
Seven Blades in Black
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Narrated by:
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Daisy-May Parsons
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By:
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Sam Sykes
About this listen
Acclaimed author Sam Sykes returns with a brilliant new epic fantasy that introduces an unforgettable outcast mage caught between two warring empires.
Her magic was stolen. She was left for dead.
Betrayed by those she trusts most and her magic ripped from her, all Sal the Cacophony has left is her name, her story, and the weapon she used to carve both. But she has a will stronger than magic and knows exactly where to go.
The Scar, a land torn between powerful empires, where rogue mages go to disappear, disgraced soldiers go to die and Sal went with a blade, a gun, and a list of seven names.
Revenge will be its own reward.
For more from Sam Sykes, check out:
The Affinity for Steel Trilogy
- Tome of the Undergates
- Black Halo
- The Skybound Sea
Bring Down Heaven
- The City Stained Red
- The Mortal Tally
- God's Last Breath
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Critic reviews
"With skillful worldbuilding, unexpected humor, and characters real enough to touch, this is easily Sykes's best book to date."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Sykes is a master at taking familiar elements of fantasy and stirring them to a wicked, wholly original churn. In Sal the Cacophony, Sykes has crafted a protagonist for the ages. Ludicrous, wicked, delightful."—Pierce Brown, New York Times bestselling author of Red Rising
"Seven Blades in Black offers villains that are as memorable and unique as the heroes. Action, magic, romance and humor mingle well in this mammoth tale. It's an immersive read in a well realized world."—Robin Hobb, New York Times bestselling author of Fool's Assassin
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Story
The Empire of the Wolf simmers with unrest. Rebels, heretics, and powerful patricians all challenge the power of the Imperial throne. Only the Order of Justices stands in the way of chaos. Sir Konrad Vonvalt is the most feared Justice of all, upholding the law by way of his sharp mind, arcane powers, and skill as a swordsman. At his side stands Helena Sedanka, his talented protégé, orphaned by the wars that forged the Empire.
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Give it a try. Doubtful you'll regret it.
- By Taylor Ascher on 03-13-22
By: Richard Swan
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Demon's Reign
- The Bloodwood Saga, Book 1
- By: David Estes, Ben Galley
- Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
- Length: 22 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Tarkosi Terelta is a nobody. A nobody who will save his world from demons and the hellfire they bring. The third-born of a shamed family, Tarkosi's lot in life is to spend his days as a worker, feeding temperamental lancewings under a harsh master. His days in the bloodwood city of Shal Gara are full of drudgery, tedium, and pain, his own ambitions cast aside in the name of order.
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Amazing world with Amazing story!
- By Anonymous User on 12-07-22
By: David Estes, and others
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The Wolf in the Whale
- By: Jordanna Max Brodsky
- Narrated by: Jordanna Max Brodsky
- Length: 18 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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A sweeping tale of clashing cultures, warring gods, and forbidden love: In AD 1000, a young Inuit shaman and a Viking warrior become unwilling allies as war breaks out between their peoples and their gods - one that will determine the fate of them all.
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A Craftily Woven Tale
- By Sarah C Sage on 08-04-20
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Trouble Boys
- The True Story of the Replacements
- By: Bob Mehr
- Narrated by: Mary Lucia
- Length: 20 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Written with the participation of the group's key members, including reclusive singer-songwriter Paul Westerberg, bassist Tommy Stinson, and the family of late guitarist Bob Stinson, Trouble Boys is a deeply intimate and nuanced portrait, exposing the primal factors and forces - addiction, abuse, fear - that would shape one of the most brilliant and notoriously self-destructive bands of all time.
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Oh Sister!
- By Cherrybomb on 06-29-17
By: Bob Mehr
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Recurve
- The Elemental Series, Book 1
- By: Shannon Mayer
- Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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"My name is Larkspur, and I am an Elemental." My people use the power of the earth to sustain life and defy our enemies. I should be at my father's side as a royal princess. But as a half-breed, bastard child, that isn't going to happen. I've been accused of attacking the queen, my wicked stepmother, and my life is suddenly on the line. I have only two options left to me: banishment, or training to become one of the King's Elite Guards, an Ender. Option one will kill me. Option two is meant to break me, but is the only way to survive.
