Queen Victoria's Book of Spells
An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy
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Narrated by:
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Kelly Lintz
About this listen
"Gaslamp fantasy", or historical fantasy set in a magical version of the nineteenth century, has long been popular with readers and writers alike. A number of wonderful fantasy novels, including Stardust by Neil Gaiman, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, and The Prestige by Christopher Priest owe their inspiration to works by nineteenth-century writers ranging from Jane Austen, the Brontes, and George Meredith to Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, and William Morris. And, of course, the entire steampunk genre and subculture owes more than a little to literature inspired by this period.
Queen Victoria's Book of Spells is an anthology for everyone who loves these works of neo-Victorian fiction and wishes to explore the wide variety of ways that modern fantasists are using nineteenth-century settings, characters, and themes. These approaches stretch from steampunk fiction to the Austen-and-Trollope inspired works that some critics call "fantasy of manners", all of which fit under the larger umbrella of gaslamp fantasy. The result is 18 stories by experts from the fantasy, horror, mainstream, and young adult fields, including both best-selling writers and exciting new talents such as Elizabeth Bear, James Blaylock, Jeffrey Ford, Ellen Kushner, Tanith Lee, Gregory Maguire, Delia Sherman, and Catherynne M. Valente, who present a bewitching vision of a nineteenth-century invested (or cursed!) with magic.
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Gregory Maguire proves himself to be “one of contemporary fiction’s most assured myth-makers” (Kirkus Reviews) with Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, his ingenious and provocative retelling of the timeless Cinderella fairy tale. Perhaps best known for his dark and breathtaking Oz series The Wicked Years—including the novel Wicked, which inspired the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical—Maguire is a master at upending the ordinary to help us see the familiar in a brilliant new light.
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A Very Human Story!
- By SamiJo McQuiston on 05-02-18
By: Gregory Maguire
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The Unseen
- A Novel
- By: Katherine Webb
- Narrated by: Clare Wille
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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Great book!
- By Dana on 09-03-12
By: Katherine Webb
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Gone with the Wind
- By: Margaret Mitchell
- Narrated by: Linda Stephens
- Length: 49 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Literature, Margaret Mitchell's great novel of the South is one of the most popular books ever written. Within six months of its publication in 1936, Gone With the Wind had sold a million copies. To date, it has been translated into 25 languages, and more than 28 million copies have been sold. Here are the characters that have become symbols of passion and desire....
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not to miss audible experience
- By dallas on 12-08-09
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Jack Maggs
- By: Peter Carey
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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With scars on his back and silver in his pocket, the huge figure of Jack Maggs strides across the rich landscape of 19th century London. As this enigmatic man moves through its streets and houses, his single-minded quest to find his son will engender love, deceit, and vengeance in the lives around him.
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Jack Maggs
- By Kathleen on 04-04-05
By: Peter Carey
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Instruments of Darkness
- A Novel
- By: Imogen Robertson
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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In the year 1780, Harriet Westerman, the willful mistress of a country manor in Sussex, finds a dead man on her grounds with a ring bearing the crest of Thornleigh Hall in his pocket. Not one to be bound by convention or to shy away from adventure, she recruits a reclusive local anatomist named Gabriel Crowther to help her find the murderer, and historical suspense's newest investigative duo is born.
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Not The Best, But Not Too Bad...
- By MJ on 01-13-13
By: Imogen Robertson
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Miss Marley
- A Christmas ghost story - a prequel to A Christmas Carol
- By: Vanessa Lafaye, Rebecca Mascul
- Narrated by: Josie Dunn
- Length: 3 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Orphans Clara and Jacob Marley live by their wits, scavenging for scraps in the poorest alleyways of London, in the shadow of the workhouse. Every night, Jake promises his little sister ‘tomorrow will be better’, and when the chance to escape poverty comes their way, he seizes it despite the terrible price. And so Jacob Marley is set on a path that leads to his infamous partnership with Ebenezer Scrooge. As Jacob builds a fortress of wealth to keep the world out, only Clara can warn him of the hideous fate that awaits him if he refuses to let love and kindness into his heart....
