-
Gilded Cage
- Dark Gifts, Book 1
- Narrated by: Avita Jay
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $18.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
Magic rules. We serve.
In a darkly fantastical debut set in modern-day Britain, magic users control everything: wealth, politics, power - and you. If you’re not one of the ultimate one-percenters - the magical elite - you owe them 10 years of service. Do those years when you’re old, and you’ll never get through them. Do them young, and you’ll never get over them.
This is the darkly decadent world of Gilded Cage. In its glittering milieu move the all-powerful Jardines and the everyday Hadleys. The families have only one thing in common: Each has three children. But their destinies entwine when one family enters the service of the other. They will all discover whether any magic is more powerful than the human spirit.
Have a quick 10 years....
Look for all three books in the mesmerizing Dark Gifts trilogy: Gilded Age, Tarnished City, and Bright Ruin.
Praise for Gilded Cage:
“An alternate modern-day England where enticing drama and social unrest mix with aristocratic scandal and glamorous magic...conjuring up the specters of Les Misérables and Downton Abbey...an absorbing first installment that presages an intriguing new fantasy series.” (Kirkus Reviews)
“Devious and deliciously dark with lashings of magic, mystery, and mayhem, this juggernaut of a book will keep you hanging on by your fingernails until the very last page.” (Taran Matharu, New York Times best-selling author of the Summoner series)
“A dark and intriguing vision of an alternate, magic-drenched Britain, Gilded Cage kept me up long into the night.” (Aliette de Bodard, author of The House of Shattered Wings)
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Sorrowland
- A Novel
- By: Rivers Solomon
- Narrated by: Karen Chilton
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Vern - seven months pregnant and desperate to escape the strict religious compound where she was raised - flees for the shelter of the woods. There, she gives birth to twins, and plans to raise them far from the influence of the outside world. But even in the forest, Vern is a hunted woman. Forced to fight back against the community that refuses to let her go, she unleashes incredible brutality far beyond what a person should be capable of, her body wracked by inexplicable and uncanny changes.
-
-
This Book Was Written For Me
- By Legend F on 06-23-21
By: Rivers Solomon
-
The Tiger at Midnight
- Tiger at Midnight, Book 1
- By: Swati Teerdhala
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
- Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Esha lost everything in the royal coup - and as the legendary rebel known as the Viper, she’s made the guilty pay. Now, she’s been tasked with her most important mission to date: taking down the ruthless General Hotha. Kunal has been a soldier since childhood. His uncle, the general, has ensured that Kunal never strays from the path - even as a part of Kunal longs to join the outside world, which has only been growing more volatile. When Esha and Kunal’s paths cross one fated night, an impossible chain of events unfolds.
-
-
you're in a book slump
- By Brit T on 09-05-20
By: Swati Teerdhala
-
The Binding
- A Novel
- By: Bridget Collins
- Narrated by: Carl Prekopp
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Young Emmett Farmer is working in the fields when a strange letter arrives summoning him away from his family. He is to begin an apprenticeship as a bookbinder - a vocation that arouses fear, superstition, and prejudice among their small community, but one neither he nor his parents can afford to refuse. For as long as he can recall, Emmett has been drawn to books, even though they are strictly forbidden. Bookbinding is a sacred calling, Seredith informs her new apprentice, and he is a binder born.
-
-
Just wow
- By RUKiddingMee on 05-18-19
By: Bridget Collins
-
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Book 1
- By: J.K. Rowling
- Narrated by: Jim Dale
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Addressed in green ink on yellowish parchment with a purple seal, they are swiftly confiscated by his grisly aunt and uncle. Then, on Harry's eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An incredible adventure is about to begin!
-
-
A great reading of the wrong book
- By P on 11-24-15
By: J.K. Rowling
-
The Book of Gothel
- By: Mary McMyne
- Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson
- Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Haelewise has always lived under the shadow of her mother, Hedda—a woman who will do anything to keep her daughter protected. For with her strange black eyes and even stranger fainting spells, Haelewise is shunned by her village, and her only solace lies in the stories her mother tells of child-stealing witches, of princes in wolf-skins, of an ancient tower cloaked in mist, where women will find shelter if they are brave enough to seek it. Then, Hedda dies, and Haelewise is left unmoored.
