King Kelson's Bride
A Novel of the Deryni
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Narrated by:
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Nick Sullivan
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By:
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Katherine Kurtz
About this listen
Speculation runs rampant throughout the kingdom of Gwynedd as to when, and to whom, King Kelson will finally be wed. As a rival monarch takes his place on the throne of a nearby land, it becomes more imperative than ever that Kelson produce a long-awaited heir.
Friends and enemies alike have a candidate for queen. Some put forth their ideas with passion; some with cold calculation. But while his councilors are busy trotting out potential possibilities, Kelson's heart is heavy. Two women have already been taken from his grasp - one by death and one by duplicity. Now, he must choose with his head, not his heart, for he is wed to his beloved Gwynedd by oaths far more binding than any marriage vows.
With the mystical Deryni blood flowing through his veins, Kelson can only hope for a woman whose power and conviction are equal to his own. Love is set aside for duty - and Kelson the king must make the choice that Kelson the man cannot.
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Historian and New York Times best-selling author Alison Weir is acclaimed for her absorbing works about the infamous House of York and House of Tudor lines. In A Dangerous Inheritance, Weir uses her wealth of knowledge to craft a compelling novel about two women, living 70 years apart, who are linked through the mysterious disappearance of King Richard III's nephews, Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury - also known as the Princes in the Tower.
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Not Weir's Best
- By Joshua on 01-08-13
By: Alison Weir
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Queen of the North
- By: Anne O'Brien
- Narrated by: Beth Eyre
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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1399: England’s crown is under threat. King Richard II holds on to his power by an ever-weakening thread, with exiled Henry of Lancaster back to reclaim his place on the throne. For Elizabeth Mortimer, there is only one rightful King - her eight-year-old nephew, Edmund. Only he can guarantee her fortunes and protect her family’s rule over the precious northern lands bordering Scotland.
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This book deserves a limited tv series!
- By Anonymous User on 11-19-18
By: Anne O'Brien
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Deryni Rising
- Chronicles of the Deryni, Book 1
- By: Katherine Kurtz
- Narrated by: Jeff Woodman
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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In the kingdom of Gwynedd, the mysterious forces of magic and the superior power of the Church combine to challenge the rule of young Kelson. Now the fate of the Deryni -- a quasi-mortal race of sorcerers -- and, indeed, the fate of all the Eleven Kingdoms, rests on Kelson's ability to quash the rebellion by any means necessary...including the prescribed use of magic!
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WONDERFUL! Thank you Audible!
- By D Spaulding on 06-16-09
By: Katherine Kurtz
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The Autobiography of Henry VIII
- By: Margaret George
- Narrated by: David Case
- Length: 41 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Margaret George's novel brings into focus the larger-than-life King Henry VIII, monarch of prodigious appetites for wine, women, and song.
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Perfection!
- By Amy M. Walts on 10-20-07
By: Margaret George
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Kushiel's Dart
- By: Jacqueline Carey
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 31 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassing beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good...and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.
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The Kushiel series in order
- By Glen Gaines on 10-27-09
By: Jacqueline Carey
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Shadow on the Crown
- A Novel
- By: Patricia Bracewell
- Narrated by: Katie Firth
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1002, 15-year-old Emma of Normandy crosses the Narrow Sea to wed the much older King Athelred of England, whom she meets for the first time at the church door. Thrust into an unfamiliar and treacherous court, with a husband who mistrusts her, stepsons who resent her, and a bewitching rival who covets her crown, Emma must defend herself against her enemies and secure her status as queen by bearing a son.
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Trying to return.
- By Polish Princess on 08-26-15
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While Beauty Slept
- By: Elizabeth Blackwell
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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I am not the sort of person about whom stories are told.And so begins Elise Dalriss's story. When she hears her great-granddaughter recount a minstrel's tale about a beautiful princess asleep in a tower, it pushes open a door to the past, a door Elise has long kept locked. For Elise was the companion to the real princess who slumbered-and she is the only one left who knows what actually happened so many years ago. Her story unveils a labyrinth where secrets connect to an inconceivable evil. As only Elise understands all too well, the truth is no fairy tale...
