
Hild
A Novel
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 $33.74
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Pearl Hewitt
-
By:
-
Nicola Griffith
About this listen
Award-winning author Nicola Griffith's brilliant, lush, sweeping historical novel about the rise of the most powerful woman of the Middle Ages: Hild.
In seventh-century Britain, small kingdoms are merging, frequently and violently. A new religion is coming ashore; the old gods are struggling, their priests worrying. Hild is the king's youngest niece, and she has a glimmering mind and a natural, noble authority. She will become a fascinating woman and one of the pivotal figures of the Middle Ages: Saint Hilda of Whitby.
But now she has only the powerful curiosity of a bright child, a will of adamant, and a way of seeing the world—of studying nature, of matching cause with effect, of observing her surroundings closely and predicting what will happen next—that can seem uncanny, even supernatural, to those around her.
Her uncle, Edwin of Northumbria, plots to become overking of the Angles, ruthlessly using every tool at his disposal: blood, bribery, belief. Hild establishes a place for herself at his side as the king's seer. And she is indispensable—unless she should ever lead the king astray. The stakes are life and death: for Hild, for her family, for her loved ones, and for the increasing numbers who seek the protection of the strange girl who can read the world and see the future.
Hild is a young woman at the heart of the violence, subtlety, and mysticism of the early Middle Ages—all of it brilliantly and accurately evoked by Nicola Griffith's luminous prose. Working from what little historical record is extant, Griffith has brought a beautiful, brutal world to vivid, absorbing life.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Spear
- By: Nicola Griffith
- Narrated by: Nicola Griffith
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The girl knows she has a destiny before she even knows her name. She grows up in the wild, in a cave with her mother, but visions of a faraway lake come to her on the spring breeze, and when she hears a traveler speak of Artos, king of Caer Leon, she knows that her future lies at his court. And so, brimming with magic and eager to test her strength, she breaks her covenant with her mother and, with a broken hunting spear and mended armour, rides on a bony gelding to Caer Leon.
-
-
Sooooooo lovely!
- By J. James-Long on 03-11-25
By: Nicola Griffith
-
Homer Box Set: Iliad & Odyssey
- By: Homer, W. H. D. Rouse - translator
- Narrated by: Anthony Heald
- Length: 25 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey are unquestionably two of the greatest epic masterpieces in Western literature. Though more than 2,700 years old, their stories of brave heroics, capricious gods, and towering human emotions are vividly timeless. The Iliad can justly be called the world’s greatest war epic. The terrible and long-drawn-out siege of Troy remains one of the classic campaigns. The Odyssey chronicles the many trials and adventures Odysseus must pass through on his long journey home from the Trojan wars to his beloved wife.
-
-
Oddball Translation
- By Joel Jenkins on 05-11-17
By: Homer, and others
-
Ammonite
- By: Nicola Griffith
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Change or die: the only options available on the Durallium Company-owned planet GP. The planet's deadly virus had killed most of the original colonists - and changed the rest irrevocably. Centuries after the colony had lost touch with the rest of humanity, the Company returned to exploit GP, and its forces found themselves fighting for their lives. Afraid of spreading the virus, the Company had left its remaining employees in place, afraid and isolated from the natives.
-
-
Women Are People
- By DC on 11-17-20
By: Nicola Griffith
-
Dark Earth
- A Novel
- By: Rebecca Stott
- Narrated by: Hannah Morrish
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year is 500 AD. Sisters Isla and Blue live in the shadows of the Ghost City, the abandoned ruins of the once-glorious mile-wide Roman settlement Londinium on the bank of the River Thames. But the small island they call home is also a place of exile for Isla, Blue, and their father, a legendary blacksmith accused of using dark magic to make his firetongue swords—formidable blades that cannot be broken—and cast out from the community. When he dies suddenly, the sisters find themselves facing enslavement by the local warlord and his cruel, power-hungry son.
-
-
Great story set in a dark time
- By Bruce Nunley on 10-12-22
By: Rebecca Stott
-
So Lucky
- A Novel
- By: Nicola Griffith
- Narrated by: Nicola Griffith
- Length: 4 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mara Tagarelli is, professionally, the head of a multimillion-dollar AIDS foundation; personally, she is a committed martial artist. But her life has turned inside out like a sock. She can’t rely on family, her body is letting her down, and friends and colleagues are turning away - they treat her like a victim. She needs to break that narrative: build her own community, learn new strengths, and fight. But what do you do when you find out that the story you’ve been told, the story you’ve told yourself, is not true?