-
-
A well-told tale, beautifully narrated
- By Carolyn Davis on 07-27-22
By: Mary McMyne
-
Sistersong
- By: Lucy Holland
- Narrated by: Robyn Holdaway
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the ancient kingdom of Dumnonia, there is old magic to be found in the whisper of the wind, the roots of the trees, the curl of the grass. King Cador knew this once, but now the land has turned from him, calling instead to his three children. Riva can cure others, but can’t seem to heal her own deep scars. Keyne battles to be accepted for who he truly is—the king’s son. And Sinne dreams of seeing the world, of finding adventure.
-
-
Beautiful Genre-Defying Story
- By Joelle Trayers on 11-22-21
By: Lucy Holland
-
Sorrowland
- A Novel
- By: Rivers Solomon
- Narrated by: Karen Chilton
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Vern - seven months pregnant and desperate to escape the strict religious compound where she was raised - flees for the shelter of the woods. There, she gives birth to twins, and plans to raise them far from the influence of the outside world. But even in the forest, Vern is a hunted woman. Forced to fight back against the community that refuses to let her go, she unleashes incredible brutality far beyond what a person should be capable of, her body wracked by inexplicable and uncanny changes.
-
-
This Book Was Written For Me
- By Legend F on 06-23-21
By: Rivers Solomon
-
The Tiger at Midnight
- Tiger at Midnight, Book 1
- By: Swati Teerdhala
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
- Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Esha lost everything in the royal coup - and as the legendary rebel known as the Viper, she’s made the guilty pay. Now, she’s been tasked with her most important mission to date: taking down the ruthless General Hotha. Kunal has been a soldier since childhood. His uncle, the general, has ensured that Kunal never strays from the path - even as a part of Kunal longs to join the outside world, which has only been growing more volatile. When Esha and Kunal’s paths cross one fated night, an impossible chain of events unfolds.
-
-
you're in a book slump
- By Brit T on 09-05-20
By: Swati Teerdhala
-
The Binding
- A Novel
- By: Bridget Collins
- Narrated by: Carl Prekopp
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Young Emmett Farmer is working in the fields when a strange letter arrives summoning him away from his family. He is to begin an apprenticeship as a bookbinder - a vocation that arouses fear, superstition, and prejudice among their small community, but one neither he nor his parents can afford to refuse. For as long as he can recall, Emmett has been drawn to books, even though they are strictly forbidden. Bookbinding is a sacred calling, Seredith informs her new apprentice, and he is a binder born.
-
-
Just wow
- By RUKiddingMee on 05-18-19
By: Bridget Collins
-
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Book 1
- By: J.K. Rowling
- Narrated by: Jim Dale
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Addressed in green ink on yellowish parchment with a purple seal, they are swiftly confiscated by his grisly aunt and uncle. Then, on Harry's eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An incredible adventure is about to begin!
-
-
A great reading of the wrong book
- By P on 11-24-15
By: J.K. Rowling
-
The Book of Gothel
- By: Mary McMyne
- Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson
- Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Haelewise has always lived under the shadow of her mother, Hedda—a woman who will do anything to keep her daughter protected. For with her strange black eyes and even stranger fainting spells, Haelewise is shunned by her village, and her only solace lies in the stories her mother tells of child-stealing witches, of princes in wolf-skins, of an ancient tower cloaked in mist, where women will find shelter if they are brave enough to seek it. Then, Hedda dies, and Haelewise is left unmoored.
-
-
A well-told tale, beautifully narrated
- By Carolyn Davis on 07-27-22
By: Mary McMyne
-
Sistersong
- By: Lucy Holland
- Narrated by: Robyn Holdaway
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the ancient kingdom of Dumnonia, there is old magic to be found in the whisper of the wind, the roots of the trees, the curl of the grass. King Cador knew this once, but now the land has turned from him, calling instead to his three children. Riva can cure others, but can’t seem to heal her own deep scars. Keyne battles to be accepted for who he truly is—the king’s son. And Sinne dreams of seeing the world, of finding adventure.
-
-
Beautiful Genre-Defying Story
- By Joelle Trayers on 11-22-21
By: Lucy Holland
-
House of Hollow
- By: Krystal Sutherland
- Narrated by: Eleanor Bennett
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Iris Hollow and her two older sisters are unquestionably strange. Ever since they disappeared on a suburban street in Scotland as children only to return a month a later with no memory of what happened to them, odd, eerie occurrences seem to follow in their wake. And they're changing. First, their dark hair turned white. Then, their blue eyes slowly turned black. They have insatiable appetites yet never gain weight. People find them disturbingly intoxicating, unbearably beautiful, and inexplicably dangerous.