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Avatar on Steroids
- By MVA on 05-11-17
By: Shannon Mayer
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The Phoenix Keeper
- By: S. A. Maclean
- Narrated by: Stephanie Bentley
- Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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As head phoenix keeper at a world-renowned zoo for magical creatures, Aila's childhood dream of conserving critically endangered firebirds seems closer than ever. There's just one glaring caveat: her zoo's breeding program hasn't functioned for a decade. When a tragic phoenix heist sabotages the flagship initiative at a neighboring zoo, Aila must prove her derelict facilities are fit to take the reins. But saving an entire species from extinction requires more than stellar animal handling skills. Carnivorous water horses, tempestuous thunderhawks, mischievous dragons.
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Disappointing & Frustrating, Could Have been so much more
- By Michael J. Anderson on 09-16-24
By: S. A. Maclean
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The Raven Tower
- By: Ann Leckie
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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For centuries, the kingdom of Iraden has been protected by the god known as the Raven. He watches over his territory from atop a tower in the powerful port of Vastai. His will is enacted through the Raven's Lease, a human ruler chosen by the god himself. His magic is sustained via the blood sacrifice that every Lease must offer. And under the Raven's watch, the city flourishes. But the power of the Raven is weakening. A usurper has claimed the throne. The kingdom borders are tested by invaders who long for the prosperity that Vastai boasts.
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A Unique Perspective and an Intriguing Mystery
- By Amazon Customer on 05-15-19
By: Ann Leckie
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The Sword Defiant
- By: Gareth Hanrahan
- Narrated by: George Weightman
- Length: 19 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Many years ago, Sir Aelfric and his nine companions saved the world, seizing the Dark Lord's cursed weapons, along with his dread city of Necrad. That was the easy part. Now, when Aelfric—keeper of the cursed sword Spellbreaker—learns of a new and terrifying threat, he seeks the nine heroes once again. But they are wandering adventurers no longer. Yesterday's eager heroes are today's weary leaders—and some have turned to the darkness, becoming monsters themselves. If there's one thing Aelfric knows, it's slaying monsters. Even if they used to be his friends.
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Below average
- By Jacob dale clifford on 07-21-23
By: Gareth Hanrahan
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The Unbroken
- By: C. L. Clark
- Narrated by: Rasha Zamamiri
- Length: 18 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Touraine is a soldier. Stolen as a child and raised to kill and die for the empire, her only loyalty is to her fellow conscripts. But now, her company has been sent back to her homeland to stop a rebellion, and the ties of blood may be stronger than she thought. Luca needs a turncoat. Someone desperate enough to tiptoe the bayonet's edge between treason and orders. Someone who can sway the rebels toward peace, while Luca focuses on what really matters: getting her uncle off her throne.
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R-Rated Fantasy
- By Tin Minute Book Reviews on 04-26-21
By: C. L. Clark
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Hammajang Luck
- A Novel
- By: Makana Yamamoto
- Narrated by: Jolene Kim
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Edie is done with crime. Eight years behind bars changes a person—costs them too much time with too many of the people who need them most. And it’s all Angel’s fault. She sold Edie out in what should have been the greatest moment of their lives. Instead, Edie was shipped off to the icy prison planet spinning far below the soaring skybridges and neon catacombs of Kepler space station—of home—to spend the best part of a decade alone. But then a chance for early parole appears out of nowhere and Edie steps into the pallid sunlight to find none other than Angel waiting—and she has an offer.
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cool idea
- By Megan M. on 04-09-25
By: Makana Yamamoto
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Boudicca
- A Novel
- By: P. C. Cast
- Narrated by: Ell Potter
- Length: 18 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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In Roman-occupied Britain, the Iceni tribe crowns an extraordinary new queen. Tall and flame-haired, Boudicca is devoted to Andraste, the Iceni’s patron goddess, known for her raven familiar, her fierceness and her swirling blue tattoos. Boudicca and her two young daughters will carry the tribe forward in dangerous times. Roman tax collector Catus Decianus, expecting weakness in a female ruler, launches a devastating attack on the tribe’s stronghold. Boudicca and her family barely survive—but they refuse to bend the knee.
