River of Smoke
Ibis Trilogy, Book 2
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Narrated by:
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Sanjiv Jhaveri
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By:
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Amitav Ghosh
About this listen
The Ibis, loaded to its gunwales with a cargo of indentured servants, is in the grip of a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal; among the dozens flailing for survival are Neel, the pampered raja who has been convicted of embezzlement; Paulette, the French orphan masquerading as a deck-hand; and Deeti, the widowed poppy grower fleeing her homeland with her lover, Kalua.
The storm also threatens the clipper ship Anahita, groaning with the largest consignment of opium ever to leave India for Canton. And the Redruth, a nursery ship, carries Frederick “Fitcher” Penrose, a horticulturist determined to track down the priceless treasures of China that are hidden in plain sight: its plants that have the power to heal, or beautify, or intoxicate. All will converge in Canton’s Fanqui-town, or Foreign Enclave: a tumultuous world unto itself where civilizations clash and sometimes fuse. It is a powder keg awaiting a spark to ignite the Opium Wars.
Spectacular coincidences, startling reversals of fortune, and tender love stories abound. But this is much more than an irresistible page-turner. The blind quest for money, the primacy of the drug trade, the concealment of base impulses behind the rhetoric of freedom: in River of Smoke the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries converge, and the result is a consuming historical novel with powerful contemporary resonance. Critics praised Sea of Poppies for its vibrant storytelling, antic humor, and rich narrative scope; now Amitav Ghosh continues the epic that has charmed and compelled readers all over the globe.
©2011 Amitav Ghosh (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Charles Lenox, Victorian gentleman and armchair explorer, likes nothing more than to relax in his private study with a cup of tea, a roaring fire and a good book. But when his lifelong friend Lady Jane asks for his help, Lenox cannot resist the chance to unravel a mystery. Prudence Smith, one of Jane's former servants, is dead of an apparent suicide. But Lenox suspects something far more sinister: murder, by a rare and deadly poison.
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I like cozy
- By Sheryl on 05-21-12
By: Charles Finch
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The Quality of Mercy
- A Novel
- By: Barry Unsworth
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Barry Unsworth returns to the terrain of his Booker Prize-winning novel Sacred Hunger, this time following Sullivan, the Irish fiddler, and Erasmus Kemp, son of a Liverpool slave ship owner who hanged himself. It is the spring of 1767, and to avenge his father's death, Erasmus Kemp has had the rebellious sailors of his father's ship, including Sullivan, brought back to London to stand trial on charges of mutiny and piracy.
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Great follow up to Sacred Hunger
- By Angela on 04-29-12
By: Barry Unsworth
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The Bedlam Detective
- By: Stephen Gallagher
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Sebastian Becker, a former Pinkerton man, lives in England and investigates wealthy eccentrics who may be too insane to care for their own affairs. He is asked to investigate rich landowner Sir Owain, but arrives to discover two young girls have been murdered, and it is not the first time children have come to harm in this small town.
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Satisfying!
- By Margaret on 03-26-12
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The Woman at the Light
- A Novel
- By: Joanna Brady
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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One afternoon in 1839, Emily Lowry’s husband vanishes from Wreckers’ Cay, an isolated island off the coast of Key West where he tends the lighthouse. As days stretch into months, Emily has no choice but to take charge of Wreckers’ Cay and her husband’s duties tending the light to support her three children - and a fourth on the way. Unexpected help arrives when a runaway slave named Andrew washes up on their beach. At first, Emily is intensely wary of this strange, charming man, whose very presence there is highly illegal. But Andrew proves himself an enormous help and soon wins the hearts of the Lowry family.
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Good Listen
- By Kathleen Herbert on 08-06-12
By: Joanna Brady
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The Lost Stories of Sherlock Holmes by Dr John Watson
- By: Tony Reynolds
- Narrated by: Simon Shepherd
- Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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The recent death of one of the descendants of Dr. Watson has brought to light his personal papers. These include a number of stories that Dr. Watson suppressed at the time for various reasons. As all involved are long dead, the inheritor has agreed to the publication of a set of eight of the most interesting adventures.
By: Tony Reynolds
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The Count of Monte Cristo
- By: Alexandre Dumas
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 52 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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On the eve of his marriage to the beautiful Mercedes, having that very day been made captain of his ship, the young sailor Edmond Dantès is arrested on a charge of treason, trumped up by jealous rivals. Incarcerated for many lonely years in the isolated and terrifying Chateau d'If near Marseille, he meticulously plans his brilliant escape and extraordinary revenge.
