The Light of the Midnight Stars
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Narrated by:
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Ana Clements
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By:
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Rena Rossner
About this listen
Experience an evocative combination of fantasy, history, and Jewish folklore in this lush and lyrical fairytale-inspired novel from the author of The Sisters of the Winter Wood.
Deep in the Hungarian woods, the sacred magic of King Solomon lives on in his descendants. Gathering under the midnight stars, they perform small miracles and none are more gifted than the great Rabbi Isaac and his three daughters.
Hannah, bookish and calm, can coax plants to grow even when the weather is bitterly cold. Sarah, defiant and strong, can control the impulsive nature of fire. And Levana, the fey one, can read the path of the stars to decipher their secrets.
But darkness is creeping across Europe, threatening the lives of every Jewish person in every village. Each sister will have to make an impossible choice in an effort to survive - and change the fate of their family forever.
Praise for The Light of the Midnight Stars:
"Storytelling as spellcasting. Rossner has conjured something vivid and wild and true." (Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies)
"Rossner creates a lush, immersive world through which the sprawling plot meanders, punctuated by moments of intense grief. The result is as lovely as it is heartbreaking." (Publishers Weekly)
"Rossner's tale is as lyrical as the slow growth of roots, the quick dance of fire, and the stately procession of the stars. Blending folktale with history, hope with tragedy, its touch will linger on your heart long after you put it down." (Marie Brennan)
For more from Rena Rossner, check out The Sisters of the Winter Wood.
©2021 Rena Rossner (P)2021 RedhookListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
Sixteen when a baby is brought to her to raise, Sybel has grown up on Eld Mountain. Her only playmates are the creatures of a fantastic menagerie called there by wizardry. Sybel has cared nothing for humans, until the baby awakens emotions previously unknown to her. And when Coren--the man who brought this child--returns, Sybel's world is again turned upside down.
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Sooooooo thrilled to have it (finally) at Audible
- By Ljsc on 03-05-12
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The Witch's Heart
- By: Genevieve Gornichec
- Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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When a banished witch falls in love with the legendary trickster Loki, she risks the wrath of the gods in this moving, subversive debut novel that reimagines Norse mythology. Angrboda’s story begins where most witches' tales end: with a burning. A punishment from Odin for refusing to provide him with knowledge of the future, the fire leaves Angrboda injured and powerless, and she flees into the farthest reaches of a remote forest. There she is found by a man who reveals himself to be Loki, and her initial distrust of him transforms into a deep and abiding love.
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A Masterful Exploration of Norse Myth
- By Catherine A Rector on 02-19-21
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The Invasion of Heaven
- Part One of the Newirth Mythology
- By: Michael B. Koep
- Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir, John Rubinstein, Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Psychologist Loche Newirth becomes hunted when he sees a painting that opens a window onto the afterlife. An ancient order of men seeking to control the art pursue him across the world, through centuries, into madness, and beyond. The first part of Michael B. Koep's the Newirth Mythology The Invasion of Heaven is mystery, adventure, myth, betrayal, murder, and madness. Loche Newirth wonders if it was his fall: The 50-foot drop from the rocky cliff to the icy water below. Is this why he has been hallucinating?
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Good story - well written
- By Amy Q on 05-17-20
By: Michael B. Koep
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Guest
- A Changeling Tale
- By: Mary Downing Hahn
- Narrated by: Shelley Atkinson
- Length: 4 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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When her adorable baby brother is replaced by an ugly, ill-tempered changeling, Mollie is determined to find the so-called Kinde Folke who took baby Thomas, return the changeling she calls Guest, and make them give Thomas back. Natural and magical obstacles and her own reckless temperament make her journey arduous and full of dangers, and a plot rich in surprises and twists makes this book a must-listen for Mary Downing Hahn’s fans.
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My kids loved it!