-
-
Painfully autobiographical... and GOOD
- By Marcos Ibarguen on 07-07-18
By: Nicola Griffith
-
Sidroc the Dane: A Circle of Ceridwen Saga Story
- By: Octavia Randolph
- Narrated by: Nano Nagle
- Length: 16 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A discarded child fated to become a powerful Jarl - here is the story of Sidroc. Fate guides the path of his father, Hrald, to his meeting with the woman whose son would help change the face of ninth-century Angle-land. An ever-growing rivalry between Sidroc and his cousin Toki defines the boys' early years. Their young uncle, Yrling, knows success as a raider in far-off Angle-land, and trains his nephews in the ways of the warrior. Ahead of them is the perilous crossing of the North Sea, which stands between them and the plunder they seek.
-
-
Oh, to be a character in this book!
- By KarenW on 06-03-18
By: Octavia Randolph
-
Spear
- By: Nicola Griffith
- Narrated by: Nicola Griffith
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The girl knows she has a destiny before she even knows her name. She grows up in the wild, in a cave with her mother, but visions of a faraway lake come to her on the spring breeze, and when she hears a traveler speak of Artos, king of Caer Leon, she knows that her future lies at his court. And so, brimming with magic and eager to test her strength, she breaks her covenant with her mother and, with a broken hunting spear and mended armour, rides on a bony gelding to Caer Leon.
-
-
Sooooooo lovely!
- By J. James-Long on 03-11-25
By: Nicola Griffith
-
Homer Box Set: Iliad & Odyssey
- By: Homer, W. H. D. Rouse - translator
- Narrated by: Anthony Heald
- Length: 25 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey are unquestionably two of the greatest epic masterpieces in Western literature. Though more than 2,700 years old, their stories of brave heroics, capricious gods, and towering human emotions are vividly timeless. The Iliad can justly be called the world’s greatest war epic. The terrible and long-drawn-out siege of Troy remains one of the classic campaigns. The Odyssey chronicles the many trials and adventures Odysseus must pass through on his long journey home from the Trojan wars to his beloved wife.
-
-
Oddball Translation
- By Joel Jenkins on 05-11-17
By: Homer, and others
-
Ammonite
- By: Nicola Griffith
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Change or die: the only options available on the Durallium Company-owned planet GP. The planet's deadly virus had killed most of the original colonists - and changed the rest irrevocably. Centuries after the colony had lost touch with the rest of humanity, the Company returned to exploit GP, and its forces found themselves fighting for their lives. Afraid of spreading the virus, the Company had left its remaining employees in place, afraid and isolated from the natives.
-
-
Women Are People
- By DC on 11-17-20
By: Nicola Griffith
-
Dark Earth
- A Novel
- By: Rebecca Stott
- Narrated by: Hannah Morrish
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year is 500 AD. Sisters Isla and Blue live in the shadows of the Ghost City, the abandoned ruins of the once-glorious mile-wide Roman settlement Londinium on the bank of the River Thames. But the small island they call home is also a place of exile for Isla, Blue, and their father, a legendary blacksmith accused of using dark magic to make his firetongue swords—formidable blades that cannot be broken—and cast out from the community. When he dies suddenly, the sisters find themselves facing enslavement by the local warlord and his cruel, power-hungry son.
-
-
Great story set in a dark time
- By Bruce Nunley on 10-12-22
By: Rebecca Stott
-
So Lucky
- A Novel
- By: Nicola Griffith
- Narrated by: Nicola Griffith
- Length: 4 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mara Tagarelli is, professionally, the head of a multimillion-dollar AIDS foundation; personally, she is a committed martial artist. But her life has turned inside out like a sock. She can’t rely on family, her body is letting her down, and friends and colleagues are turning away - they treat her like a victim. She needs to break that narrative: build her own community, learn new strengths, and fight. But what do you do when you find out that the story you’ve been told, the story you’ve told yourself, is not true?
