The Orenda
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Ali Ahn
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Graham Rowat
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Edoardo Ballerini
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By:
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Joseph Boyden
About this listen
History reveals itself when, in the 17th century, a Jesuit missionary ventures into the Canadian wilderness in search of converts - the defining moment of first contact between radically different worlds. What unfolds over the next several years is truly epic, constantly illuminating and surprising, sometimes comic, always entrancing, and ultimately all too human in its tragic grandeur.
Christophe has been in the New World only a year when his native guides abandon him to flee their Iroquois pursuers. A Huron warrior and elder named Bird soon takes him prisoner, along with a young Iroquois girl, Snow Falls, whose family he has just killed, and holds them captive in his massive village. Champlain's Iron People have only recently begun trading with the Huron, who mistrust them as well as this Crow who has now trespassed on to their land; and her people, of course, have become the Huron's greatest enemy. Putting both to death would resolve the issue, but Bird sees Christophe as a potential envoy to those in New France, and Snow Falls as a replacement for his two daughters who were murdered by the Iroquois.
The relationships between these three are reshaped again and again as life comes at them relentlessly: A dangerous trading mission, friendly exchanges with allied tribes, shocking victories and defeats in battle, and sicknesses the likes of which no one has ever witnessed.
The Orenda traces a story of blood and hope, suspicion and trust, hatred and love, that comes to a head when Jesuit and Huron join together against the stupendous wrath of the Iroquois, when everything that any of them has ever known or believed faces nothing less than annihilation. A saga nearly 400 years old, it is also timeless and eternal.
©2013 Joseph Boyden (P)2014 Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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- By Caron on 05-22-20
By: Lori Benton
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Stonehenge
- 2000 B.C.
- By: Bernard Cornwell
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 17 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Four thousand years ago, three brothers grow up in a land that is now Britain. One becomes a warrior, ruthless in his pursuit of gold and power. One is a mystic who sees visions of the future and hears the gods speak to him. Between them stands Sagan, the gentle brother who will dedicate his life to building a temple he hopes will bring health and peace to the land.
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A Total Diappointment.
- By JOANNE on 05-18-15
By: Bernard Cornwell
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Ka
- Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr
- By: John Crowley
- Narrated by: John Crowley
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Dar Oakley - the first Crow in all of history with a name of his own - was born two thousand years ago. When a man learns his language, Dar finally gets the chance to tell his story. He begins his tale as a young man, and how he went down to the human underworld and got hold of the immortality meant for humans, long before Julius Caesar came into the Celtic lands; how he sailed West to America with the Irish monks searching for the Paradise of the Saints; and how he continuously went down into the land of the dead and returned.
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Amazing book
- By Franklin on 04-17-18
By: John Crowley
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Walk In My Soul
- By: Lucia St. Clair Robson
- Narrated by: Laurie Klein
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Tiana was a Cherokee woman. She grew up learning the magic, spells, and nature religion of her people. Before Sam Houston became the father of Texas, he was a young man who had run away from his home in Tennessee to live among the Cherokee. He came to love Tiana. As the Cherokee would say, she walked in his soul. But Sam was a white man, and Tiana, a Cherokee. And the dreams each had for their land and their people were far apart.
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i honestly don't know what is going in this book
- By Bryntainia Holloway on 09-21-19
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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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Witch's Boy
- By: Kelly Barnhill
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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When Ned and his identical twin brother tumble from their raft into a raging, bewitched river, only Ned survives. Villagers are convinced the wrong boy lived. Sure enough, Ned grows up weak and slow, and stays as much as possible within the safe boundaries of his family's cottage and yard. But when a Bandit King comes to steal the magic that Ned's mother, a witch, is meant to protect, it's Ned who safeguards the magic and summons the strength to protect his family and community.
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Not as good as expected
- By ladybug on 03-19-17
By: Kelly Barnhill
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The Hundred Wells of Salaga
- A Novel
- By: Ayesha Harruna Attah
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Aminah lives an idyllic life until she is brutally separated from her home and forced on a journey that turns her from a daydreamer into a resilient woman. Wurche, the willful daughter of a chief, is desperate to play an important role in her father's court. These two women's lives converge as infighting among Wurche's people threatens the region, during the height of the slave trade at the end of the nineteenth century. The Hundred Wells of Salaga offers a remarkable view of slavery and how the scramble for Africa affected the lives of everyday people.
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Casca the Eternal Mercenary
- Casca Series, Book 1
- By: Barry Sadler
- Narrated by: Gene Engene
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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This is audiobook number one in the Casca Series. When they flew Casey into the hospital at Nha Trang, the medics were sure he would die. That he didn't was only the first surprise. The second, and bigger one, was that Casey had been fighting for two thousand years, ever since that day on Golgotha when he thrust his lance into the side of the man on the cross.
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An interesting story for every Soldier to read.