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This is the one to spend 50 hours listening to!
- By james on 03-05-13
By: Alexandre Dumas
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Archangel
- Samaria, Book 1
- By: Sharon Shinn
- Narrated by: Tamara Marston
- Length: 17 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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A tale of the distant future by the author of The Shape-Changer's Wife brings listeners to a world in which the fate of all life rests on the voice of an angel.
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An All-TIme Favorite
- By Carol on 02-27-11
By: Sharon Shinn
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Buddenbrooks
- The Decline of a Family
- By: Thomas Mann
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 26 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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First published in 1900, when Thomas Mann was 25, Buddenbrooks is a minutely imagined chronicle of four generations of a North German mercantile family - a work so true to life that it scandalized the author’s former neighbours in his native Lübeck.
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Where Have You Been All My Life, Thomas Mann?
- By Virginia Waldron on 03-30-17
By: Thomas Mann
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Russka
- The Novel of Russia
- By: Edward Rutherfurd
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 39 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Russka is the story of four families who are divided by ethnicity but united in shaping the destiny of Russia. From a single riverside village situated at one of the country’s geographic crossroads, Russia’s Slav peasant origins are influenced by the Greco-Iranian, Khazar, Jewish, and Mongol invasions. Unified by this one place, the many cultures blend to form a rich and varied tapestry. Rutherfurd’s grand saga is as multifaceted as Russia itself.
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Wonderful Historical Novel
- By Angelyn S. Furst on 10-22-12
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Tears of the Moon
- By: Di Morrissey
- Narrated by: Kate Hood
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Broome, Australia, 1893. It's the wild and passionate heyday of the pearling industry, and when young English bride Olivia Hennessy meets the dashing pearling master, Captain Tyndall, their lives are destined to be linked by the mysterious power of the pearl. Sydney, Australia, 1995. Lily Barton embarks on a search for her family roots which leads her to Broome. But her quest for identity reveals more than she could have ever imagined.
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A thoroughly absorbing saga. . .
- By E. Stacy Creamer on 02-20-23
By: Di Morrissey
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The Bastard
- The Kent Family Chronicles, Book 1
- By: John Jakes
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 19 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Set against the colorful tumult of events that gave rise to our fledgling nation, this novel of romance and adventure introduces Phillipe Charboneau. The illegitimate son of an English nobleman, Phillipe flees Europe and, as Philip Kent, joins the men who set our course for freedom. The Bastard is the first volume in the Kent Family Chronicles, a series of novels that details one family's journey in the early years of the American nation.
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An Amazing Tale
- By will on 11-06-13
By: John Jakes
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Amerika
- The Missing Person: A New Translation by Mark Harman Based on the Restored Text
- By: Franz Kafka
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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A Brilliant new translation of the great writer's least Kafkaesque novel, based on a German-language text that was produced by a team of international scholars and that is more faithful to Kafka's original manuscript than anything we have had before. With the same expert balance of precision and nuance that marked his translation of Kafka's The Castle, the award-winning translator Mark Harman now restores the humor and particularity of language to Amerika.
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ha ha ha this is terrific
- By tom on 01-29-14
By: Franz Kafka
What listeners say about River of Smoke
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Karen
- 11-21-11
great book. flawed narration
Wonderful writing and insight into a shocking period in world history. But, the narrator, who was fine for most of the voices, was absolutely horrible in the part of Robin. So horrible, overblown, and annoying that it was painful to listen to and I came close to just buying the book in print to avoid listening to him. I wonder what the author thinks of the narrator's interpretation of this important character. It really ruined this book for me and I have been waiting for it for three years. I wonder what kind of quality control was untertaken before this was released. Not enough I think.
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3 people found this helpful
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- G. Illo
- 11-25-23
Amazing detail and outstanding performance
While I’ve enjoyed all of Amitav’s books, this really got me into the time period. I really want to know more about it and it’s a pity we don’t have much media for the events in covered in the story. Also, the performance perfectly emulated the wide variety of characters of many backgrounds. The accents of so many varieties were exceptiona
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- Listener
- 11-22-11
Review of Part 2 of the Ibis Trilogy
I read a number of professional reviews of this book (not on this site) before buying and now that I've listened to it, I feel like I read a different book from them. This book is so very dissimilar from Sea of Poppies - that book introduced a variety of characters and we followed them on their complex interesting journey that brought them together and beyond. What I found in this book was soooo much description of the time in place (ie: Canton and the pearl river delta area). It didn't seem very much happened. Diti's story opened the book, but then disappeared. Included in this story is Ah Fatt, Neal and Paulette as well as some new characters.