-
-
Painfully autobiographical... and GOOD
- By Marcos Ibarguen on 07-07-18
By: Nicola Griffith
-
Sidroc the Dane: A Circle of Ceridwen Saga Story
- By: Octavia Randolph
- Narrated by: Nano Nagle
- Length: 16 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A discarded child fated to become a powerful Jarl - here is the story of Sidroc. Fate guides the path of his father, Hrald, to his meeting with the woman whose son would help change the face of ninth-century Angle-land. An ever-growing rivalry between Sidroc and his cousin Toki defines the boys' early years. Their young uncle, Yrling, knows success as a raider in far-off Angle-land, and trains his nephews in the ways of the warrior. Ahead of them is the perilous crossing of the North Sea, which stands between them and the plunder they seek.
-
-
Oh, to be a character in this book!
- By KarenW on 06-03-18
By: Octavia Randolph
-
The Vaster Wilds
- A Novel
- By: Lauren Groff
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A servant girl escapes from a colonial settlement in the wilderness. She carries nothing with her but her wits, a few possessions, and the spark of god that burns hot within her. What she finds in this terra incognita is beyond the limits of her imagination and will bend her belief in everything that her own civilization has taught her.
-
-
Slow torture written too hastily
- By Jennifer on 09-23-23
By: Lauren Groff
-
Rosemary and Rue
- An October Daye Novel, Book 1
- By: Seanan McGuire
- Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The world of Faerie never disappeared: it merely went into hiding, continuing to exist parallel to our own. Secrecy is the key to Faerie’s survival—but no secret can be kept forever, and when the fae and mortal worlds collide, changelings are born. Half-human, half-fae, outsiders from birth, these second-class children of Faerie spend their lives fighting for the respect of their immortal relations.
-
-
Missed Matched Pair
- By G Reinhardt on 11-26-11
By: Seanan McGuire
-
Glory Be
- A Glory Broussard Mystery, Book 1
- By: Danielle Arceneaux
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s a hot and sticky Sunday in Lafayette, Louisiana, and Glory has settled into her usual after-church routine, meeting gamblers at the local coffee shop, where she works as a small-time bookie. Sitting at her corner table, Glory hears that her best friend—a nun beloved by the community—has been found dead in her apartment. When the police declare the mysterious death a suicide, Glory is convinced that there must be more to the story and, with her reluctant daughter in tow, launches a shadow investigation in a town of oil tycoons, church gossips, and a rumored voodoo priestess.
-
-
loved it
- By Jasmin Harris on 12-26-23
-
The Silmarillion
- By: J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien
- Narrated by: Andy Serkis
- Length: 19 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The tales of The Silmarillion are set in an age when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-earth, and the High Elves made war upon him for the recovery of the Silmarils, the jewels containing the pure light of Valinor. Included on the recording are several shorter works. The Ainulindalë is a myth of the Creation and in the Valaquenta the nature and powers of each of the gods is described. The Akallabêth recounts the downfall of the great island kingdom of Númenor at the end of the Second Age, and Of the Rings of Power tells of the great events at the end of the Third Age.
-
-
TIPS when reading this book:
- By Anonymous User on 06-29-23
By: J. R. R. Tolkien, and others
-
Ithaca
- By: Claire North
- Narrated by: Catrin Walker-Booth
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seventeen years ago, King Odysseus sailed to war with Troy, taking with him every man of fighting age from the island of Ithaca. None of them has returned, and the women of Ithaca have been left behind to run the kingdom. Penelope was barely into womanhood when she wed Odysseus. While he lived, her position was secure. But now, years on, speculation is mounting that her husband is dead, and suitors are beginning to knock at her door. No one man is strong enough to claim Odysseus' empty throne—not yet.
-
-
I wanted to love this so much!
- By LiburConi on 09-11-22
By: Claire North
-
The Water Outlaws
- By: S. L. Huang
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 19 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lin Chong is an expert arms instructor, training the Emperor's soldiers in sword and truncheon, battle axe and spear, lance and crossbow. Unlike bolder friends who flirt with challenging the unequal hierarchies and values of Imperial society, she believes in keeping her head down and doing her job. But then a powerful man with a vendetta rips that carefully built life away.
-
-
Good listen!