-
-
Pay no attention to the cover art
- By Kimberly D. Bouchu on 05-19-22
-
Gallant
- By: V.E. Schwab
- Narrated by: Julian Rhind-Tutt
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Olivia Prior has grown up in Merilance School for Girls, and all she has of her past is her mother’s journal—which seems to unravel into madness. Then, a letter invites Olivia to come home to Gallant. Yet when Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her. But Olivia is not about to leave the first place that feels like home; it doesn’t matter if her cousin Matthew is hostile, or if she sees half-formed ghouls haunting the hallways.
-
-
Gothic Done Right, in Form and Content!!!
- By Helena H. on 06-27-22
By: V.E. Schwab
-
The Affair of the Mysterious Letter
- By: Alexis Hall
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Upon returning to the city of Khelathra-Ven after five years fighting a war in another universe, Captain John Wyndham finds himself looking for somewhere to live, and expediency forces him to take lodgings at 221b Martyrs Walk. His new housemate is Miss Shaharazad Haas, a consulting sorceress of mercurial temperament and dark reputation.
-
-
Pure enjoyment!!
- By Brooklyn Bookish on 07-23-19
By: Alexis Hall
-
City of Last Chances
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 19 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There has always been a darkness to Ilmar, but never more so than now. The city chafes under the heavy hand of the Palleseen occupation, the choke-hold of its criminal underworld, the boot of its factory owners, the weight of its wretched poor and the burden of its ancient curse. What will be the spark that lights the conflagration? Despite the city's refugees, wanderers, murderers, madmen, fanatics and thieves, the catalyst, as always, will be the Anchorwood–that dark grove of trees, that primeval remnant, that portal, when the moon is full, to strange and distant shores.
-
-
Occupied Paris during WW2 In Fantasy World?
- By caleb on 06-19-23
-
Truth and Other Lies: A Loki Norse Fantasy (The Nine Worlds Rising Book 1)
- By: Lyra Wolf
- Narrated by: Casey Eade
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nothing is trickier than the truth. All Loki the trickster god of Asgard wants is a peaceful life where he's free to stir up a bit of harmless mischief. But when he's struck by a painful vision of blood, ash, and death he knows his fun has run out. Refusing to have his life obliterated by some stuffy prophecy, Loki feels he must save Asgard. Except the gods stand in his way. They don't trust the God of Lies, which means his only hope is to return to Odin, the man he wished to forget thanks to their complicated history.
-
-
A fun listen
- By Michelle L Wayte on 01-06-22
By: Lyra Wolf
-
Six of Crows
- By: Leigh Bardugo
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder, Brandon Rubin, Fred Berman, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price - and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone.
-
-
7 Narrators, But That's Not a Good Thing
- By KM on 03-18-16
By: Leigh Bardugo
-
The One and Only Crystal Druid
- Unveiled Series, Book 1
- By: Annette Marie
- Narrated by: Cris Dukehart
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I'm not your average girl. My best friend is my switchblade. My favorite hobby is using it on the cruel, the abusive, and anyone who gets on my bad side. I'm a convicted murderer with a chip on my shoulder and a dangerous lack of restraint. And then there's Zak. His rap sheet makes mine look tame. The bounty on his head is worth more money than I'll ever make, and the deadly fae that shadow his every step wield more power than I'll ever know. He's the Crystal Druid, and his first mistake was setting foot on my turf. His second was saving my life.
-
-
UGH!!!
- By Rae on 10-21-21
By: Annette Marie
-
Fireborne
- Raven Cursed, Book 1
- By: McKenzie Hunter
- Narrated by: Khristine Hvam
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I wouldn’t say my life is a dumpster fire — but it’s far from typical. I’m frenemies with the local werewolves’ Alpha, my clients are shady as hell, and my magic falls firmly in the WTF category. Mephisto, my mysterious and powerful client, is more interested in my magic than the jobs he’s hired me for. And I’m pretty sure my court-ordered therapist thinks I’m an ass.
-
-
Enchanting.
