Blossoms and Shadows
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Narrated by:
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Allison Hiroto
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Marc Vietor
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By:
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Lian Hearn
About this listen
Japan, 1857. For centuries, Japan has been on its own; isolated by choice from the rest of the world. But the Western powers are now at its shores, demanding to be let in; the government is crumbling, and revolution is building. The age of the samurai is ending and in its place a new Japan will be born.
A young woman is readying herself for marriage in this, the most tumultuous period of her nation's history. The daughter of a doctor, Tsuru has been working alongside him and learning the ways of medicine all her life. When her father allows her to marry the man she loves, a fellow doctor, she believes her life will be all she's dreamed it could be: happily married, working amongst men as an equal.
But Japanese society does not work this way. The men of the times - boys she's known since childhood - are determined to expel the foreigners, using violence and whatever else they need to make their message heard. The women are expected to be hidden at home, or behind the paper walls of the tea houses. Tsuru is far too able to accept this, and she is drawn into a shadowy world of subversion, political intrigue, and a dangerous love. In time, she is working on the battlefields, alongside men, to care for the wounded.
Blossoms and Shadows is a compelling tale of love and war, women and men, and the rise of modern Japan. It shines a brilliant light on a time in history that few have known about until now, though the change it brought continues to ripple around the world.
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As the days grow shorter and the temperature drops, Halloween approaches. Come, brave listener, pull up a chair, and spend some time with master storyteller Stephen Fry as he tells us some of his favourite ghost stories of all time, in truly terrifying spatial audio. From the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow to the tortured spirits of M.R. James, from Edgar Allan Poe’s terrifying tale of a doppelganger to Charlotte Riddell’s Open Door that should definitely stay shut, join Stephen as he tells you some truly terrifying tales.
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Wonderful narration. Mediocre stories.
- By Michael Fuchs on 11-07-23
By: Stephen Fry, and others
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Fahrenheit 451
- By: Ray Bradbury
- Narrated by: Tim Robbins
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television "family."
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Wish I Hadn't Cliff Noted This in High School
- By Joel on 03-27-17
By: Ray Bradbury
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Brain Damage
- By: Freida McFadden
- Narrated by: Megan Tusing
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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As Charly struggles to recover from her brain injury, she begins to realize that the events of that fateful night are trapped in the damaged right side of her brain. Now, she must put the jigsaw pieces together to discover the identity of the man who tried to kill her...before he finishes the job he started.
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Who Else Laughed, Cried, and Shuddered?
- By Jennifer Chichester on 09-16-22
By: Freida McFadden
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Starship Troopers
- By: Robert A. Heinlein
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Johnnie Rico never really intended to join up—and definitely not the infantry. But now that he’s in the thick of it, trying to get through combat training harder than anything he could have imagined, he knows everyone in his unit is one bad move away from buying the farm in the interstellar war the Terran Federation is waging against the Arachnids. Because everyone in the Mobile Infantry fights. And if the training doesn’t kill you, the Bugs are more than ready to finish the job.
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The definitive version!
- By Kristopher G. Hesson on 10-03-24
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Slayers: A Buffyverse Story
- By: Christopher Golden, Amber Benson
- Narrated by: Amber Benson, Charisma Carpenter, James Charles Leary, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Original Recording
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Original cast members from the beloved TV series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, reunite for an all-new adventure about connections that never die—even if you bury them. A decade has passed since the epic final battle that concluded Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV). The game-changing spell that gave power to all potential Slayers persists. With new Slayers constantly emerging, things are looking grim for the bad guys.
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A dream come true
- By Anonymous User on 10-12-23
By: Christopher Golden, and others
What listeners say about Blossoms and Shadows
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kindle Customer
- 08-09-12
A bit confusing
Would you try another book from Lian Hearn and/or Allison Hiroto and Marc Vietor ?
maybe
What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)
no comments
Would you listen to another book narrated by Allison Hiroto and Marc Vietor ?
sure
Was Blossoms and Shadows worth the listening time?
yes
Any additional comments?
Right, I read in some of the reviews for the book, and it seems, that there's a list of characters etc. in the book. I really miss that in the audiobook! I've given up trying to follow any other than the 4-5 main characters, as the huge amount of Japanese lords, young soldiers and domains get mixed up for me!
