The Alchemy of Stone
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Narrated by:
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Eileen Stevens
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By:
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Ekaterina Sedia
About this listen
Mattie, an intelligent automaton skilled in the use of alchemy, finds herself caught in the middle of a conflict between gargoyles, the Mechanics, and the Alchemists. With the old order quickly giving way to the new, Mattie discovers powerful and dangerous secrets - secrets that can completely alter the balance of power in the city of Ayona. This doesn't sit well with Loharri, the Mechanic who created Mattie and still has the key to her heart - literally.
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Crewel
- Crewel World, Book 1
- By: Gennifer Albin
- Narrated by: Amanda Dolan
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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For generations, girls known as Spinsters have been called by Arras' Manipulation Services to work the looms and control what people eat, where they live, how many children they have, and even when they die. Gifted with the unusual ability to weave time with matter, 16-year-old Adelice Lewys is exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. But Adelice isn’t interested.
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Good story
- By abacuscode on 01-12-15
By: Gennifer Albin
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The Watchers
- By: A.M. Shine
- Narrated by: Jacqueline Milne
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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This forest isn't charted on any map. Every car breaks down at its treeline. Mina's is no different. Left stranded, she is forced into the dark woodland only to find a woman shouting, urging Mina to run to a concrete bunker. As the door slams behind her, the building is besieged by screams. Mina finds herself in a room with a wall of glass, and an electric light that activates at nightfall, when the watchers come above ground. These creatures emerge to observe their captive humans and terrible things happen to anyone who doesn't reach the bunker in time.
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Surprising and original
- By Leia Schoeck on 10-08-22
By: A.M. Shine
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City of Stairs
- By: Robert Jackson Bennett
- Narrated by: Alma Cuervo
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions - until its divine protectors were killed. Now Bulikov has become just another colonial outpost of the world's new geopolitical power, but the surreal landscape of the city itself - first shaped, now shattered, by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it - stands as a constant, haunting reminder of its former supremacy. Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani.
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Something Different
- By Scott S. on 10-17-14
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Bloodleaf
- By: Crystal Smith
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Princess Aurelia is a prisoner to her crown and the heir that nobody wants. Surrounded by spirits and banned from using her blood-magic, Aurelia flees her country after a devastating assassination attempt. To escape her fate, Aurelia disguises herself as a commoner in a new land and discovers a happiness her crown has never allowed. As she forges new bonds and perfects her magic, she begins to fall for a man who is forbidden to rule beside her.
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Not Understanding All the Praise
- By GPChlorine on 08-23-19
By: Crystal Smith
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The Thickety
- A Path Begins
- By: J. A. White
- Narrated by: Susan Duerden
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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When Kara Westfall was six years old, her mother was convicted of the worst of all crimes: Witchcraft. Years later, Kara and her little brother, Taff, are still shunned by the people of their village, who believe that nothing is more evil than magic…except, perhaps, the mysterious forest that covers nearly the entire island. It has many names, this place. Sometimes it is called the Dark Wood, or Sordyr's Realm. But mostly it's called the Thickety.
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Anti-witch cult
- By Leanna on 05-07-15
By: J. A. White
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Time's Children
- By: D.B. Jackson
- Narrated by: Helen Keeley
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Fifteen-year-old Tobias Doljan, a Walker trained to travel through time, is called to serve at the court of Daerjen. The sovereign, Mearlan IV, wants him to Walk back 14 years to prevent a devastating war that will destroy all of Islevale. Even though the journey will double Tobias' age, he agrees. But when he arrives, he discovers that Mearlan has already been assassinated, and his court, destroyed. The only survivor is the infant princess. Still a boy inside his newly adult body, Tobias must find a way to protect the princess from assassins and build himself a future...in the past.
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Love this!
- By Julie K. on 09-03-20
By: D.B. Jackson
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Six of Crows
- By: Leigh Bardugo
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder, Brandon Rubin, Fred Berman, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price - and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone.
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7 Narrators, But That's Not a Good Thing
- By KM on 03-18-16
By: Leigh Bardugo
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The Clockwork Three
- By: Matthew Kirby
- Narrated by: Marc Thompson
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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A team of unlikely friends - an orphaned street musician, a hard-working girl from the tenements, and a talented clockmaker's apprentice - discover that together they can overcome even the darkest of fears.
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HASTY CLIMBERS SUFFER SUDDEN FALLS
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 09-17-17
By: Matthew Kirby
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Green
- By: Jay Lake
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 16 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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She was born in poverty, in a dusty village under the equatorial sun. She does not remember her mother, she does not remember her own nameher earliest clear memory is of the day her father sold her to the tall pale man. In the Court of the Pomegranate Tree, where she was taught the ways of a courtesanand the skills of an assassinshe was named Emerald, the precious jewel of the Undying Dukes collection of beauties. She calls herself Green.
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Gods, Cat People, Female Assassins, Whips--
- By Jefferson on 02-11-11
By: Jay Lake
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At the Sign of the Crow and Moon
- A Sorcery Ascendant Prequel Novella
- By: Mitchell Hogan
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 3 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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In the bustling capital city of the Mahruse Empire, Felicienne Shyrise spends her days as a talented investigator, taking on stolen goods and missing person cases and the occasional murder the city guard are too incompetent - or too lazy - to resolve. During the nights she hones her skills playing Dominion, a board game almost as complicated as life itself. She dreams of making a name for herself and becoming the richest woman in the Empire.
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Worth It
- By Gaia on 09-23-19
By: Mitchell Hogan
What listeners say about The Alchemy of Stone
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Andrés Pérez Camarasa
- 09-08-22
Dark gothic steampunk fantasy? Yes please
A very good surprise this one.