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Very well written.
- By Sebee on 03-28-25
By: P. C. Cast
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The Poisons We Drink
- By: Bethany Baptiste
- Narrated by: Lynnette R. Freeman
- Length: 16 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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In a country divided between humans and witchers, Venus Stoneheart hustles as a brewer making illegal love potions to support her family. Love potions is a dangerous business. Brewing has painful, debilitating side effects, and getting caught means death or a prison sentence. But what Venus is most afraid of is the dark, sentient magic within her. Then an enemy's iron bullet kills her mother, Venus's life implodes. When the powerful Grand Witcher, the ruthless head of her coven, offers Venus the chance to punish her mother's killer, she has to pay a steep price for revenge.
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What a ride!
- By Ms F on 02-15-25
By: Bethany Baptiste
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The Rage of Dragons
- By: Evan Winter
- Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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The Omehi people have been fighting an unwinnable fight for almost 200 years. The lucky ones are born gifted. One in every 2,000 women has the power to call down dragons. One in every 100 men is able to magically transform himself into a bigger, stronger, faster killing machine. Everyone else is fodder, destined to fight and die in the endless war. Young, giftless Tau knows all this, but he has a plan of escape. He's going to get himself injured, get out early, and settle down to marriage, children, and land. Only, he doesn't get the chance. Those closest to him are murdered....
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It's... almost really good.
- By Chris on 01-25-20
By: Evan Winter
Need audio editor
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Great into into a new fantasy world
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The characters feel real
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Its hard to describe this story, it has magic, violence, revenge, love, and some odd bonding. It was like listening to an JRPG that I would love to play. There are even a kind of chocobo that one could ride. The story does meander quite a bit. There are details about the details but it doesnt take away from the overall story.
The narrater was ok, the only issue I had was that it was hard sometimes to keep up with who was talking. It was almost like it was the same person speaking (or thinking) as there was very little change of tone for any of the characters. The mc, the men, the women, it was almost all the same. I mention this only because its a 21 hour book so one needs to be prepared.
What a story
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This is a fantastic book and a great listen if you speed up the narrator and ignore the odd mispronounciations and inappropriately timed gaps in sentences. I feel like the reader didn't quite do this book justice, but it's completely worth it to listen through anyway!
GREAT Read!
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Took a long time to get interesting but as a whole, good book
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Sam is an author who I consider to be part of a newer wave in fantasy - he doesn't play to the cliché of Tolkienesque elves and dwarves, of not-so-subtle colonialism that has echoed through the genre for decades. Neither does he play to the supertrend of GRIMDARK, begging to outdo the tragedies of Martin or Abercrombie.
Sam's work reliably focuses on three things: characters with deep personal problems. A grinning disregard for propriety. And perhaps most importantly, an eagerness to ask, "What if?" purely for the fun of it. Something I think writers of both the aforementioned types of fantasy would do well to reexamine.
Seven Blades in Black does exactly that, by starting with a very simple one: "What if we mashed together Kill Bill, Trigun, and Final Fantasy? Wouldn't that just take the piss?"
Sal the Cacophony's story is one immediately familiar thanks to riffing on these concepts, but through Sam's excellent world building and understanding of character becomes one very much her own. She is now one of my favorite characters of all time. Even when I hate her. Even when she hates herself.
All of this brought to vivid life by narrator Daisy May. I will admit that Daisy's heavier cockney accent made it difficult for me to understand for the first chapter or so, but damn if she isn't the best for this job. She IS the voice for Sal. I just want other potential listeners to know that it may take some getting used to early on. Some names sounded a bit to close for my ear since I hadn't personally seen the exact spelling (Galta and Calto especially come to mind, apologies if I've spelled those names wrong).
I rarely write full reviews as I always end up going on longer than I intend, but I hope that conveys to you how much I enjoyed this story and cant stand that I have to wait to read more.
See, Sam and me, he and I had a deal. He'd write the books and I'd read em, revenge for ruin. And no one will say that Kael McDonald doesn't keep his word.
Perfect Blend of Rule-of-Cool and Character Study
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Great story great narrator
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Brilliant!!!!
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Awesome Book
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