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EVIL THOUGHTS TAKE STRENGTH IN THE DARK,
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 02-08-15
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The Widow's Kiss
- By: Jane Feather
- Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Lady Guinevere Mallory has been married four times in 12 years, and each of her husbands has died mysteriously. Adept in the laws of property, she has secured the land of each of her late spouses, vastly increasing her personal wealth. After the death of her fourth husband, this trend raises some eyebrows at the royal court, and Hugh of Beaucaire is sent to investigate these puzzling events.
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Not bad, but veeerryyy ssslllooowwww narration.
- By I like to shop on 08-31-18
By: Jane Feather
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When Christ and His Saints Slept
- Plantagenets, Book 1
- By: Sharon Kay Penman
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 36 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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In When Christ and His Saints Slept, the first of a trilogy that will tell the story of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, master storyteller and historian Sharon Kay Penman illuminates one of the less known but fascinating periods of English history. It begins with the death of King Henry I, son of William the Conqueror and father of Maude, his only living legitimate offspring.
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Please release Pt 2!
- By BVerité on 06-08-19
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Naamah's Kiss
- By: Jacqueline Carey
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 26 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Once there were great magicians born to the Maghuin Dhonn, the folk of the Brown Bear, the oldest tribe in Alba. But generations ago, the greatest of them all broke a sacred oath sworn in the name of all his people. Now, only small gifts remain to them. Through her lineage, Moirin possesses such gifts---the ability to summon the twilight and conceal herself, and the skill to coax plants to grow.
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The Kushiel series in order
- By Glen Gaines on 10-27-09
By: Jacqueline Carey
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Royal Mistress
- By: Anne Easter Smith
- Narrated by: Heather Wilds
- Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Jane Lambert, the quick-witted and alluring daughter of a silk merchant, is twenty-two and still unmarried. When Jane’s father finally finds her a match, she’s married off to the dull, older silk merchant William Shore. Marriage doesn’t stop Jane from flirtation, however, and when the king’s chamberlain, Will Hastings, comes to her husband’s shop, Will knows King Edward will find her irresistible.
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All history, no romance!
- By Erin on 07-05-13
What listeners say about King Kelson's Bride
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Mia Who Sings
- 04-29-22
well narrated
the second time I've listened to this book and I really enjoyed it. the narrator did a great job on all the different voices.
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- Blk Dragon
- 05-06-19
Better than I imagined
This tied up a few loose ends yet created a few more. I just loved this and all her books. Hope to see more in the future.
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- Occasional Customer
- 01-20-17
Almost as good as the book!
Would you listen to King Kelson's Bride again? Why?
Definitely! It's an easy way to immerse yourself into the land of Gwynedd.
What was one of the most memorable moments of King Kelson's Bride?
The entire story line is fantastic. I think the best part of the entire story is not Kelson and his bride but the ceremony to in Torenth to really put Liam on the throne. The magic and politics involved in that scene are just out of this world.
What does Nick Sullivan bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
He does attempt to give different "voices" for the different characters which is not easy for him with the female voices.
Any additional comments?
The one detriment to an audio book is that the pronunciation of the character names, especially when they are not common names, may not be the same as you have always thought of them as you read.
For example, I have always thought of Meraude (Kelson's Aunt) as "mer-awd" where it is pronounced in the audio book as "mer-od" (long "o"). It may be technically correct but with a fiction book, I still think of her the way I have always done before and that pronunciation just catches at my ear!
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- Aubrey Powers
- 09-03-23
less than suspenseful
this ties up stories spending so much time on the minutes of court. the characters lack a bit of depth at this point. the good are good and the bad unquestionably bad and those with any ambiguity have none as the story progresses. what a happy fairytale ending for all involved. everyone married for love, and bad guys are dealt with in chivalry. in truth life and people are messy creatures and stories that tend to capture are the ones that explore that. this seems more of a young adult level. disappointing considering when we first met this young king there was some very real suspense about his ability to hold onto his kingdom. he never really felt in danger the whole story.
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- Katherine
- 03-20-15
Wraps up King Kelson's story
3.5 stars. Originally posted at Fantasy Literature.
Katherine Kurtz published Deryni Rising, her first novel about young King Kelson, in 1970 and published The Quest for Saint Camber, which seemed to be the final story in the HISTORIES OF KING KELSON in 1986. Then, eleven years later, she published King Kelson’s Bride, a story that ties up many loose ends and answers a few questions about how life turned out for Kelson Haldane. There will be spoilers for the previous books here, so you may want to skip this review until you’ve read up to this point.