- By Amber Larson on 04-22-20
By: McKenzie Hunter
-
All That Glitters
- Enchantée Series, Book 1
- By: Gita Trelease
- Narrated by: Justine Eyre
- Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When smallpox kills her parents, Camille must find a way to provide for her younger sister while managing her volatile brother. Relying on magic, Camille painstakingly transforms scraps of metal into money to buy food and medicine they need. But when the coins won’t hold their shape and her brother disappears with the family’s savings, Camille pursues a richer, more dangerous mark: the glittering court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
-
-
Enchantee Book Review
- By H. J. Ortiz on 04-01-19
By: Gita Trelease
-
The Book Eaters
- By: Sunyi Dean
- Narrated by: Katie Erich
- Length: 13 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Out on the Yorkshire Moors lives a secret line of people for whom books are food, and who retain all of a book's content after eating it. To them, spy novels are a peppery snack; romance novels are sweet and delicious. Eating a map can help them remember destinations, and children, when they misbehave, are forced to eat dry, musty pages from dictionaries.
-
-
Book worth a college course on it's own.
- By SW;MDA on 10-08-22
By: Sunyi Dean
-
Nine Princes in Amber
- The Chronicles of Amber, Book 1
- By: Roger Zelazny
- Narrated by: Alessandro Juliani
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amber is the one real world, of which all others including our own Earth are but Shadows. Amber burns in Corwin's blood. Exiled on Shadow Earth for centuries, the prince is about to return to Amber to make a mad and desperate rush upon the throne.
-
-
Great book, lame deal!
- By Robert on 08-13-12
By: Roger Zelazny
-
Rogues
- By: Neil Gaiman - contributor, George R. R. Martin - editor, Gillian Flynn - contributor, and others
- Narrated by: Janis Ian, Gwendoline Christie, Roy Dotrice, and others
- Length: 31 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you’re a fan of fiction that is more than just black and white, this latest story collection from number-one New York Times best-selling author George R. R. Martin and award-winning editor Gardner Dozois is filled with subtle shades of gray. Twenty-one all-original stories, by an all-star list of contributors, will delight and astonish you in equal measure with their cunning twists and dazzling reversals. And George R. R. Martin himself offers a brand-new A Game of Thrones tale chronicling one of the biggest rogues in the entire history of Ice and Fire.
-
-
A fun way to sample Authors- More Rothfuss Please!
- By gc on 08-31-14
By: Neil Gaiman - contributor, and others
Critic reviews
"Brisk plotting, sympathetic characters, and plenty of intrigue will keep readers on the edges of their seats, eager for the next book in a very promising series." (Publishers Weekly)
Related to this topic
-
The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination
- Original Short Fiction for the Modern Evil Genius
- By: John Joseph Adams - editor
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Mary Robinette Kowal, Justine Eyre
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mad scientists have never had it so tough. In super-hero comics, graphic novels, films, TV series, video games, and even works of what may be fiction, they are besieged by those who stand against them, devoid of sympathy for their irrational, megalomaniacal impulses to rule, destroy, or otherwise dominate the world as we know it. It’s just not fair. So those of us who are so twisted and sick that we love mad scientists have created this guide.
-
-
HAND DANCING
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 05-30-15
-
Six of Crows
- By: Leigh Bardugo
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder, Brandon Rubin, Fred Berman, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price - and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone.
-
-
7 Narrators, But That's Not a Good Thing
- By KM on 03-18-16
By: Leigh Bardugo
-
The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 4
- By: Ellen Datlow - author/editor, Stephen King, Peter Straub
- Narrated by: Meredith Mitchell, Rebecca Mitchell, Michael Healy, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With tales from Laird Barron, Stephen King, John Langan, Peter Straub, and many others, and featuring Datlow’s comprehensive overview of the year in horror, now, more than ever, The Best Horror of the Year provides the petrifying horror fiction readers have come to expect - and enjoy.
-
-
Only a few decent stories in this bunch.
- By Jerry on 12-06-14
By: Ellen Datlow - author/editor, and others
-
Grim
- By: Ellen Hopkins, Julie Kagawa, Amanda Hocking, and others
- Narrated by: Christine Johnson
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inspired by classic fairy tales, but with a dark and sinister twist, Grim contains short stories from some of the best voices in young adult literature today: Ellen Hopkins, Amanda Hocking, Julie Kagawa, Claudia Gray, Rachel Hawkins, Kimberly Derting, Myra McEntire, Malinda Lo, Sarah Rees-Brennan, Jackson Pearce, Christine Johnson, Jeri Smith Ready, Shaun David Hutchinson, Saundra Mitchell, Sonia Gensler, Tessa Gratton, Jon Skrovron.
