The Invention of Fire
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Simon Vance
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By:
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Bruce Holsinger
About this listen
The author of the acclaimed medieval mystery A Burnable Book once again brings 14th-century London alive in all its color and detail in this riveting thriller featuring medieval poet and fixer John Gower - a twisty tale rife with intrigue, danger, mystery, and murder.
Though he is one of England's most acclaimed intellectuals, John Gower is no stranger to London's wretched slums and dark corners, and he knows how to trade on the secrets of the kingdom's most powerful men. When the bodies of 16 unknown men are found in a privy, the sheriff of London seeks Gower's help. The men's wounds - ragged holes created by an unknown object - are unlike anything the sheriff's men have ever seen. Tossed into the sewer, the bodies were meant to be found. Gower believes the men may have been used in an experiment - a test for a fearsome new war weapon his informants call the "handgonne", claiming it will be the "future of death" if its design can be perfected.
Propelled by questions of his own, Gower turns to courtier and civil servant Geoffrey Chaucer, who is working on some poems about pilgrims that Gower finds rather vulgar. Chaucer thinks he just may know who commissioned this new weapon, an extremely valuable piece of information that some will pay a high price for - and others will kill to conceal....
©2015 Bruce Holsinger (P)2015 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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In the pre-dawn hours of August 24th, 1305, in London's Smithfield Prison, the outlaw William Wallace - hero of all the Scots and deadly enemy of King Edward of England - sits awaiting the dawn, when he is to be hanged and then drawn and quartered. This brutal sundering of his body is the revenge of the English. Wallace is visited by a Scottish priest who has come to hear his last confession, a priest who knows Wallace like a brother. Wallace's confession - the tale that follows - is all the more remarkable because it comes from real life.
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Great Audiobook.
- By Thomas W Porter on 03-04-18
By: Jack Whyte
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Flesh and Spirit
- Lighthouse, Book 1
- By: Carol Berg
- Narrated by: Allen O'Reilly
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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The rebellious son of a long line of pureblood cartographers and diviners, Valen has spent most of his life trying to escape what society - and his family - have ordained for him. His own mother has predicted that he will meet his doom in water, blood, and ice. Her divination seems fulfilled when a comrade abandons Valen in a rainy wilderness half-dead, addicted to an enchantment that converts pain to pleasure, and possessing only a stolen book of maps.
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FIGHTING TO ADD MORE WORDS TO THIS COLLECTION
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 07-13-14
By: Carol Berg
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Quillifer
- Quillifer, Book 1
- By: Walter Jon Williams
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 18 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Quillifer is young, serially in love, studying law, and living each day keenly aware that his beloved homeport of Ethlebight risks closure due to silting of the harbor. His concerns for the future become much more immediate when he returns from a summery assignation to find his city attacked by Aekoi pirates, leading to brigands in the streets and his family and friends in chains.
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The opposite of George R R Martin (in a good way)
- By A reader on 10-30-17
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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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Captain Alatriste
- By: Arturo Pérez-Reverte
- Narrated by: Scott Brick, Margaret Sayers Peden
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Captain Alatriste is the story of a fictional 17th-century Spanish soldier who, after being wounded in battle during the Thirty Years' War, is forced to retire from the army. Now he lives the comparatively tame, though hardly quiet, life of a swordsman-for-hire in Madrid. Approached with an offer of work, Alatriste is told to go with another hired blade to an unfamiliar part of the city at midnight and wait.
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Good story...reader could be better.
- By Adina R. Montgomery on 07-26-05
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Barrowlands
- Iconoclasts, Book 0
- By: Mike Shel
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 1 hr
- Unabridged
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No one enters the doom-haunted Barrowlands without royal sanction. But Hesk Atterley has. Accompanied by seedy companions and a hunger for riches, what he finds may change his life forever...if it doesn't kill him first.
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Short but Interesting
- By Michael on 02-01-21
By: Mike Shel
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Black Wolves
- By: Kate Elliott
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 28 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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He lost his honor long ago. Captain Kellas was lauded as the king's most faithful servant until the day he failed in his duty. Dismissed from service, his elite regiment disbanded, he left the royal palace and took up another life. Now a battle brews within the palace that threatens to reveal deadly secrets and spill over into open war. The king needs a loyal soldier to protect him. Can a disgraced man ever be trusted?"
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Very engaging. Can't wait for book 2
- By Claudia Alderman on 01-15-16
By: Kate Elliott
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Deryni Rising
- Chronicles of the Deryni, Book 1
- By: Katherine Kurtz
- Narrated by: Jeff Woodman
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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In the kingdom of Gwynedd, the mysterious forces of magic and the superior power of the Church combine to challenge the rule of young Kelson. Now the fate of the Deryni -- a quasi-mortal race of sorcerers -- and, indeed, the fate of all the Eleven Kingdoms, rests on Kelson's ability to quash the rebellion by any means necessary...including the prescribed use of magic!