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2 people found this helpful
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- Alex
- 01-16-15
Not "Tales", but historical fiction
The problem with historical fiction is you're no longer an artist as much as a documentarian- weaving events together and filling in gaps while tossing in a generous helping of speculation and what-if. It can be done well but much depends on your material and how much you're obliged to hew to actual events. And I'm guessing Hearn is probably pretty faithful to the material.
And there's the problem. Like real life, Blossoms and Shadows doesn't follow a story line as much as a timeline and as such doesn't engage like a well crafted story. At the risk of being a Philistine, I want a plot- a beginning, a middle and an end. This story, such as it is, has none of these. Which is too bad. The characters and history are interesting and the writing is very good. But the engagement isn't there, and one is left wanting much more.
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3 people found this helpful
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- meljan
- 05-13-12
enjoyable
I enjoyed this book and felt that I learned things about the Japanese culture, but it was not as good as Liam Hearn's trilogy.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Mary Catherine
- 03-04-12
Not for anyone that liked the Tales of the Otori
I was very excited the learn that there was a new book by this author, but very disappointed when I listened to it. By the time I got to the middle of the book, I didn't care it I finished it or found out what happened to any of the characters. I loved the Otori series and recommended the books to many members of my family, young and old - everyone enjoyed the series. I just didn't get this book - a time or two I thought it might pick up and be interesting, but it didn't go anywhere.
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14 people found this helpful
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- CLM
- 01-27-23
Lian Hearn is a good writer this is not her best
I am very upset at this book it's just not a good write for her
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- Jay
- 01-19-12
Fans of the Otori do not bother with this.
Would you try another book from Lian Hearn and/or Allison Hiroto and Marc Vietor ?
I loved the first three books of the Otori Series so I picked this up.
What could Lian Hearn have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
I appreciate character driven narratives, but there was no story. You would think incest and transvestites would be interesting....
Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Allison Hiroto and Marc Vietor ?
The narration was monotonous, almost anyone would have been better.
What character would you cut from Blossoms and Shadows?
All of them. This story did not need to be told.
Any additional comments?
I wish I had these 17 hours of my life back. I kept waiting for something to happen. Sadly the interesting part of this story, the fight for Japan to free itself from foreign dominance is secondary. Think Gone with the Wind without any reference to the civil war.
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11 people found this helpful
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- Shelley Beer
- 04-24-16
Hearn's facts get in the way
Lian Hearn is great story teller- but not of historical fact . The names of every person and place interrupt the flow of the story. It's breath of fresh air briefly exploring gender roles in imperial Japan was exciting, but not sustained . It may be factual but the relationship between the Backufu, the emperor , the protestors , the different government officials being favoured or not was not clear until the very last . I pigheadedly listened on to be sure . The diction of the woman was hard to listen to, and the male voice was overly dramatic . Very disappointing . This is nothing like the Otorti tales.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Eirin Mikalsen Orum
- 08-02-17
Let down, far from the expected standard
After being totally enthralled by the Tales of the Otori, and also liking the first and fourth (?) book about the Darkwood (for some reason, the other books are unavailable in my country), I looked forward to many enjoyable hours of listening to this story.
Unfortunately, the characters are too many, and even the main character remains somewhat distant even after 17 hours in her company. It is too hard to relate to her love life, not to mention her Trans years, especially since the narrative keeps getting interrupted by first person thoughts if men about to die.
Perhaps this makes sense on paper, since many of the characters are probably historical people, but it just confused me as a listener.
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- MJ
- 12-10-11
Painful
I read all of Hern's previous work and they were strong stories with poetic beauty. This book is awful, no story line, and a poor female reader. If I had not purchased the book before it was reviewed I would not have bought it. Be warned this is not good.
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14 people found this helpful
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- Stacy S. Scott
- 11-22-11
Not as good as previous books
I loved her tales of the otori series. Maybe that set my expectations to high for this book. I have finished part 1 and am on to part 2, and so far nothing has happened. There is no chemistry no pop, no wonder. Just plodding. It's almost just a character study. If you get this book do not expect to find the wonder, mystery and magic of her other books. I was very disappointed. If I could afford to not listen and get something else I would.
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15 people found this helpful