-
-
amazing
- By Anonymous User on 10-04-17
By: Ellen Hopkins, and others
-
Superheroes
- By: Peter S. Beagle, Daryl Gregory, James Patrick Kelly, and others
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman, Joe Barrett, Christina Delaine, and others
- Length: 17 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Modern gods and goddesses, remote, revered - and like the pantheon of heroes and heroines of ancient myth - possessing great power tempered with flaws. Now, find within this anthology great tales by gifted and award-winning authors who move superheroes from the four-color panels of comic books to the fantastic pages of fiction, stories that will remind anyone who ever wanted to wear a cape or don a cowl of the extraordinary powers of the imagination!
-
-
Pretentious tired old concepts
- By BookofJoy on 12-29-14
By: Peter S. Beagle, and others
-
The Unseen
- A Novel
- By: Katherine Webb
- Narrated by: Clare Wille
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A vicar with a passion for nature, the Reverend Albert Canning leads a happy existence with his naive wife, Hester, in their sleepy Berkshire village in the year 1911. But as the English summer dawns, the Cannings' lives are forever changed by two new arrivals: Cat, their new maid, a disaffected, free-spirited young woman sent down from London after entanglements with the law; and Robin Durrant, a leading expert in the occult, enticed by tales of elemental beings in the water meadows nearby.
-
-
Great book!
- By Dana on 09-03-12
By: Katherine Webb
-
The Mad Scientist's Guide to World Domination
- Original Short Fiction for the Modern Evil Genius
- By: John Joseph Adams - editor
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Mary Robinette Kowal, Justine Eyre
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mad scientists have never had it so tough. In super-hero comics, graphic novels, films, TV series, video games, and even works of what may be fiction, they are besieged by those who stand against them, devoid of sympathy for their irrational, megalomaniacal impulses to rule, destroy, or otherwise dominate the world as we know it. It’s just not fair. So those of us who are so twisted and sick that we love mad scientists have created this guide.
-
-
HAND DANCING
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 05-30-15
-
Six of Crows
- By: Leigh Bardugo
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder, Brandon Rubin, Fred Berman, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price - and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone.
-
-
7 Narrators, But That's Not a Good Thing
- By KM on 03-18-16
By: Leigh Bardugo
-
The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 4
- By: Ellen Datlow - author/editor, Stephen King, Peter Straub
- Narrated by: Meredith Mitchell, Rebecca Mitchell, Michael Healy, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With tales from Laird Barron, Stephen King, John Langan, Peter Straub, and many others, and featuring Datlow’s comprehensive overview of the year in horror, now, more than ever, The Best Horror of the Year provides the petrifying horror fiction readers have come to expect - and enjoy.
-
-
Only a few decent stories in this bunch.
- By Jerry on 12-06-14
By: Ellen Datlow - author/editor, and others
-
Grim
- By: Ellen Hopkins, Julie Kagawa, Amanda Hocking, and others
- Narrated by: Christine Johnson
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inspired by classic fairy tales, but with a dark and sinister twist, Grim contains short stories from some of the best voices in young adult literature today: Ellen Hopkins, Amanda Hocking, Julie Kagawa, Claudia Gray, Rachel Hawkins, Kimberly Derting, Myra McEntire, Malinda Lo, Sarah Rees-Brennan, Jackson Pearce, Christine Johnson, Jeri Smith Ready, Shaun David Hutchinson, Saundra Mitchell, Sonia Gensler, Tessa Gratton, Jon Skrovron.
-
-
amazing
- By Anonymous User on 10-04-17
By: Ellen Hopkins, and others
-
Superheroes
- By: Peter S. Beagle, Daryl Gregory, James Patrick Kelly, and others
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman, Joe Barrett, Christina Delaine, and others
- Length: 17 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Modern gods and goddesses, remote, revered - and like the pantheon of heroes and heroines of ancient myth - possessing great power tempered with flaws. Now, find within this anthology great tales by gifted and award-winning authors who move superheroes from the four-color panels of comic books to the fantastic pages of fiction, stories that will remind anyone who ever wanted to wear a cape or don a cowl of the extraordinary powers of the imagination!
-
-
Pretentious tired old concepts
- By BookofJoy on 12-29-14
By: Peter S. Beagle, and others
-
The Unseen
- A Novel
- By: Katherine Webb
- Narrated by: Clare Wille
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A vicar with a passion for nature, the Reverend Albert Canning leads a happy existence with his naive wife, Hester, in their sleepy Berkshire village in the year 1911. But as the English summer dawns, the Cannings' lives are forever changed by two new arrivals: Cat, their new maid, a disaffected, free-spirited young woman sent down from London after entanglements with the law; and Robin Durrant, a leading expert in the occult, enticed by tales of elemental beings in the water meadows nearby.