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WONDERFUL! Thank you Audible!
- By D Spaulding on 06-16-09
By: Katherine Kurtz
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The Bone Doll's Twin
- Tamir Triad, Book 1
- By: Lynn Flewelling
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine, Lynn Flewelling
- Length: 16 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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As people start to recall the Oracle's prophecy, Erius begins to quietly kill off his female relatives who pose the only threat to his monarchy. Constantly in fear for her life, Princess Ariani the King's sister, gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. But Ariani is married to Lord Rhius, the patron of the powerful wizard Iya, and Iya has sinister plans for the babes.
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Not a bad beginning, but . . .
- By bluestatereader on 12-29-10
By: Lynn Flewelling
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What Remains of Heroes
- A Requiem for Heroes Volume 1
- By: David Benem
- Narrated by: Andrew Tell
- Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Lannick deVeers used to be somebody. A hero, even. Then, he ran afoul of the kingdom's most powerful general and the cost he paid was nearly too much to bear. In the years that followed, his grief turned him into a shadow of his former self, and he spent his days drowning his regrets in tankards of ale. But now an unexpected encounter casts Lannick upon an unlikely path to revenge. If he can just find the strength to overcome the many mistakes of his past, he can seize the chance to become a hero once more.
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Fantasy with many lives in the balance...
- By MelHay on 12-23-15
By: David Benem
What listeners say about The Invention of Fire
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- elizabeth
- 04-09-16
Chaucer's England reimagined
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
If the reader is familiar with English history, geography, and medieval literature, its a good read. If you are not fascinated with the period, its a slow slog.
What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)
After many chapters,many hours, it was a relief to have it be over.
What aspect of Simon Vance’s performance would you have changed?
Too melodramatic.
Was The Invention of Fire worth the listening time?
not for me
Any additional comments?
Bruce Holsinger is a dedicated professor, and a sincerely hard working academic This is a hard working author, deserves credit for his tremendous work.
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2 people found this helpful
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- LilRed312
- 09-16-16
beautiful written and read
I won't give away the story but it was well written. The ending could possibly lead to another story but even if it didn't the ended tied up all lose ends. Story line is great, the attention to detail makes to feel a part of the scene. I really enjoyed the narrator's voice. I could listen to anything read him. Give it a listen. I'm only sad that the story ended.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Brent Laymon
- 12-23-18
History of handguns folded into tale of intrigue
I happen to like narrations by Simon Vance, whose voice conveys a calm, wry skepticism. I also love historical fiction. This story begins with a delightfully revolting scene in which we learn the details of medieval toilet habits. You also get delicious descriptions of how the first handguns worked, how they were made and how quickly improvements followed. Rapscallions, royalty, nobility, the skilled trades and their guilds all figure entertainingly in the story. The eventual solution to the question of whodunit, as in most examples of the genre, hardly matters.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Margaret Rodenberg
- 01-15-17
Fascinating story with great depth, perfect audio
Simon Vance does a beautiful job bringing Bruce Holsinger's intricate and intriguing story to life. This is a sequel to Holsinger's A Burnable Book, but you don't need to have read the first to enjoy the second. The same historical characters, John Gower and peripherally his friend Chaucer, are solving a crime and conspiracy that could undermine the English throne. No one is better than Holsinger at creating a rich medieval setting and weaving a fascinating mystery that will keep you engaged until the last word. Bravo to both author and performer.
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1 person found this helpful
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- julietcasey
- 09-09-15
another brilliant book by Holsinger
as always well researched, I'm a little in love with john Gower... keep them coming
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- Dorothy A. Dirienzi
- 06-30-23
Amazing story and performance
One can’t have a better writer to bring medieval life and history to life, nor a finer actor than Vance.
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- Gary
- 06-06-15
Hard to keep names straight but fabulous
Worth the effort and sometimes hard to follow but incredibly educational and enjoyable. Worth reading again
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6 people found this helpful
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- Jessica Trapp
- 08-30-15
Wow
Fantastic book. Excellent narrator. I listened to the audio on a long car trip and enjoyed every minute.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Phyllis
- 06-04-17
Delightful Nod to Chaucer
The book was wonderful on its own merits but the addition of Geoffrey Chaucer as a participating character made all the more fun. Excellent research.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Darcy
- 02-01-16
Better Second Book
What made the experience of listening to The Invention of Fire the most enjoyable?
I read this book first, and loved it, the historical detail and language.
Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?
Kept me listening for the next plot twist.
Which character – as performed by Simon Vance – was your favorite?
The best there is, I usually look for Simon Vance books on Audible first...
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No
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2 people found this helpful