- By Jonathan Love on 09-22-11
By: Barry Sadler
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The Golden Queen
- The Golden Queen, Book 1
- By: David Farland
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Insectoid Dronons have slain the queen Semarritte, throwing into chaos the ten thousand worlds over which she reigned. Desperate to save mankind, Lord Veriasse, Semarritte's near-immortal consort, has created a new queen: Everynne, cloned from her dead mother. Born to rule, Everynne instead is on the run, often only one planet ahead of advancing forces of the invaders, who recognize that Everynne is a powerful rallying point for threatened humanity.
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KISS ME QUICK BIRDS
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 06-16-14
By: David Farland
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Thieving Forest
- By: Martha Conway
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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On a humid day in June 1806, on the edge of Ohio's Great Black Swamp, 17-year-old Susanna Quiner watches from behind a maple tree as a band of Potawatomi Indians kidnaps her four older sisters from their cabin. With both her parents dead and all the other settlers out in their fields, Susanna makes the rash decision to pursue them herself. What follows is a young woman's quest to find her sisters and the parallel story of her sisters' new lives.
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Skip the audiobook, read the real thing.
- By Kelly on 11-26-15
By: Martha Conway
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Daughter of the Forest
- Sevenwaters, Book 1
- By: Juliet Marillier
- Narrated by: Terry Donnelly
- Length: 26 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Lovely Sorcha is the seventh child and only daughter of Lord Colum of Sevenwaters. Bereft of a mother, she is comforted by her six brothers who love and protect her. Sorcha is the light in their lives and they are determined that she know only contentment. But Sorcha's joy is shattered when her father is bewitched by his new wife, an evil enchantress who binds her brothers with a terrible spell, a spell which only Sorcha can lift - by staying silent.
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Compelling story--but only at 1.5x
- By barefoot rabbit on 09-09-13
By: Juliet Marillier
What listeners say about The Orenda
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- James
- 03-26-16
Survival in pre-historic French Canada
An amazing insight into the beginnings of how a part of North America lives in this tale of diverse spiritual forces, the Orenda required, to creatively shape and tame a people capable of surviving in pre-historic French Canada.
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- R. Peacock Prat
- 10-02-15
A slow read but compelling story
The Orenda is not for those looking for a fast-paced, high intensity read. The story is compelling, and while the readers are at first difficult to follow, it becomes clear shortly into the story that the cast gives a perfect reading and express the author's writing with exactly the right tone. Highly recommend this book!
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- Meghan Bookmiller
- 08-24-20
Gripping and realistic tale of life the Huron
I really enjoyed listening to the alternate perspectives of the same occurrences. all characters had valid perceptions and opinions on the clash of European organized religion versus native population traditions and spiritual practices
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- Lisa
- 05-31-14
indigenous spirituality meeting western history
If you could sum up The Orenda in three words, what would they be?
Ceremonial real-life exposed.
Who was your favorite character and why?
The Huron leader's trusted friend is loyal and courageous, undaunted, a warrior.
What about the narrators’s performance did you like?
The voices of the three main characters are extremely well differentiated.
Who was the most memorable character of The Orenda and why?
The jesuit priest is so dogged in his missionary work, so disrespectful of the orenda, and his death is correspondingly marked with the respectfulness of his "sauvages".
Any additional comments?
Joseph Boyden brings to life that time in history (around the 16th century).
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6 people found this helpful
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- Amelia
- 04-03-15
Fantastic. Unbelievable.
Absolutely worth it. Harrowing, but beautifully narrated and a terrifying picture of early canada. A must read for anyone curious about early Canadian history and the relationship between the native Canadians and the Jesuit priests who landed there.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-19-20
A Compelling Read
Simultaneously beautiful and brutal . Well crafted and performed. The hours went quickly. Highly recommend.
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- Mary
- 07-13-14
Excellent, but very explicitly violent
Any additional comments?
I learned a lot listening to this book. It gave me a better understanding of this period of history in eastern Canada, and also helped me appreciate the Huron's deep connection to the natural world. The book is VERY explicitly violent, which I did not like, but the culture of the Iroquois and Hurons was very violent and the book just presents that reality. The author does a great job of character development. Naration is excellent.
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7 people found this helpful
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- newmoon
- 01-18-17
Not always an easy listen
Beautifully written and tremendous insight into a period of history most of us know little about. I could have done with about 20 fewer graphic torture scenes.
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- Sarah Broadwell
- 06-16-17
Good story, but at times too modernized
There are several traits attributed to the Huron in this book that seem too European/westernized. For instance, the scenes around pregnancy and childbirth. Yes, they would be similarly amazed at the changes during pregnancy, and the birthing, the language describing it just seemed very 20th century western.
The book sure paints an awe full picture of the Jesuit Missionaries, and how single minded they were and therefore blind to the wondrous parts of the culture they were trying to kill off.
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- Tristan
- 09-13-17
Gripping in its realism
Immersed in the world of colonialism and Huron-Iroquois warfare, the Orenda is vivid and intense in its telling of three paralel stories, offering rich point of views on all sides. Boyden is uncompromising when describing this at times violent and unforgiving period, while maintaining an immaculate sense of historical context. Not a light novel, it's simply fantastic in its realism as it immerses you in the great lakes region of the 16th century.
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2 people found this helpful