-
-
Great book!
- By Dana on 09-03-12
By: Katherine Webb
-
Angelmaker
- By: Nick Harkaway
- Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joe Spork repairs clocks, a far cry from his late father, a flashy London gangster. But when Joe fixes one particularly unusual device, his life is suddenly upended. Joe's client, Edie Banister, is more than just a kindly old lady - she's a former superspy. And the device? It's a 1950s doomsday machine. And having triggered it, Joe now faces the wrath of both the government and a diabolical South Asian dictator, Edie's old arch-nemesis.
-
-
A cure for the modern cynic
- By Maine Colonial 🌲 on 08-28-12
By: Nick Harkaway
-
Hum If You Don't Know the Words
- By: Bianca Marais
- Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan, Bahni Turpin
- Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Life under Apartheid has created a secure future for Robin Conrad, a 10-year-old white girl living with her parents in 1970s Johannesburg. In the same nation but worlds apart, Beauty Mbali, a Xhosa woman in a rural village in the Bantu homeland of the Transkei, struggles to raise her children alone after her husband's death. Both lives have been built upon the division of race, and their meeting should never have occurred...until the Soweto Uprising.
-
-
Completely wrong accents
- By Debbie on 02-12-22
By: Bianca Marais
-
Dear Amy
- By: Helen Callaghan
- Narrated by: Michelle Ford
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Margot Lewis is a teacher at an exclusive high school in the English university town of Cambridge. In her spare time, she writes an advice column, "Dear Amy", for the local newspaper. When one of Margot's students, 15-year-old Katie, disappears, the school and the town fear the worst. And then Margot gets a "Dear Amy" letter unlike any of the ones she's received before. It's a desperate plea for rescue from a girl who says she is being held captive and in terrible danger - a girl called Bethan Avery, who was abducted from the local area 20 years ago and never found.
-
-
Stunning debut
- By Mystery Maven on 11-18-16
By: Helen Callaghan
-
One Last Dance
- By: Eileen Goudge
- Narrated by: Sandra Burr
- Length: 14 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the eve of their 40th wedding anniversary, the Seagraves are among the most envied couples in their community, and still deeply in love - until the night Lydia Seagrave picks up a gun and shoots her husband. Confronting a tangle of family lies in the wake of this shocking tragedy are the three Seagrave sisters.
-
-
Sit it out
- By Laurie on 08-29-08
By: Eileen Goudge
-
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Book 1
- By: J.K. Rowling
- Narrated by: Jim Dale
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Addressed in green ink on yellowish parchment with a purple seal, they are swiftly confiscated by his grisly aunt and uncle. Then, on Harry's eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An incredible adventure is about to begin!
-
-
A great reading of the wrong book
- By P on 11-24-15
By: J.K. Rowling
-
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
- Mara Dyer, Book 1
- By: Michelle Hodkin
- Narrated by: Christy Romano
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mara Dyer believes life can't get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. It can. She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed. There is. She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love. She's wrong.
-
-
Not Sure About Mara Dyer
- By C. Betts on 07-30-14
By: Michelle Hodkin
-
The Collectors' Society
- The Collectors' Society, Book 1
- By: Heather Lyons
- Narrated by: Gemma Dawson
- Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After years in Wonderland, Alice has returned to England as an adult, desperate to reclaim sanity and control over her life. An enigmatic gentleman with an intriguing job offer too tempting to resist changes her plans for a calm existence. Soon, she's whisked to New York and initiated into the Collectors' Society, a secret organization whose members confirm that famous stories are anything but straightforward and that what she knows about the world is only a fraction of the truth.
-
-
A true adventure full of the classics!
- By evelyn torres on 06-17-17
By: Heather Lyons
-
Cover Her Face
- By: P. D. James
- Narrated by: Penelope Dellaporta
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Headstrong and beautiful, the young housemaid Sally Jupp is put rudely in her place, strangled in her bed behind a bolted door. Coolly brilliant policeman Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard must find her killer among a houseful of suspects, most of whom had very good reason to wish her ill. Cover Her Face is P. D. James' electric debut novel, an ingeniously plotted mystery that immediately placed her among the masters of suspense.
-
-
OK but...