Picked it up from the plus catalogue, and it's worth it.
A very compeling story about possessiveness, relationships, humanity at it's best and at it's worst, racism, the cost of progress and conflict.
I really liked the story and how the world keeps going into darker and darker places. I liked the characters and specially Maddie, the clockwork protagonist.
Not super fan of the voices for the gargoyles, it's rough to listen to even if they seem appropiate.
A listen worth trying in my opinion.
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- Timothy Perrigoue
- 01-23-16
Excellent on so many levels.
Where does The Alchemy of Stone rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Definitely in my top 3 favorite Audible books so far. Very glad to have discovered Ekaterina Sedia and look forward to the many other works she has created.
What did you like best about this story?
Fantasy fiction when done well causes the reader to pause in consideration of matters that are important in reality. Ms. Sedia invites the listener/reader to adjust ones vision regarding freedom, slavery, dependence, rationality, emotion, and choices. This is not fluffy writing, but an example of the Steampunk Genre that I recommend to any lover of good fiction. This is a story that requires the dark gothic elements of science and nature in imbalance in a world of clockwork and steam power, but there is meat in the message. I love this style of writing.
Have you listened to any of Eileen Stevens’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
While I have not had the privilege of hearing Eileen Stevens before now, I will look forward to her readings in the future. A great reader is a master of subtle voice characterization and making it seem effortless; Ms. Stevens holds one's attention with graceful delivery.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
"In a world where a single heart depends on a priceless key for survival..." (apologies folks)
Any additional comments?
Ekaterina Sedia is my new binge Author!
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- Kewlkev
- 05-11-22
what an ending!
It was a great story, but I don't really like sad endings. It is a great story could go into a movie and I wouldn't say that about many of them.
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- Nae
- 06-07-22
💖
I loved this so much more than I expected to! Please read this! And the voice actor is really good!
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- Alison
- 09-14-14
just not quite there
This book seemed to have lots of things going for it. Interesting premise, variety of different and intriguing characters, individual problems and civil unrest, a mix of fantasy and steam punk. But for some reason I still didn't really like it. I still have trouble pinpointing exactly what I didn't like.
Maybe it was that the political background wasn't really explained that fully, and so it's hard to get emotionally invested in the conflict which drives the main plot. Lots of books I find get too wrapped up in explaining the intricate political and social system that they've created, so much so that it swamps the plot. But this one could definitely have had more context.
Or, maybe it's that while almost all the characters have interesting back-stories they just don't seem to interact naturally. The conversations and interactions seem forced and stilted. Characters do things for reasons I don't understand. So, between not caring about the civil war and not understanding why the characters do what they do, it's sort of hard to care about what happens at all.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Marylorraine A. Spruill
- 03-31-21
Story was OK
It might have just been that I’m not used to reading steam punk books. But honestly I could see why this was a free book I had to speed up the stories several times just to get through it.
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- Janice Budd
- 12-29-11
Steam Punk with a fizzle
The title drew me to this book more than anything else. There is something magical and promising about it.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Eileen Stevens. I enjoyed the voices she gave to Mattie (the automaton), Nairobi (spelling could be off here), and the stone gargoyles, but her male voices left something to be desired. When she was narrating, her voice was a bit flat and monotonous. I almost gave up part way through, but managed to perservere to the end.
I liked the concept of the protagonist - a machine that can reason, feel physical pain and pleasure, as well as identify to a specific gender and emote enough to fall in love. The only thing lacking is a soul. The themes throughout the book were that of political power, subservience, and oppression of caste.
I was intrigued by the characters Mattie, Nairobi, and the Soul Smoker.
A few things were confusing to me. It seemed incongruous to have a sophisticated automaton in a technically backwards society. At the end of the civil unrest, I was still uncertain as to what it was all about. Character development seemed to be lacking in some of the characters that would have helped in making the story cohesive. Perhaps these things were lost in interpretation by the narrator.
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11 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Kris
- 11-03-10
Supernatural Prose Creates Haunting World
Great listen. Eileen Stevens is one of the best narrators I've ever heard. Her portrayal of the characters was fresh and charismatic. Ekaterina Sedia has created a world so different and wonderful, she could write a series of novels set in its passages. Alas, it is refreshing to know she isn't one of 'those' writers. If you like other worldly and urban fantasy come no further, this book is for you. I couldn't wait to hear more.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Bronwen
- 05-12-16
rich world barely skimmed
The steampunk fantasy world the author creates is truly interesting which is why i was disappointed with the lack of depth in which it was explored.
Alot of the mechanics of the world aren't fully justified and even when there were thin attempts to explain the way things are lot of the time i felt like the author was just saying 'because i said so, thats why'. it only bothered me because key points such as the political structure seemed totally arbitrary. and one of the characters even points out that this particular city is unusual, so it seems like it doesn't even conform to the rules of it's own world.
the story, too, didn't really seem to gel for me. it felt like disparate elements. and the ending felt very rushed and unsatisfying. the climax felt messy and arbitrary because i couldn't feel like the politics had any foundation in reason, so everyone's political motives seemed one dimensional and I just don't know why I should care about any if it, there wasn't enough investment.
the real reason I'm being so critical is because there were some really interesting concepts. I'm glad to have experienced this book, but more for the fact that now I have a colourful steampunkish magic world i can explore in my own imagination, rather than for the story itself.
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- cousinf
- 06-21-23
It was detailed and heart hurting
I loved it mostly tho I’m sad about the ending and about the automata in general
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