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Perfect Christmas read
- By A. Speller on 12-24-18
By: Vanessa Lafaye, and others
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The Fire Rose
- By: Mercedes Lackey
- Narrated by: Kate Black-Regan
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
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Accepting employment as a governess after hard times hit her family, medieval scholar Rosalind Hawkins is surprised when she learns that her mysterious employer has no children and only wants her to read to him through a speaking tube.
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Great story, poorly presented
- By Che on 02-26-10
By: Mercedes Lackey
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The Distant Hours
- By: Kate Morton
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 22 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Edie Burchill and her mother have never been close, but when a long lost letter arrives one Sunday afternoon with the return address of Milderhurst Castle, Kent, printed on its envelope, Edie begins to suspect that her mother’s emotional distance masks an old secret.
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Right Mood At The Right Time
- By Simone on 11-13-12
By: Kate Morton
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Wintersong
- By: S. Jae-Jones
- Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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All her life, 19-year-old Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, mysterious Goblin King. He is the Lord of Mischief, the Ruler Underground, and the muse around which her music is composed. Yet, as Liesl helps shoulder the burden of running her family's inn, her dreams of composition and childish fancies about the Goblin King must be set aside in favor of more practical concerns. But when her sister Kathe is taken by the goblins, Liesl journeys to their realm to rescue her sister and return her to the world above.
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Muddled
- By Ingrid on 03-13-17
By: S. Jae-Jones
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Mr. Fox
- A Novel
- By: Helen Oyeyemi
- Narrated by: Carol Boyd
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Fairy-tale romances end with a wedding and the fairy tales don't get complicated. In this book, celebrated writer Mr. Fox can't stop himself from killing off the heroines of his novels, and neither can his wife, Daphne. It's not until Mary, his muse, comes to life and transforms him from author into subject that his story begins to unfold differently....
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A Great Novel, just Poor for Audio
- By James A. Dittes on 08-13-16
By: Helen Oyeyemi
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Tess of the Road
- By: Rachel Hartman
- Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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In the medieval kingdom of Goredd, women are expected to be ladies, men are their protectors, and dragons can be whomever they choose. Tess is none of these things. Tess is...different. She speaks out of turn, has wild ideas, and can't seem to keep out of trouble. Then Tess goes too far. Tess's family decide the only path for her is a nunnery. But on the day she is to join the nuns, Tess chooses a different path for herself. She cuts her hair, pulls on her boots, and sets out on a journey. She's not running away, she's running towards something.
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Beautiful and Boring, Both.
- By Ryan on 04-05-19
By: Rachel Hartman
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Palace of Tears
- By: Julian Leatherdale
- Narrated by: Ming-Zhu Hii
- Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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The dazzling story of family, passion, secrets and vengeance, woven through the hardships of both World Wars and revealing the intriguing history of the Palace, the opulent Blue Mountains hotel famed for its luxury and mysterious owner. A sweltering summer's day, January 1914: the charismatic and ruthless Adam Fox throws a lavish birthday party for his son and heir at his elegant clifftop hotel in the Blue Mountains. Everyone is invited except Angie, the girl from the cottage next door.
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Distractingly bad acting by narrator!
- By Bunny on 01-30-16
What listeners say about Queen Victoria's Book of Spells
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Julia Weaver
- 10-10-19
Fabulous Fantasy
Fans of nineteenth-century literature and fantasy will find Delight in this selection! I felt I was Taking a Chance on this particular anthology because of the negative reviews, but I am so glad that I did take the time to listen to it. After the first story, the narrator gets her wind and sails onto a stellar performance. In my opinion, the last tale was the best.
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-31-16
enchanting,wonderful
I could listen repeatedly this is a exciting creation. Well worth the time money memories.
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- Alison
- 06-17-16
A Delicious Entrée to Gaslamp Fantasy
Any additional comments?
According to Amazon, Gaslamp fantasy is "historical fantasy set in a magical version of the Nineteenth Century." While its first cousin Steampunk emphasizes mechanics, science and steam power, Gaslamp plays with magical possibilities.