- By TaniaP on 10-14-19
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All the Murmuring Bones
- By: A.G. Slatter
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Orphaned as a young child, Mirin O'Malley has been brought up by her grandparents on their isolated, rambling estate Hob's Hallow. Long ago her family prospered due to a deal struck with the mer, the terrifying creatures who live in the depths of the sea: safety for their merchant ships in return for a child of each generation. But for many years the family have been unable to keep their side of the bargain and their fortunes have suffered as a result. When Mirin's grandfather dies, her grandmother puts in train a plan to restore their glory - but at the price of Mirin's freedom.
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Drags on and on.
- By Amanda Turner on 04-10-21
By: A.G. Slatter
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Mark of the Raven
- The Ravenwood Saga, Book 1
- By: Morgan L. Busse
- Narrated by: Jaimee Draper
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Lady Selene is the heir to the Great House of Ravenwood and the secret family gift of dreamwalking. As a dreamwalker, she can enter a person's dreams and manipulate their greatest fears or desires. For the last hundred years, the Ravenwood women have used their gift of dreaming for hire to gather information or to assassinate. As she discovers her family's dark secret, Selene is torn between upholding her family's legacy - a legacy that supports her people - or seeking the true reason behind her family's gift.
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So glad this is on audiobook!
- By Amazon Customer on 11-09-18
By: Morgan L. Busse
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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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Book of a Thousand Days
- By: Shannon Hale
- Narrated by: Chelsea Mixon
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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When Lady Saren defies her father’s command to marry the vicious Lord Khasar, she is sealed in a tower with only her serving maid, Dashti, for company. In their cramped, dark space Dashti pours her thoughts into a daily journal while pitiless solitude engulfs them. At first the girl is optimistic: they have food aplenty, candles for light, and even a visit from Lady Saren’s true love, Khan Tegus - though he can only call to them from outside their walls. But their circumstances soon grow desperate.
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I charming little book.
- By Steve on 07-20-15
By: Shannon Hale
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West
- By: Edith Pattou
- Narrated by: Renée Raudman, Kirby Heyborne, Taylor Meskimen, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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When Rose first met Charles, he was trapped in the form of a white bear. To rescue him, Rose traveled to the land that lay east of the sun and west of the moon to defeat the evil Troll Queen. Now, Rose has found her happily ever after with Charles - until a sudden storm destroys his ship and he is presumed dead. But Rose doesn’t believe the shipwreck was an act of nature, nor does she believe Charles is truly dead. Something much more sinister is at work.
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Wonderful!
- By Diane on 05-01-19
By: Edith Pattou
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Daughters of the Storm
- By: Kim Wilkins
- Narrated by: Lucy Price-Lewis
- Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Lying in a magic-induced coma, the King of Thyrsland is on the brink of death: if his enemies knew, chaos would reign. In fear for his life and his kingdom, his five daughters set out on a perilous journey to try to save him, their only hope an aunt they have yet to meet, a shadowy practitioner of undermagic who lives on the wild northern borders. No one can stand before the fierce tattooed soldier and eldest daughter, Bluebell, an army commander who is rumoured to be unkillable....
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Boring, could not even get through half…
- By Diana M Meredith on 10-30-23
By: Kim Wilkins
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Wolf Winter
- By: Cecilia Ekback
- Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Swedish Lapland, 1717. Maija, her husband Paavo and her daughters Frederika and Dorotea arrive from their native Finland, hoping to forget the traumas of their past and put down new roots in this harsh but beautiful land. Above them looms BlackAsen, a mountain whose foreboding presence looms over the valley and whose dark history seems to haunt the lives of those who live in its shadow.
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So atmospheric, it hurts
- By Bookmarque on 08-24-15
By: Cecilia Ekback
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Beasts and Beauty
- Dangerous Tales
- By: Soman Chainani
- Narrated by: Polly Lee
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Twelve tales, 12 dangerous tales of mystery, magic, and rebellious hearts. Each twists like a spindle to reveal truths full of warning and triumph, truths that free hearts long kept tame, truths that explore life...and death.