King Kelson’s Bride begins about three years after the events of The Quest for Saint Camber. There are two major events going on in Kelson’s life right now and they will become intricately intertwined in this story.
The first is that it’s now time for Liam, the prince of one of Kelson’s vassal states, to return home after serving as a squire to Kelson’s uncle Nigel for the past several years. Initially Liam was something of a royal hostage, but Kelson figured that befriending Liam and allowing him to serve as a squire would teach Liam their ways and would help unite their kingdoms when Liam returned home to rule. When Kelson and his entourage escort Liam home and prepare to attend his coronation ceremony, they discover that treachery is afoot. The uncle who has been acting as regent for Liam doesn’t want to give up the throne.
Meanwhile, Kelson is being pressured to choose a wife so that he can secure his own throne with an heir. So far, Kelson has been unlucky in love. His first wife was killed on their wedding day and his second fiancée, a woman he still loves, was stolen from him. With Liam coming to power in a vassal state that Kelson isn’t sure he can trust, lonely Kelson realizes that he must give up on the idea of marrying for love and must simply choose an acceptable woman who will give him the greatest political advantage.
In many ways, King Kelson’s Bride is a romance novel. By the end, there are several happy couples, though I’m not going to tell you whether Kelson ends up happy or not. But it’s not all romance. The storyline involving the treachery against Liam is the major part of the plot and it’s mostly an exciting story. I say “mostly” because, as usual, there is too much pomp, ceremony, and ritual in King Kelson’s Bride.
One of the things Kurtz does best is to depict a medieval feudal lifestyle. I find it interesting that most modern readers abhor what feudalism stands for — the patriarchy, classism, sexism, and servitude — but for some reason we enjoy immersing ourselves in these worlds when we read epic fantasy. We find these stories of chivalrous lords who bravely fight evil, acquire titles and lands, and court beautiful ladies to be romantic. I suppose we’re all imaging what it would be like to be one of those well-dressed and pampered lords or ladies, NOT one of their servants.
Several other loose ends are wrapped up in King Kelson’s Bride. I won’t tell you how they turn out either, but I will say that Kurtz deals with the conflict between the Church and the Deryni, the Mearan rebellion, the cult of Saint Camber, Nigel and his neglected grandchildren, and Kelson’s mother, who has not been able to come to terms with her own Deryni powers. I think many readers will find it all to be wrapped up a little too neatly and will think that King Kelson’s Bride feels “tacked on,” which it kind of is. But many others will be pleased that most of the characters get a happy ending. Some readers may even cry.
I’m sad that Kelson’s story appears to be finished. I wish there was more and hope there will be some day. The audio versions produced by Audible Studios and narrated by Nick Sullivan are excellent.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Susan
- 03-28-23
a bit tedious
Not as good as previous books in the series. Kelson spend 75% of the story mooning/whining over his love for his soul mate, a woman he can't have. A woman who insists that he can't have her, yet keeps coming back into his life to keep his feelings alive. Then towards the end, he makes a political alliance and after just a few conversations he is convinced that he will be able to love her too. Not realistic. I expected that he would make the alliance much earlier and then would've enjoyed seeing the development of their new tender relationship over the rest of the book. But more than that, I would've been happy not to listen to his constant whining. From the title you would expect that it would be a romance and you would be wrong.
Also, there is not much suspense or conflict in the book until you get about 80% in and there is the Torrenthi political activities. But it's too little, too late. And it is frustrating for Audible listeners as almost all the Torrenthi names start with Ma-- and it's difficult to tell them apart when the narrator narrator moves faster than your brain can image the name.
Otherwise, the book is a lot of narrative and ruminating in Kelson's mind and endless conversations about who is marrying whom among his relatives. Read this only if you need to satisfy yourself that Kelson becomes a happy husband.
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- Cyn Wells
- 06-08-23
Weakest in entire Deryni series
This is probably the weakest novel in the entire Deryni series. Honestly, nothing much happens except for Kelson’s tedious moping over Rothana and a rather tedious journey to Toremtj to get Liam coronated.
It has some moments, but there’s no real action.
At times, I just wanted to slap Kelson and tell him to get over the bimbo, Rothana, and get on with his life.
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