This anthology includes spinoffs of Dickens and references to real people of the Victorian era. Queen Vicki herself gets a cameo in at least two stories. One of her prime ministers, Benjamin Disraeli, stars in The Jewel in the Toad Queen's Crown while William Morris, textile designer, poet, translator and social activist, takes the stage in the story For the Briar Rose. This is definitely one of those books that whets your thirst for more information. I have a brand new fascination with both Morris and Disraeli and can't wait to see where these rabbit holes lead me!
I listened to the audio version of this book. It's one I wish I had read instead. Three of the stories are epistolary, which sometimes doesn't lend itself to audio. The performance by narrator Kelly Lintz was fine, but it's a book to dip into again and again. I will probably end up buying a physical copy for my shelves.
The list below includes what I felt were the standout stories:
Queen Victoria's Book of Spells by Delia Sherman (Epistolary - entries in a young Victoria's diaries as she learns magic)
Phosphorous by Veronica Schanoes (Some very interesting social history here.)
The Vital Importance of the Superficial by Ellen Kushner and Caroline Stervener (Epistolary, and superbly done.)
A Few Twigs He Left Behind by Gregory Maguire (A fascinating epilogue of Scrooge)
Maguire's offering in particular left me hankering for more of his writing (which surprised me because Wicked (the book) was not a big winner with me). I will also seek out works by Delia Sherman and Ellen Kushner. Book one of the Tremontaine series (Kushner) has been ordered…
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- Anonymous User
- 11-07-22
Fine
I read this both physically and via the audio book. The narrator Kelly Lintz was fine, very good in some particular stories, imo. I believe this is going to be a very forgettable anthology for me (which is not unusual for me as I tend not to connect with anthologies) and because I have already forgotten some of the stories, but the stand out for me would be:
1. The Vital Importance of the Superficial by Ellen Kushner and Caroline Stevermer which was my absolute favorite, the only one I have given ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and I have reread it immediately after I finished reading the book
2. The titular story of Queen Victoria's Book of Spells by Delia Sherman which I found fun and interesting
3. Phosphorus by Veronica Schanoes, which, while not for me due to its graphic imagery (which I don't believe was written to be gratuitous, but was a deliberate choice that had a purpose to the story), has certainly left an impact.
Here's also my thoughts and ratings of all of the stories, which I made while reading the book:
1. (and titular) Story - Queen Victoria's Book of Spells by Delia Sherman was interesting - ⭐⭐⭐
2. Story - The Fairy Enterprise by Jeffrey Ford I found to be quite disgusting and was not at all cozy, whimsical autumn vibes that I am looking for; also all of the characters were extremely unlikeable, seemingly by design, but, since I am a character driven reader, that only made me dislike the story more - ⭐⭐
3. Story - From the Catalogue of the Pavilion of the Uncanny and Marvelous, Scheduled for Premiere at the Great Exhibition (Before the Fire) by Genevieve Valentine I found to be quite a boring read; this is where I incorporated the audiobook to help me move along the stories which I wasn't enjoying as much - ⭐⭐⭐
4. Story - The Memory Book by Maureen McHugh I found to, once again, be filled to brim with unlikeable characters and I am not certain why that seems to be a trend - ⭐⭐
5. Story - La Reine D'Enfer by Kathe Koja was fine, tho I didn't notice any speculative element in the story - ⭐⭐⭐
6. Story - For the Briar Rose by Elizabeth Wein was also fine, although I found it a bit weird and I am not sure that I understood it, but that that probably because 1. I am not a mother and 2. because I am not familiar with the people that the author based her story on; also no speculative elements -⭐⭐⭐
7. Story - The Governess by Elizabeth Bear was also fine, although the last sentence of the story was quite chilling - ⭐⭐⭐
8. Story - Smithfield by James P. Blaylock I found to be quite boring - I finished it just a few days ago and I already barely remember what it was about. To be honest, the afterword about the story left a much larger impression on me than the story itself - even if my personal impression was that the author is one of those people that believe that past was better than the present or the future, that the past was better than the present or the future, which I am very much against. But at least it was passionate - ⭐⭐⭐