- By NoelleJ on 11-14-14
By: P. D. James
-
Hark! The Herald Angels Scream
- By: Christopher Golden - editor, Joe R. Lansdale, Scott Smith, and others
- Narrated by: Charles Constant, Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
That there is darkness at the heart of the Yuletide season should not surprise. Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is filled with scenes that are unsettling. The hideous children - Want and Ignorance - beneath the robe of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. In the finest versions of this story, the best parts are the terrifying parts. Best-selling author and editor Christopher Golden shares his love for Christmas horror stories with this anthology of all-new short fiction from some of the most talented and original writers of horror today.
-
-
Some good, some clunkers. Some fun, none scary.
- By Max Trivial on 12-24-18
By: Christopher Golden - editor, and others
-
The Sky Is Yours
- A Novel
- By: Chandler Klang Smith
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the burned-out, futuristic city of Empire Island, three young people navigate a crumbling metropolis constantly under threat from a pair of dragons that circle the skies. When violence strikes, reality star Duncan Humphrey Ripple V, the spoiled scion of the metropolis' last dynasty; Baroness Swan Lenore Dahlberg, his tempestuous, death-obsessed betrothed; and Abby, a feral beauty he discovered tossed out with the trash; are forced to flee everything they've ever known.
-
-
a hot mess
- By Alison on 04-09-19
-
Ink and Bone
- The Great Library
- By: Rachel Caine
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy allows the library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly - but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden. Jess Brightwell believes in the value of the library, but the majority of his knowledge comes from illegal books obtained by his family, who are involved in the thriving black market.
-
-
don't give up too soon.
- By Janel on 09-11-15
By: Rachel Caine
-
Aftertime
- An Aftertime Novel, Book 1
- By: Sophie Littlefield
- Narrated by: Ellen Archer
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Awakening in a bleak landscape as scarred as her body, Cass Dollar vaguely recalls surviving something terrible. Having no idea how many weeks have passed, she slowly realizes the horrifying truth: Ruthie has vanished. And with her, nearly all of civilization. Where once-lush hills carried cars and commerce, the roads today see only cannibalistic Beaters - people turned hungry for human flesh by a government experiment gone wrong.
-
-
False Advertisement!!
- By Dan on 05-31-12
What listeners say about Gilded Cage
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- James E. Morgan
- 07-02-23
Pretty good
Great voice. Story is meh but entertaining. Not sure about sequel. Uneven plotting but worth a listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- IonyWinter
- 01-26-23
Surprised
I was a bit wary of this book due to all the bad reviews, but I’m glad I gave it a chance. I’m very interested to see what happens next. It did take me like 10 chapters to really get into the book, so hang in there. It gets better.
I find all the characters likable. Even some of the “villains”. The premise of the world is very interesting. I do think the author could have gone a bit deeper into the world building, but they did a good enough job.
The narration was great. I found her voice very pleasant. Many characters had distinctive voices though not all. She is not the best I’ve ever heard, but certainly one of the better.
The pacing was sort of all over the place. Some POVs could be cut out. There were too many and I think that may be why it took some time to get into. It wasn’t a linear plot. But all in all, I liked this book. I think the bad reviewers are a bit up themselves.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ilja Kraag
- 06-21-17
Waiting for book 2 and hope it comes soon.
What did you love best about Gilded Cage?
The whole story and all the characters.
What does Avita Jay bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Avita Jay bring an extra dimension to the book. The people come to life.
Any additional comments?
I am waiting for the next 2 books.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michelle
- 02-23-17
loved this
great book. brings you right in, hate that i have yo wait for a book 2
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kindle Customer
- 02-18-17
Fantastic!
So good! The characters are intriguing and the plot is action packed. I couldn't put it down.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Red Rosie
- 01-15-20
Phenomenal Worldbuilding, Slow Burn
A good and very interesting world! The author sets up an incredibly complex, but believable alternate reality with very real characters. However, the narrative is clearly just leading up to the next book. The climax leaves you wondering why it wasn't even a little resolved before the end of the book. If you're willing to wait for the real thick of the book until book 2, then you'll absolutely love this novel.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- kathy Marquard
- 08-23-17
great story
Where does Gilded Cage rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
this was a good story with great characters and a few twists. I loved it....but....where is book 2???
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- NH
- 05-26-17
characters surrounded by damn good writing
My rating is 10 of 5 stars. Yes, it is that good.
Imagine walking into a museum and seeing a gorgeous medieval tapestry. The overall impact is overwhelming. Then you begin to notice the finer details. Strands of shining gold and silver catch your eye. You notice the less brilliant colors the silver and gold intertwined with. You begin to see patterns. You see how individual colors, whether vivid or muted, work together to create the whole work of art. I have just described The Gilded Cage by Vic James. It is a work of art.
