
Graceling
Graceling Realm, Book 1
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Narrated by:
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Xanthe Elbrick
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By:
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Kristin Cashore
About this listen
Discover the Graceling Realm in this unforgettable, award-winning novel from bestselling author Kristin Cashore.
A New York Times bestseller * ALA Best Book for Young Adults * Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature Winner * Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, Booklist, and BCCB Best Book of the Year
“Rageful, exhilarating, wistful in turns" (New York Times Book Review) with “a knee weakening romance” (Los Angeles Times). Graceling is a thrilling, action-packed fantasy adventure that will resonate deeply with anyone trying to find their way in the world.
Graceling tells the story of the vulnerable-yet-strong Katsa, who is smart and beautiful and lives in the Seven Kingdoms where selected people are born with a Grace, a special talent that can be anything at all. Katsa’s Grace is killing.
As the king’s niece, she is forced to use her extreme skills as his brutal enforcer. Until the day she meets Prince Po, who is Graced with combat skills, and Katsa’s life begins to change. She never expects to become Po’s friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace—or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.
And don’t miss the sequel, Fire, and companion, Bitterblue, both award-winning New York Times bestsellers featuring Kristin Cashore’s elegant, evocative prose and unforgettable characters.
- ALA Best Book for Young Adults
- Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature Winner
- Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, Booklist, and BCCB Best Book of the Year
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Story
The first of a new young adult trilogy, The Demon King features a former thief, Han, who’s trying to provide for his mother and sister. One day Han, who sports mysterious (and certainly magical) silver cuffs on his wrists, confronts wizards setting fire to a sacred mountain. Now possessing one ofthe wizards’ amulets, Han faces more trouble than he ever could have imagined.
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Sooooooo Good!!!!!
- By Sharon on 06-15-13
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Grave Mercy
- His Fair Assassin, Book 1
- By: Robin LaFevers
- Narrated by: Rachel Frawley
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.
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Good premise, poorly executed
- By Vanessa on 06-28-23
By: Robin LaFevers
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There Is a Door in This Darkness
- By: Kristin Cashore
- Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie, Kristin Cashore
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
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Wilhelmina Hart is part of the infamous class of 2020. Her high school years began with a shocking presidential election and ended with a pandemic. In the midst of this global turmoil, she also lost one of her beloved aunts, a loss she still feels keenly. Having deferred college, Wilhelmina now lives in a limbo she can see no way out of, like so many of her peers.
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This moment is time is stunning
- By Michelle on 08-18-24
By: Kristin Cashore
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The Winner's Curse
- Winner's Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Marie Rutkoski
- Narrated by: Justine Eyre
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him - with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.
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Good
- By Tonyalee on 07-05-14
By: Marie Rutkoski
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Empire of Sand
- The Books of Ambha
- By: Tasha Suri
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 17 hrs
- Unabridged
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The Amrithi are outcasts; nomads descended of desert spirits, they are coveted and persecuted throughout the Empire for the power in their blood. Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of an imperial governor and an exiled Amrithi mother she can barely remember, but whose face and magic she has inherited. When Mehr's power comes to the attention of the Emperor's most feared mystics, she must use every ounce of will, subtlety, and power she possesses to resist their cruel agenda. Should she fail, the gods themselves may awaken seeking vengeance.
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Fantastic listen!
- By superstardrifter on 01-25-19
By: Tasha Suri
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Six Crimson Cranes
- Six Crimson Cranes, Book 1
- By: Elizabeth Lim
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Shiori'anma, the only princess of Kiata, has a secret. Forbidden magic runs through her veins. Normally she conceals it well, but on the morning of her betrothal ceremony, Shiori loses control. At first, her mistake seems like a stroke of luck, forestalling the wedding she never wanted. But it also catches the attention of Raikama, her stepmother.
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If you loved Daughter of the Forest/Fairytales
- By Elizabeth on 07-10-21
By: Elizabeth Lim
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The Wrath and the Dawn
- By: Renee Ahdieh
- Narrated by: Ariana Delawari
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the 18-year-old caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when 16-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi's wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch.
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Great story horrible narrator
- By connie on 04-26-16
By: Renee Ahdieh
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A Great and Terrible Beauty
- By: Libba Bray
- Narrated by: Josephine Bailey
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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It's 1895, and after the suicide of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma's reception there is a chilly one.
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More Details, please!
- By Beverly on 02-04-06
By: Libba Bray
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The Guinevere Deception
- Camelot Rising, Book 1
- By: Kiersten White
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom's borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution - send in Guinevere to be Arthur's wife...and his protector from those who want to see the young king's idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere's real name - and her true identity - is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot.
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The Guinevere Deception
- By Amy on 12-11-19
By: Kiersten White
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Atonement of the Spine Cleaver
- By: F. E. Bryce
- Narrated by: Kate Belsey
- Length: 24 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Rorax Greywood lives in the Realms and was trained to fight, kill, and steal for the House of Ice’s special forces unit, the Heilstorms, from the time she was ten years old. During her time as a Heilstorm, Rorax committed more violent atrocities in the name of her House than she could ever remember, but the blackest stain on her soul remains the Siege of Surmalinn—an infiltration and near genocide in the largest House of Death city.