- By Kristi Bach on 10-19-23
By: S. L. Huang
-
Learned by Heart
- By: Emma Donoghue
- Narrated by: Shiromi Arserio
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on years of investigation and Anne Lister’s five-million-word secret journal, Learned by Heart is the long-buried love story of Eliza Raine, an orphan heiress banished from India to England at age six, and Anne Lister, a brilliant, troublesome tomboy, who meet at the Manor School for young ladies in York in 1805 when they are both fourteen. Emotionally intense, psychologically compelling, and deeply researched, Learned by Heart is an extraordinary work of fiction by one of the world’s greatest storytellers.
-
-
Absorbing. Believable. Loved it
- By Anonymous User on 02-02-24
By: Emma Donoghue
-
Circe
- By: Madeline Miller
- Narrated by: Perdita Weeks
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child—not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power—the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.
-
-
Refined writing with an intimate performance
- By Michael - Audible Editor on 04-11-18
By: Madeline Miller
-
Boudica: Dreaming the Eagle
- By: Manda Scott
- Narrated by: Jerome Flynn, Liza Goddard, Philip Stevens
- Length: 23 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In AD 60, Boudica, war leader of the Eceni, led her people in a final bloody revolt against the occupying armies of Rome. It was the culmination of nearly 20 years of resistance against an occupying force that sought to crush a vibrant, complex civilisation and replace it with the laws, taxes and slavery of the Roman Empire.
-
-
Someone give me a gun!
- By Wayne on 05-14-21
By: Manda Scott
-
Katherine
- A Novel
- By: Anya Seton
- Narrated by: Lorna Bennett
- Length: 29 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in the vibrant fourteenth century of Chaucer and the Black Death, the story features knights fighting in battle, serfs struggling in poverty, and the magnificent Plantagenets—Edward III, the Black Prince, and Richard II—who rule despotically over a court rotten with intrigue. Within this era of danger and romance, John of Gaunt, the king’s son, falls passionately in love with the already-married Katherine. Their affair persists through decades of war, adultery, murder, loneliness, and redemption.
-
-
my favorite novel brought to life
- By Heather on 10-04-23
By: Anya Seton
-
The Game of Kings
- Book One in the Legendary Lymond Chronicles
- By: Dorothy Dunnett
- Narrated by: David Monteath
- Length: 21 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1547, and Scotland has been humiliated by an English invasion and is threatened by machinations elsewhere beyond its borders, but it is still free. Paradoxically, her freedom may depend on a man who stands accused of treason. He is Francis Crawford of Lymond, a scapegrace nobleman of crooked felicities and murderous talents, possessed of a scholar's erudition and a tongue as wicked as a rapier. In The Game of Kings, this extraordinary antihero returns to the country that has outlawed him to redeem his reputations even at the risk of his life.
-
-
Be prepared to be completely enthralled
- By Meta Spirit on 07-20-19
By: Dorothy Dunnett
-
Fall of Giants
- Book One of the Century Trilogy
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 30 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ken Follett's World Without End was a global phenomenon, a work of grand historical sweep beloved by millions of readers and acclaimed by critics. Fall of Giants is his magnificent new historical epic. The first novel in The Century Trilogy, it follows the fates of five interrelated families - American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh - as they move through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage.
-
-
Loved it and learned alot.
- By Louis on 10-19-10
By: Ken Follett
Critic reviews
“You will never think of them as the Dark Ages again. Nicola Griffith’s command of the era is worn lightly and delivered as a deeply engaging plot. Her insight into human nature and eye for telling detail is as keen as that of the extraordinary Hild herself. The novel resonates to many of the same chords as Beowulf, the legends of King Arthur, The Lord of the Rings, and Game of Thrones—to the extent that Hild begins to feel like the classic on which those books are based.” —Neal Stephenson
“Nicola Griffith is an awe-inspiring visionary, and I am telling everyone to snatch this book up. Hild is not just one of the best historical novels I have ever read--I think it's one of the best novels, period. It sings with pitch-perfect emotional resonance, and I damn well believe in this woman and everyone she engages. I finished the book full of gratitude that it exists, and longing for more.” —Dorothy Alison
“You could describe Hild as being like Game of Thrones without the dragons, but this is so much deeper than that, so much richer. A glorious, intensely passionate walk through an entirely real landscape, Hild leads us into the Dark Ages and makes them light, and tense, and edgy, and deeply moving. The research is flawless, the characters fully alive. If it wasn't like this, it should have been--and I'm sure that it was!” —Manda Scott
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Spear
- By: Nicola Griffith
- Narrated by: Nicola Griffith
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The girl knows she has a destiny before she even knows her name. She grows up in the wild, in a cave with her mother, but visions of a faraway lake come to her on the spring breeze, and when she hears a traveler speak of Artos, king of Caer Leon, she knows that her future lies at his court. And so, brimming with magic and eager to test her strength, she breaks her covenant with her mother and, with a broken hunting spear and mended armour, rides on a bony gelding to Caer Leon.