I have read over 100 books this year, 2016, and The Gilded Cage is in the top 3. It is a finely crafted novel. It was released in February 2017 along with an audiobook version. I suggest you get both. I read 99% of books in electronic version due to a movement disorder. Gilded Cage and any sequels will be ordered in hardback. These I plan to give to my future grandchildren when they are old enough.
There are two main families in Gilded Cage. The Jardines , the “haves’, and the Hadleys, the “have nots”. It is what they have or not that makes this novel so unique. The Jardines have “Skill”. The Hadleys do not. Skill is the ability to use magic. This is not the learn the spells and potions of Harry Potter magic. This is the intuitive, instinctual, primal magic that flows from the individual’s soul. Not everyone can do the same things with Skill and not everyone has the same strength of Skill.
The universe Gilded Cage is set in has always had Skill as a part of it. The difference in England begins when King Charles the first (and last) is not overthrown by puritans. He is executed by a powerful Skill member of the aristocracy. A new system of government is set up. Parliament with only Skilled members. A few token Unskilled are allowed as observers. Other countries have different systems. In the States United of America, the Civil War was fought. The North has outlawed Skill while the South continues to follow the same system as Britain.
But the worse change is the years of slavery forced on the Unskilled. Each Unskilled man, woman, and child must serve ten consecutive years in slavedays to the Skilled. That slavedays can be in a factory area working six days a week, with barely enough food, and no rights. It can be served on the estate of one of the Skilled. It can be served when one is young or old or anytime in between but it must be served. Whether in slavedays or before or after, the Unskilled have no rights. They can be beaten, raped, killed and all with no consequence to the Skilled who did it or to the Unskilled who did it under the direction of a Skilled. This is the world which the Jardine and Hadleys cross paths.
The characters are very well developed. Abigail Hadley is strong young woman who forgoes medical school to enable her family to serve their slavedays together. She fights for her family. She works the system. She does what she needs to do without relying on anyone, let alone need a man to save her. Luke Hadley, Abigail's brother, is a sixteen year old, who in the way of all teens, somehow never thought his slavedays would really arrive. He must grow up quickly to survive.
The Skilled are not simple characters either. The Jardine family has its heir in Gavar, it’s mystery in youngest son Silyen and it’s total shame in middle son Jenner who is Unskilled. The premier Skilled family contains a son who may be the most powerful Skilled of all time and one of only two Unskilled ever born to Skilled parents. Each Skilled family has the head of the family and it’s heir sitting in Parliament. What each member of each Skill family has is an agenda all their own. One of my favorite parts is when one Skilled character remarks to another, “Your allies aren’t always who you think they are, Miss Matravers. And neither are your enemies.”
Avita Jay does a great job narrating the book. There are male and female voices. Voices from upper, middle and lower class. Voices that hold power and danger and voices that verge on voiceless because of their despair. Ms. Jay conveys all of this so very, very well. I hope she will be narrating the rest of the series because I know hear Abigail with her voice.
The novel has an ironic sense of humor. “Father was planning a debate. Silyen was planning a resurrection. And Gavar was planning a wedding. There was so much wrong with that, Gavar didn’t know where to start.” It is this wonderful combination of characters and themes surrounded by damn good writing that makes The Gilded Cage a must read. It is subtitled Dark Gifts #1 which means there is more to come. I cannot wait for Tarnished City to be released this fall.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
15 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- MRR
- 02-16-17
Wow! I wish there had been MORE!
This would have been a 5 STAR read for me; except I needed more. I needed to know how the law was written for the mandatory 10 year slave sentence for unequals. Meaning I need to understand how it works. For instance, at what age does it become a crime if you haven't begun to serve your term? Is it acceptable for a man or woman who is 60 to sign up for their decade of slave labor? And what is to young? What are the consequences of failing to commit?
Now moving on to the story itself. I wish we could have had some understanding as to why Abby chose to sway her parents into doing what they did. As smart as she is, why not allow her baby sister to have another 8 years or so to become who she is going to be and not have her childhood stolen?
And then there is Luke's 6 months where I needed more to empathize with him. I wanted to feel the heart acing, back breaking hell he was thrown into.
If all of the above had been included-Gilded Cage would've become an instant favorite of mine. Not just of this year, but an all time fav.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- M. Habeck
- 06-03-17
Spellbinding page turner!
Wow. sucked me in and had enough twists that I can't imagine waiting for the next book. I highly recommend it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful