-
The Habitation of the Blessed
- A Dirge for Prester John, Volume One
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
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Publisher's summary
This is the story of a place that never was: the kingdom of Prester John, the utopia described by an anonymous, 12th-century document that captured the imagination of the medieval world and drove hundreds of lost souls to seek out its secrets, inspiring explorers, missionaries, and kings for centuries. But what if it were all true? What if there was such a place, and a poor, broken priest once stumbled past its borders, discovering, not a Christian paradise, but a country where everything is possible, immortality is easily had, and the Western world is nothing but a dim and distant dream?
Brother Hiob of Luzerne, on missionary work in the Himalayan wilderness on the eve of the 18th century, discovers a village guarding a miraculous tree whose branches sprout books instead of fruit. These strange books chronicle the history of the kingdom of Prester John, and Hiob becomes obsessed with the tales they tell. The Habitation of the Blessed recounts the fragmented narratives found within these living volumes, revealing the life of a priest named John, and his rise to power in this country of impossible richness. John’s tale weaves together with the confessions of his wife Hagia, a blemmye — a headless creature who carried her face on her chest — as well as the tender, jeweled nursery stories of Imtithal, nanny to the royal family.
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The Tiger's Daughter
- By: K Arsenault Rivera
- Narrated by: Caroline McLaughlin
- Length: 14 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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The Hokkaran Empire has conquered every land within their bold reach - but failed to notice a lurking darkness festering within the people. Now their border walls begin to crumble, and villages fall to demons swarming out of the forests. Away on the silver steppes, the remaining tribes of nomadic Qorin retreat and protect their own, having bartered a treaty with the empire, exchanging inheritance through the dynasties. It is up to two young warriors, raised together across borders since their prophesied birth, to save the world from the encroaching demons.
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Writing format that didn't work for this book
- By kara-karina on 02-24-18
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Illuminations
- A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen
- By: Mary Sharratt
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Skillfully interweaving historical fact with psychological insight and vivid imagination, Sharratt's redemptive novel brings to life one of the most extraordinary women of the Middle Ages: Hildegard von Bingen, Benedictine abbess, visionary, and polymath. Offered to the Church at the age of eight, Hildegard was entombed in a small room where she was expected to live out her days in silent submission as the handmaiden of a renowned but disturbed young nun, Jutta von Sponheim.
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Strong woman; weak novel
- By connie on 12-01-12
By: Mary Sharratt
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She Walks in Beauty
- A Woman's Journey Through Poems
- By: Adrienne Rich, Pablo Neruda, Elizabeth Bishop, and others
- Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd, Campbell Scott, Jane Alexander, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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She Walks in Beauty draws on poetry’s eloquent wisdom to ponder the many joys and challenges of being a woman. Caroline Kennedy has divided the collection into sections that signify to her the most notable milestones, passages, and universal experiences in a woman’s life, and she begins each of these sections with an introduction in which she explores and celebrates the most important elements of life’s journey.
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Still struggling with poetry
- By Beatrice on 01-30-12
By: Adrienne Rich, and others
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Dragon's Keep
- By: Janet Lee Carey
- Narrated by: Bianca Amato
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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On Wilde Island, Rosalind and her mother live their lives in exile, awaiting the time they can reclaim their rightful place on the throne. And there is reason to hope - a 600-year-old prophesy has decreed that they will do just that. But little do they know, their destinies hinge on Rosalind's amazing, shameful secret. Beneath her gold gloves, the fourth finger of her left hand is in truth a dragon's claw.
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Get ready to be whisked away!
- By Corinne on 06-27-08
By: Janet Lee Carey
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The Architect's Apprentice
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Piter Marek
- Length: 16 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1540, 12-year-old Jahan arrives in Istanbul. As an animal tamer in the sultan's menagerie, he looks after the exceptionally smart elephant Chota and befriends (and falls for) the sultan's beautiful daughter Princess Mihrimah. A palace education leads Jahan to Mimar Sinan, the empire's chief architect, who takes Jahan under his wing as they construct (with Chota's help) some of the most magnificent buildings in history.
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I feel like I should like it more than I do
- By nyog on 04-19-17
By: Elif Shafak
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The Essex Serpent
- A Novel
- By: Sarah Perry
- Narrated by: Juanita McMahon
- Length: 14 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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When Cora Seaborne's brilliant, domineering husband dies, she steps into her new life as a widow with as much relief as sadness: her marriage was not a happy one. Wed at 19, this woman of exceptional intelligence and curiosity was ill-suited for the role of society wife. Seeking refuge in fresh air and open space in the wake of the funeral, Cora leaves London for a visit to coastal Essex, accompanied by her inquisitive and obsessive 11-year old son, Francis, and the boy's nanny, Martha.
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Unbearable Narrator
- By ACB on 06-08-17
By: Sarah Perry
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Henna House
- By: Nomi Eve
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Yemen in 1920: After passage of the Orphan's Decree, any unbetrothed Jewish child left orphaned will be instantly adopted by the local Muslim community. With her parents' health failing, and no spousal prospects in sight, Adela Damari's situation looks dire until her uncle arrives from a faraway city, bringing with him a cousin and aunt who introduce Adela to the powerful rituals of henna tattooing.
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historical fiction, read like an autobiography.
- By Anonymous User on 02-11-19
By: Nomi Eve
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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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The Anchoress
- By: Robyn Cadwallader
- Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells, Steve West
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Sarah is just 17 when she chooses to become an anchoress, a holy woman shut away in a cell that measures only seven by nine paces, at the side of the village church. Fleeing the grief of losing a much-loved sister in childbirth as well as pressure to marry the local lord's son, she decides to renounce the world - with all its dangers, desires, and temptations - and commit herself to a life of prayer. But it soon becomes clear that the thick, unforgiving walls of Sarah's cell cannot protect her as well as she had thought.
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Entertaining
- By Here-and-faraway on 07-01-15
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Good Poems
- Selected and Introduced by Garrison Keillor
- By: Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, and others
- Narrated by: Garrison Keillor
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Abridged
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Good Poems includes poems about lovers, children, failure, everyday life, death, and transcendence. It features the work of classic poets, such as Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, and Robert Frost, as well as the work of contemporary greats such as Howard Nemerov, Charles Bukowski, Donald Hall, Billy Collins, Robert Bly, and Sharon Olds Good Poems includes poems about lovers, children, failure, everyday life, death, and transcendence.
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Very good, but. . .
- By KSmith on 01-27-11
By: Emily Dickinson, and others
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Wicked
- The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
- By: Gregory Maguire
- Narrated by: John McDonough
- Length: 19 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Heralded as an instant classic of fantasy literature, Maguire has written a wonderfully imaginative retelling of The Wizard of Oz told from the Wicked Witch's point of view. More than just a fairy tale for adults, Wicked is a meditation on the nature of good and evil.
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It's not easy being green
- By PangaeaReads on 07-30-08
By: Gregory Maguire
What listeners say about The Habitation of the Blessed
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Susan B.
- 04-22-11
Very interesting novel
I think it's important that the reader/listener read the history of the Prester John legend, in order to understand how the story works. Go to Catherynne Valente's website and at least skim through Prester John's letter. This is the story of WHAT IF the Prester John legend were real? How would it have played out?
I also think it's vital to understand that the story is narrated by Brother Hiob, and that he is copying 3 different and parallel stories from the Tree of Books. One is the story of Prester John himself, one is John's wife, and the 3rd is the nanny of Queen Abir's children.
The narrator reads the book beautifully. However, I had a very hard time following the audio version. There were many new words I couldn't understand or spell, and there was no way to go back to figure them out. I've listened to many audiobooks, and this was one of the hardest I've tried to listen to (Dante being the most difficult). I actually had to buy the written version of the book to try to clarify the language.
Once, however, I finally caught on to the story, the language, the creatures, I was captivated by the story and didn't want to stop listening to it. It was a disappointment that this was just the first of a trilogy and I'm anxious to continue the story.
I read a bunch of glowing reviews for this book. Valente writes some really spectacular prose, gorgeous and crystalline. However, some of the creatures are just distracting, and prevent you from focusing on what's going on. I think she loved the bar scene in the first Star Wars movie, and wanted to create some of her own creatures. She could have benefitted by better editing that sharpened up the story some.
We read this for book club, and several folks couldn't get far enought to finish it. There also had to be some meanings behind some of the creatures, but we couldn't figure some of them out.
It could have been a 5 star book with better editing, but it was still interesting, like traveling to Wonderland!
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8 people found this helpful
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- Samuel Montgomery-Blinn
- 08-16-11
Best of Audible SFF, November 2010
Narrated by Ralph Lister for Brilliance Audio, Valente begins the series A Dirge for Prester John with The Habitation of the Blessed, my pick for the best of November 2010 in new science fiction and fantasy releases at Audible.com. John is a legendary church figure whose letters to Constantinople told of a rich, magical land of which he had become king. Here, Lister brings the three principle storylines to vibrant life as they weave in and around each other. This is not an easy book or audiobook: new words are thrown at you without much reference or warning; fantastical creatures enough to fill a taxonomy are introduced and paraded around a time and land that just doesn???t make sense. But why should it? After all, it is anti-Aristotelian. If you plant a book, a book tree will grow.
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6 people found this helpful