-
-
Sooooooo lovely!
- By J. James-Long on 03-11-25
By: Nicola Griffith
-
Ammonite
- By: Nicola Griffith
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Change or die: the only options available on the Durallium Company-owned planet GP. The planet's deadly virus had killed most of the original colonists - and changed the rest irrevocably. Centuries after the colony had lost touch with the rest of humanity, the Company returned to exploit GP, and its forces found themselves fighting for their lives. Afraid of spreading the virus, the Company had left its remaining employees in place, afraid and isolated from the natives.
-
-
Women Are People
- By DC on 11-17-20
By: Nicola Griffith
-
The Witness for the Dead
- By: Katherine Addison
- Narrated by: Liam Gerrard
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the young half-goblin emperor Maia sought to learn who had set the bombs that killed his father and half-brothers, he turned to an obscure resident of his Court, a Prelate of Ulis and a Witness for the Dead. Thara Celehar found the truth, though it did him no good to discover it. Now he lives in the City of Amalo, far from the Court though not exactly in exile. He has not escaped from politics, but his position gives him the ability to serve the common people of the city, which is his preference.
-
-
Engaging
- By K. E. on 01-05-25
-
The Vanished Birds
- A Novel
- By: Simon Jimenez
- Narrated by: Shayna Small
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A ship captain, unfettered from time. A mute child, burdened with unimaginable power. A millennia-old woman, haunted by lifetimes of mistakes. In this captivating debut of connection across space and time, these outsiders will find in each other the things they lack: a place of love and belonging. A safe haven. A new beginning. But the past hungers for them, and when it catches up, it threatens to tear this makeshift family apart.
-
-
Character driven, tech minimum space opera
- By David on 02-08-20
By: Simon Jimenez
-
Ithaca
- By: Claire North
- Narrated by: Catrin Walker-Booth
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seventeen years ago, King Odysseus sailed to war with Troy, taking with him every man of fighting age from the island of Ithaca. None of them has returned, and the women of Ithaca have been left behind to run the kingdom. Penelope was barely into womanhood when she wed Odysseus. While he lived, her position was secure. But now, years on, speculation is mounting that her husband is dead, and suitors are beginning to knock at her door. No one man is strong enough to claim Odysseus' empty throne—not yet.
-
-
I wanted to love this so much!
- By LiburConi on 09-11-22
By: Claire North
-
The Library
- A Fragile History
- By: Andrew Pettegree, Arthur der Weduwen
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 15 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Famed across the known world, jealously guarded by private collectors, built up over centuries, destroyed in a single day, ornamented with gold leaf and frescoes, or filled with bean bags and children’s drawings - the history of the library is rich, varied, and stuffed full of incident.
-
-
Stays on point
- By Alex on 04-29-23
By: Andrew Pettegree, and others
-
Spear
- By: Nicola Griffith
- Narrated by: Nicola Griffith
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The girl knows she has a destiny before she even knows her name. She grows up in the wild, in a cave with her mother, but visions of a faraway lake come to her on the spring breeze, and when she hears a traveler speak of Artos, king of Caer Leon, she knows that her future lies at his court. And so, brimming with magic and eager to test her strength, she breaks her covenant with her mother and, with a broken hunting spear and mended armour, rides on a bony gelding to Caer Leon.
-
-
Sooooooo lovely!
- By J. James-Long on 03-11-25
By: Nicola Griffith
-
Ammonite
- By: Nicola Griffith
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Change or die: the only options available on the Durallium Company-owned planet GP. The planet's deadly virus had killed most of the original colonists - and changed the rest irrevocably. Centuries after the colony had lost touch with the rest of humanity, the Company returned to exploit GP, and its forces found themselves fighting for their lives. Afraid of spreading the virus, the Company had left its remaining employees in place, afraid and isolated from the natives.