9. Story - The Unwanted Women of Surrey by Kaaron Warren was quite disturbing, but without much logic, imo - ⭐⭐⭐
10. Story - Charged by Leanna Renee Heiber was fine - ⭐⭐⭐
11. Story - Mr. Splitfoot by Dale Bailey I also found to be fine, but forgettable - ⭐⭐⭐
12. Story - Phosphorus by Veronica Schanoes was very hard to read for me, with its quite graphic descriptions, which, while definitely not something that I was looking for, certainly made an impact I believe the author intended - ⭐⭐⭐
13. Story - We Without Us Were Shadows by Catherine M. Valente was... hmm, well, knowing CMV's reputation for weird stories and writing style, I kinda expected something more quirky than a fantastical imagining of a day in the Bronte siblings childhood. Additionally, since I don't personally care about either the Bronte siblings or reimaginings or stories about books, I felt very meh about this one- ⭐⭐⭐
14. Story - The Vital Importance of the Superficial by Ellen Kushner and Caroline Stevermer I loved so much (despite its epistolary format to boot!!) that I reread it immediately after I finished the book!! It is absolutely my favorite one in this collection - it has 2 awesome female chars, 2 funny male chars, a parent who isn't useless and not one but 2 charming romance subplots - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
15. Story - The Jewel in the Toad Queen's Crown by Jane Yolen - sigh, the same comment applies to this one as the one for the reimagining of the Bronte siblings - I just don't care about reimaginings nor the life of British Prime Ministers - ⭐⭐⭐
16. Story - A Few Twigs He Left Behind by Gregory Maguire - I feel that I am becoming a broken record - same as with reimagenings, I don't care about retellings either. And I am also not a fan of Christmas Carol - ⭐⭐⭐
17. Story - Their Monstrous Minds by Tanith Lee - oh, look, another retelling! Of Frankenstein this time! 🙄 - ⭐⭐⭐
18. Story - Estella Saves the Village by Theodora Goss - this was the story I looked forward to the most because I love her Athena Club stories so much. However, this was quite a distressing read for me and I believe that this story should come with a trigger warning - ⭐⭐⭐
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- K. K.
- 07-23-15
Just couldn't get into these
These stories are shallow. The narration is cartoonish - a faked little girl voice. The stories themselves lack originality. Boo
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- MsJuniper
- 07-02-15
I was okay for the sample
...but about 15 minutes into the first story about Victoria's Book of Spells, I couldn't take the combination of smug, plummy-toned dramatization (combined with the author's patently obvious dislike & chip on her shoulder the first writer has for nonUSians, specifically British culture.) seemed okay for a few minutes. But it went on & on...! How someone with such US national exceptionalism writes a short story with Queen Victoria as a vehicle is bewildering. What was her motivation? ...to snark?
I just couldn't enjoy it. I was relaxing in the tub & it went from odd, to confusing to so aggravating that I had to get out, towel off, blow out the candles & do laundry.
Suffice to say, the self-satisfied notes in the performer's chosen style carried the same impression into the subsequent readings.
I'm sure it was just the combination of the first story with the first writing style. Maybe if they hadn't occurred together? Maybe they resonated off each other?
I tried to get into the other ones, but gave up, as it all blended together into one nails-on-a-chalkboard experience.
I really wanted to like this, but I'm not about to try as hard as I did for simple fantasy fiction.
Not for me. I wish I could return it, even for a partial credit.
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- Raphael
- 09-05-15
Avoid this one
I would have loved to like this book, but unfortunately the narrator spoiled it for me, sounding like she was forced to read the text. I did try to pick the book up multiple times over the last month or two, each time failing to muster enough resolve to keep on listening for more than 15-30 minutes at a time.
Maybe the stories would have been more interesting if read by someone else. However, as it stands, the ones I did get through felt shallow and didn't seem to go anywhere. It could be that there's a gem hidden somewhere in there and I just never got to it, but I seriously doubt it would have been worth the effort to keep on dredging through this book.
Life is too short and there are plenty of good books read by great narrators out there. This just isn't one of them, so save your time and go listen to something else.
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