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I am shooketh
- By Ruth Froese on 03-11-24
By: F. E. Bryce
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Daughter of the Pirate King
- By: Tricia Levenseller
- Narrated by: Marisa Calin
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Sent on a mission to retrieve an ancient hidden map—the key to a legendary treasure trove—seventeen-year-old pirate captain Alosa deliberately allows herself to be captured by her enemies, giving her the perfect opportunity to search their ship. More than a match for the ruthless pirate crew, Alosa has only one thing standing between her and the map: her captor, the unexpectedly clever and unfairly attractive first mate Riden. But not to worry, for Alosa has a few tricks up her sleeve, and no lone pirate can stop the Daughter of the Pirate King.
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WOW!
- By pet names on 09-17-17
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Demon in the Wood
- A Shadow and Bone Graphic Novel
- By: Leigh Bardugo
- Narrated by: Ben Barnes, Benjamin Valic, Cassandra Morris, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Before he led Ravka’s Second Army, before he created the Fold, and long before he became the Darkling, he was just a lonely boy burdened by an extraordinary power. Eryk and his mother, Lena, have spent their lives on the run. But they will never find a safe haven. They are not only Grisha—they are the deadliest and rarest of their kind.
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Too short
- By Julie D on 12-12-22
By: Leigh Bardugo
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The Hero and the Crown
- By: Robin McKinley
- Narrated by: Roslyn Alexander
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Uncertain of the past, Aerin-sol, daughter of King Arlbeth, decides to forge her own future by challenging the lashing tongues of the dragon’s fire. Aerin’s proficiency as "the Dragon-slayer" sets her on a quest for the stolen Crown of Damar, believed to be in the hands of rebellious northerners who threaten to destroy the Damarian people and their home forever.
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Second only to Blue Sword
- By mkc on 01-18-13
By: Robin McKinley
I miss Poes voice :/ Even Leck
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LOVED IT
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Overall, Not Bad
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Loved it!
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Excellent on all fronts
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Nostalgia
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When the first novel in Kristin Cashore’s Graceling Realm series, Graceling (2008), begins, Katsa is on a Council mission (unknown to King Randa) to rescue this Lienid grandfather prince from the dungeon of the King Murgon, so we get a good glimpse of her formidable fighting skills as she easily knocks out several dungeon guards and a dozen or so castle guards—until she almost meets her match in the person of Greening Grandemalion (call him Po), a handsome, be-ringed young Leinid prince not much older than she and apparently Graced with fighting ability (because he sure knows where each of her lightning-fast blows is going to land and act accordingly to avoid them…)
The novel will develop the relationship between Katsa and Po in rather convincing, interesting, and moving ways as the plot (full of concise world building, exciting action, surprising reveals, complex romance, grueling adventure, and a boss villain with a scary Grace) puts them through the wringer and challenges Katsa’s understanding of herself, her Grace, and her lover.
Interestingly, although the novel was published in 2008, the audio book version didn’t get made til 2022, so it is another example of a book that was first published before audio books were so popular and that has benefited from the popularity of audiobooks. Reader Xanthe Elbrick really enhances the story.
The novel recalls Robin Hobb’s earlier Assassin’s Apprentice. A young highly trained, skilled, and effective killer for a king; the conflict between doing the dirty work for a demanding master and wanting to be free to live your life; the ethics of killing; etc. But of course Katsa is a she, and everyone knows what she is and what she can do, which is part of why they shun her, while in Fitz's case it's because they know he's a bastard without having any idea he's a highly trained spy assassin. And Fitz doesn't start his own "Council," but stays more a tool of the Farseers.
It also reminds me a bit of The Murderbot Diaries, because although Katsa refers to herself as a monster, she’s really a human survivor-savior.
Cashore’s novel indulges in a bit of YA Special Princess Heroine Overkill, in that Katsa is a beautiful orphan, she complains of having no friends but really has several good ones, she has a really cool love interest, she’s basically not one princess but two, she’s a great fighter (the best in her kingdom), and (so far) her unique Grace is countless Graces rolled into one.
Because there is (so far) no explanation for the Grace system, where the abilities come from, how they actually work, who gets one, why it manifests as it does in a person, why Graced people have one eye one color and one eye another (apart from being cool), and so on. This permits Cashore to come up with any kind of Grace with any kind of rules needed to suit her plot. And the climax is over a little too quickly and easily.
However, I had such a great time listening to the audiobook, which was funny, exciting, suspenseful, moving, surprising, and so on, so that I really had to kind of flog myself to find flaws because I just wanted to enjoy the ride to the end.
I also appreciate that apparently each Graceling book can stand by itself. Will I go on to listen to other books in the series? Hmmm……
“Mercy was more frightening than murder”
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Am intro into the world of Grace
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Still a wonderful story!
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Satisfying story, excellent performance
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