While short on storyline, the book is full of descriptive details that seem very authentic and vivid. But for much of the book, you'll need to be content with that and anticipating a third book that may bring more action, since the author is leading up to the Opium wars. I feel like this book should be part 1 of the next book. But as I say, my take on this book is different than others, so you may feel differently.
I wish that this book had been narrated by the narrator of SOP. This narrator is good except his very over-the-top rendition of Robin. Yes, we get he's gay. That's not the problem, it's that he often sounds like a Saturday Night Live spoof of a flaming gay man. He sounds so modern. We get most of the description of Canton in letters Robin writes to Paulette, so we hear a LOT of that character. And I think that is why so much of description was annoying to me - a little of the Robin voice as they chose to do it goes a long way. Ghosh added some light-hearted humor with Robin (ie: his unlimited pet names for Paulette), but the humor was lost to me in the extreme performance of Robin. I would not recommend this book other than it continues the trilogy and probably will be needed to get the full experience of the third part when it comes out.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Srinivas
- 05-25-18
outstanding rendition
great story.. jhaveri's narration is incredible! the variety of subtle voice modulations he presents is authentic and beyond comprehension!
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- K Cornwinkle
- 11-30-11
Funky town
One of the obvious downsides is that there is no glossary ( apparently the print edition has one). So, even though I knew it must be something else (Fanqui Town as it turns out) I couldn't help hearing it as Funky town and imagining an appropriate Sino-GeorgeClinton beat. In any case, I LIKED the narration and thought Robin was hardly over the top in his Gayness. From the text alone, without Mr. Jhaveri's hilarious rendition, it is obvious that the 20th century has no monopoly on flamers.
I quickly got used to not understanding certain words and one can understand them adequately in context. I enjoyed that Ghosh pauses in his description of scenes to list things (I guess generally in Bengali or Hindi): "the alley was crowded with pudongs, khalisha, mradupamen, lascars, sepoys and phonkas." Particularly good are the lists when there are descriptions of food. It is easy (and a good exercise) to be drawn into contemplating the deep immorality of the opium trade and realize how recently this history was brushed aside since it was Heathen Chinee. This, of course, is why WE are now addicted to plastic crap. The Celestial Ones are having the last laugh.
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7 people found this helpful
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- MDG
- 06-26-15
Wonderfully told history
The story, though set in 1830s Canton, is full of metaphors for today's world. The British opium merchants cry "free trade" as they amass fortunes by peddling their drug in China. The Emperor tries to eradicate the trade, but is thwarted by corruption in his own bureaucracy.
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- Julia
- 04-14-14
History, adventure, pathos.
Would you listen to River of Smoke again? Why?
Yes, because I love the narration, I am looking at all of the books that are performed by this narrator. I loved the characters, so many interesting character studies, I loved the history and the subject.
What was one of the most memorable moments of River of Smoke?
Hard to pick one, images of Canton in this time period, the flower boats, the description of an opium high.
Have you listened to any of Sanjiv Jhaveri’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
No, but I am definitely going to in future!
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
A romance with opium, flowers and human frailty
Any additional comments?
How does this narrator master so many accents and voices? He is incredible!
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- arrivadirchi
- 01-23-17
Wonderful historical novel to follow Sea of Poppies & precede Flood of Fire
Amitav Ghosh gives the reader a broad, multicultural & entertaining view of life in Asia preceding the Opium Wars.rich view of life in & around Canton and a Brilliant & insightful view of the life & culture which grew around the trade of opium. Gives the reader a fascinating & multifaceted understanding of British colonialism on this period of history & on the world economy . The varied cast of characters and their interwoven activities captivate the reader and lead him irresistibly through the narrative from Sea of Poppies & on through River of Smoke to just before the first of the opium wars.. I can't wait to follow Amitav Ghosh's path onto Flood of Fire.
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- Doc
- 01-11-22
A bit too slow for my taste
I was not very impressed with this book and was hard to realize where the book was going. Was highly recommend but did not live up to its expectations. The story is basically a period in time and what happened back then but wasn’t as captivating as some of James Clavells books which dealt with opium trading.
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- Anonymous User
- 04-30-16
A remarkable book read by a remarkable reader
Amitav Ghosh's trilogy takes as his subject India in the early nineteenth century and the maritime world that stretched east and west from it, from Mauritius to Macau. He renders it with such a depth of detail, intense characterizations, and depth of plot that it rendered me breathless.
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