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The Book & the Narrator
- By Johnny Morris on 08-19-22
By: Soman Chainani
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Cruel Beauty
- By: Rosamund Hodge
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom - all because of a reckless bargain her father struck. And since birth, she has been training to kill him. Betrayed by her family yet bound to obey, Nyx rails against her fate. Still, on her 17th birthday, she abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, disarm him, and break the 900-year-old curse he put on her people. But Ignifex is not what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle - a shifting maze of magical rooms - enthralls her.
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Seemed promising; ultimately hollow
- By barefoot rabbit on 04-03-14
By: Rosamund Hodge
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The Charmed Wife
- By: Olga Grushin
- Narrated by: Karissa Vacker
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Cinderella married the man of her dreams - the perfect ending she deserved after diligently following all the fairy-tale rules. Yet now, 13 and a half years later, things have gone badly wrong, and her life is far from perfect. One night, fed up and exhausted, she sneaks out of the palace to get help from the witch who, for a price, offers love potions to disgruntled housewives. But as the old hag flings the last ingredients into the cauldron, Cinderella doesn't ask for a love spell to win back her Prince Charming. Instead, she wants him dead.
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Warning
- By Ijw on 01-26-21
By: Olga Grushin
What listeners say about The Light of the Midnight Stars
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- BonnieD
- 04-20-21
Beautifully Written. Wonderfully Narrated.
The Light of the Midnight Stars is a gorgeous, captivating book set in the 14th century. It is about Rabbi Isaac and his three daughters, all of whom have special powers. When the dark mist comes creeping in, however, can they be saved?
This is a wonderful combination of history, Bible stories, fantasy and folklore that is gorgeously written by Rena Rossner. I have heard some of the Bible stories all my life but they come alive in this book and are so well told.. The Bible stories and folklore are told as "stories within the story" and are fascinating.
Although I received a free digital copy of this book, I also purchased the audiobook because I had a feeling that this would be even better in spoken form. I was right. This is the way the original stories would have been handed down, verbally from generation to generation. Ana Clements does an amazing job as narrator.
This is a finely woven together creation that defies a rating. Five stars is not enough for this exquisitely crafted novel.
My review is voluntary and my opinions are my own.
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- Meghan P.
- 11-25-21
overall great storytelling
I loved the Jewish mythology here. hard to listen to at times though- a lot of tragedy and persecution.
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- Maria
- 05-12-21
Interesting, boring, and depressing
Some really interesting folk lore and fantasy is going on in this story, but the plot is grindingly slow and poorly constructed, and while the book spends almost all of its time on character development, the characters feel very flat. Also, the book is very focused on story telling with characters telling stories within the story, but a lot of the stories they tell are not particularly interesting, or are really straightforward re-hashings of the plot so-far.
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- Sara R.
- 06-14-21
Interesting idea but missed the mark
I am a little confused as to how this book made it onto an LGBT science fiction/fantasy book list. I really wanted to like this book. I was super excited for a story based on the magic of Jewish folklore. I think I was expecting more fantasy novel with a Jewish LGBT heroine though and what I got was a collection of diaries on the day to day happenings of a Jewish family who happen to have magic with one LGBT side note thrown in. It is painfully slow and often repetitive. If you like romance dramas, coming of age stories, or historical fiction you might like it.
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- L. Pomeroy
- 11-25-22
Confusing
I didn’t like the multiple different points of views that confuse me a lot. Everything else was good though.
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- Serena
- 03-07-22
Don’t waste your time
Story started off interesting, but halfway through it was confusing and extremely plot driven. There was no emotional relatability with the characters, they were solely punching bags. The author loses all the momentum she built in the beginning. I thought I was listening to a completely different book. It also seemed as if the writer was checking off boxes in what she included as far as traumas and identity politics go. Don’t waste your time. I read well over half of the book and DNF… I just couldn’t do it.
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- Ally
- 03-25-23
Ehh. A miss for me.
Early on, the story seemed like it was going somewhere, but towards the middle it seems like the editor made the call for the story to be published and there are a lot of trailing ends. Not for me.
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