-
-
Women Are People
- By DC on 11-17-20
By: Nicola Griffith
-
The Witness for the Dead
- By: Katherine Addison
- Narrated by: Liam Gerrard
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the young half-goblin emperor Maia sought to learn who had set the bombs that killed his father and half-brothers, he turned to an obscure resident of his Court, a Prelate of Ulis and a Witness for the Dead. Thara Celehar found the truth, though it did him no good to discover it. Now he lives in the City of Amalo, far from the Court though not exactly in exile. He has not escaped from politics, but his position gives him the ability to serve the common people of the city, which is his preference.
-
-
Engaging
- By K. E. on 01-05-25
-
The Vanished Birds
- A Novel
- By: Simon Jimenez
- Narrated by: Shayna Small
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A ship captain, unfettered from time. A mute child, burdened with unimaginable power. A millennia-old woman, haunted by lifetimes of mistakes. In this captivating debut of connection across space and time, these outsiders will find in each other the things they lack: a place of love and belonging. A safe haven. A new beginning. But the past hungers for them, and when it catches up, it threatens to tear this makeshift family apart.
-
-
Character driven, tech minimum space opera
- By David on 02-08-20
By: Simon Jimenez
-
Ithaca
- By: Claire North
- Narrated by: Catrin Walker-Booth
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seventeen years ago, King Odysseus sailed to war with Troy, taking with him every man of fighting age from the island of Ithaca. None of them has returned, and the women of Ithaca have been left behind to run the kingdom. Penelope was barely into womanhood when she wed Odysseus. While he lived, her position was secure. But now, years on, speculation is mounting that her husband is dead, and suitors are beginning to knock at her door. No one man is strong enough to claim Odysseus' empty throne—not yet.
-
-
I wanted to love this so much!
- By LiburConi on 09-11-22
By: Claire North
-
The Library
- A Fragile History
- By: Andrew Pettegree, Arthur der Weduwen
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 15 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Famed across the known world, jealously guarded by private collectors, built up over centuries, destroyed in a single day, ornamented with gold leaf and frescoes, or filled with bean bags and children’s drawings - the history of the library is rich, varied, and stuffed full of incident.
-
-
Stays on point
- By Alex on 04-29-23
By: Andrew Pettegree, and others
-
Pilgrim
- A Medieval Horror
- By: Mitchell Lüthi
- Narrated by: Alan Turton
- Length: 21 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in 12th-century Jerusalem, Pilgrim follows the treacherous journey of a German knight and his companions as they return home after seven arduous years battling for God in the Holy Land. Within this sprawling tale lies a tapestry of medieval horror, intertwining history and folklore, encompassing both a metaphysical and literal odyssey.
-
-
An even greater story than I had hoped for
- By RandyMarsh on 09-13-24
By: Mitchell Lüthi
-
Circle of Days
- By: Ken Follett
- Length: 22 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seft, a talented flint miner, walks the Great Plain in the high summer heat, to witness the rituals that signal the start of a new year. He is there to trade his stone at the Midsummer Fair, and to find Neen, the girl he loves. Her family live in prosperity and offer Seft an escape from his brutish father and brothers, within their herder community. Joia, Neen’s sister, is a priestess with a vision and an unmatched ability to lead. As a child, she watches the Midsummer ceremony, enthralled, and dreams of a miraculous new monument, raised from the biggest stones in the world.
By: Ken Follett
-
Greenteeth
- By: Molly O'Neill
- Narrated by: Catrin Walker-Booth
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beneath the still surface of a lake lurks a monster with needle sharp teeth. Hungry and ready to pounce. Jenny Greenteeth has never spoken to a human before, but when a witch is thrown into her lake, something makes Jenny decide she's worth saving. Temperance doesn't know why her village has suddenly turned against her, only that it has something to do with the malevolent new pastor. Though they have nothing in common, these two must band together on a magical quest to defeat the evil that threatens Jenny's lake and Temperance's family, as well as the very soul of Britain.
