-24
Rruk (pronounced 'ur ruk') proves the universe can indeed be changed by one child's kindness.
I selected this book based upon 2 things: searching for more things performed by Stefan Rudnicki and knowing Orson Scott Card can weave an incomparable tale.
I was not disappointed.
[there are potential triggers in this book as OSC does include some difficult and horrible things: c@ptivity, mutil@tion (not describing the actions of the horrific injury inflicted upon a character but alluding to it in an undeniable way), psychologic@l torm€πt (head games at their worst but NOT as something even remotely beneficial), a situation that could have been a precursor to a child being u§€d (the person with the inclination to harm the child was swiftly punished), and I'm sure I'm forgetting other important aspects alluded to or openly confronted in the course of the novel... but NONE of these things are EVER portrayed in a 'good' or 'benign' light - the evil of them is glaring]
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Ascent
- The Return of the Elves, Book 7
- By: Bethany Adams
- Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir, Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,537
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,406
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,396
Between years surviving on the streets and an ill-advised stint with Kien’s group of half-blood fae, Fen has seen his fair share of darkness. Sure, he helped capture Kien and put an end to the trouble he caused, but his actions contributed to one of the greatest upheavals of all - the return of magic to Earth. Now, Fen’s mother has named him the heir to the Unseelie throne, and he has discovered he has two mates he is unworthy to claim.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Mis-categorized, should be in erotica
- By Amazon Customer on 03-27-21
- Ascent
- The Return of the Elves, Book 7
- By: Bethany Adams
- Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir, Stefan Rudnicki
Safe, Sane, and Consensual: a Stream of Consciousness Review
Reviewed: 01-26-24
I don't review things routinely, but I wanted to leave my 5¢ on this one (blame inflation).
Have you ever heard someone speak, or read a book, and felt like you must know the speaker\author? That's how I feel about Bethany Adams and her "Return of the Elves" series. Is this the best piece of prose ever committed to electronic media? No...but she *Gets It*. She started one book with a dedication to her "fellow anxiety sufferers", so you bet your arse I'm going to dig this.
Why, you may ask? Well.....
Pagan? ✅
Non heterosexual? ✅
Polyamourous? ✅
Friendly to those not neuro-typical or just plain awkward? ✅
Some spicy NSFW scenes, but not too much? ✅
The Fae have many gods. [YAY! Positive, non-judeochristian, pantheistic religion!]
Magic is a thing. [Technology, amirite?]
Two of the main characters are in a non-heterosexual relationship that is written well. [and by "well" I actually mean it's written like any normal relationship.]
The three main characters all end up attracted to one another despite the aforementioned two being a couple already. [They're in a committed relationship, not deaf\dumb\blind to everyone else.]
These three main characters *talk* to each other about their situation and reach a mutual agreement on how to proceed. [GASP! Communication? What?!?]
All of them have had recent (or current) revelations about their heritage and they support one another and communicate through it all regardless of relationship status. [*died of shock*]
Adams understands anxiety, PTSD, history of being a screw-up, non-mainstream relationships/religion/family dynamics. Adams comprehends the human condition and its myriad foibles.
The audiobook: Gabrielle deCuir and Stefan Rudnicki knock it out of the park. I wasn't terribly enthused when I heard deCuir in book 1, but she grew on me. Rudnicki is fantastic from Word 1 and vaguely reminds me of Leonard Nimoy as Mr Spock at times.
Gonna go listen to the next book now.
Cheers!
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