-
-
Excellent original Arthurian fantasy
- By Isaac R. Friedman on 05-27-25
By: Molly O'Neill
-
A Plague of Giants
- A Novel
- By: Kevin Hearne
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels, Xe Sands
- Length: 22 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mother and warrior. Scholar and spy. Rebel and hero. Set in a magical world of terror and wonder, this novel is a deeply felt epic of courage and war, in which the fates of these characters intertwine - and where ordinary people become heroes, and their lives become legend.
-
-
It's a tough one to gauge...
- By Call of Kthalia on 11-19-17
By: Kevin Hearne
-
The Glassmaker
- A Novel
- By: Tracy Chevalier
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1486 and Venice is a wealthy, opulent center for trade. Orsola Rosso is the eldest daughter in a family of glassblowers on Murano, the island revered for the craft. As a woman, she is not meant to work with glass—but she has the hands for it, the heart, and a vision. When her father dies, she teaches herself to make glass beads in secret, and her work supports the Rosso family fortunes.
-
-
Fascinating "time-travel" concept
- By Sollidrampen on 07-23-24
By: Tracy Chevalier
-
The Evening and the Morning
- Kingsbridge, Book 4
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 24 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 997 CE, the end of the Dark Ages. England is facing attacks from the Welsh in the west and the Vikings in the east. Those in power bend justice according to their will, regardless of ordinary people and often in conflict with the king. Without a clear rule of law, chaos reigns. In these turbulent times, three characters find their lives intertwined.
-
-
I was really waiting for this book!
- By Firebolt on 09-20-20
By: Ken Follett
highly recommended
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I highly recommend this book to lovers of England, history, historical fiction, Lord of the Rings, House of Cards, Wolf Hall. It is satisfying on many levels. I am pre-ordering Part Two the moment it becomes available!
This recording is wonderful as well. The reader makes each character distinct and recognizable with her voices, yet never detracts from the story by over-acting. It is perfect. I recommend reading the book first, before listening. All the similar sounding 7th-century family names could be confusing. SO WORTH sorting out though!
Enthralled by the world of Hild
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
If you could sum up Hild in three words, what would they be?
Intense, evocative, ambitiousWhat did you like best about this story?
Strong, multi-hued, female characters and their complicated relationship to each other and the men in their world. The sense of place, era, and history. The lovely, lyrical writing makes listening to the recorded version feel like immersion into a saga poem.What about Pearl Hewitt’s performance did you like?
Initially, I did not like Ms. Hewitt's performance, thinking it sounded a little airy and lisp-y. As the story continued, however, the airiness and "lispy-ness" faded, and I grew to marvel at the many accents and nuances she brought to the characters, and her ability to pronounce all of the challenging names, words, and places featured in the story. Her excellent performance truly brought a challenging book to life for me.If you could rename Hild, what would you call it?
The Light of the WorldAny additional comments?
I listened to this book AND concurrently read a paperback version of it, which was extremely helpful to understand the characters' relationships to each other, the 7th century vocabulary and pronunciations, and the map of 7th century Britain where the action occurs. For me, it would have been difficult to get the most out of this book simply by listening to it alone.Hard work but worth it
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An absurd attention to historical detail and a memorable main character.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A strange and vivid look into 7th century England through the eyes of a girl with great power and intelligence
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Dry as an archaeological site
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellent story!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Excellent research and good storytelling
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Historical Fiction must read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Where does Hild rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Probably the best.What other book might you compare Hild to and why?
It's been described as "Game of Thrones without the dragons" and that's fairly accurate. But the writing is just beautiful, and the women are richly realized.What does Pearl Hewitt bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
She's got a gorgeous voice, and does a great job with choosing various contemporary UK or Ireland accents for the characters. I particularly enjoyed her performance of the narrator's ditzy friend Begu. She also reads like she admires and enjoys the prose, which is indeed worthy of it.Any additional comments?
There's no supernatural elements in this book, just people who believe in the supernatural (Christ included), so if you're expecting a fantasy book, bear that in mind. Also, there's a lot of dynastic politics and geopolitical maneuvering, which can sometimes be hard to follow in audio format as one tries to keep track of names and places. Griffith's website has lots of resources, including maps and a family tree. The book felt real and vivid, totally immersing me in its world. What a place to visit!I'd give it 10 stars if I could
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.