
The Priory of the Orange Tree
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Narrated by:
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Liyah Summers
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By:
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Samantha Shannon
About this listen
A world divided.
A queendom without an heir.
An ancient enemy awakens.
The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction - but assassins are getting closer to her door.
Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.
Across the dark sea, Tané has trained to be a dragonrider since she was a child but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel. Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.
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Featured Article: Books Like Game of Thrones—Best Epic Fantasy Books & Series
It's time to branch out and find some new material to fill that dragon-shaped hole in your listening life. If you liked Game of Thrones, these epic fantasy books are your next best listen. Some are standalone novels, some are the start of a new series, and others are the first in a completed series. Oh, and they're all excellent. And as Tyrion Lannister said, "... a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge."

Editor's Pick
The balance of familiar and novel is the mark of a new favorite
"There is a wave of excitement around this book. Written by the author of The Bone Season trilogy, it’s a new and fully fleshed out fantasy world filled to the brim with dragons and complex characters. Shannon has outdone herself, and listeners will be pulled through the story inexorably as they fall deeper into lives of the three main characters. Personally, I’m here for this because it strikes that middle ground between familiar and new that, as a longtime fantasy listener, I’m always searching for. It’s both a classic epic fantasy and a breakout from the genre with its deep inclusion of diverse characters and an abundance of female perspectives. Plus a fresh new narrator in Liyah Summers! Let’s do this."
—Melissa B., Audible Editor
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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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Son of Avonar
- Bridge of D'Arnath, Book 1
- By: Carol Berg
- Narrated by: Angele Masters
- Length: 19 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Magic is forbidden throughout the Four Realms. For decades, sorcerers and those associating with them were hunted to near extinction.But Seri, a Leiran noblewoman living in exile, is no stranger to defying the unjust laws of her land. She is sheltering a wanted fugitive who possesses unusual abilities-a fugitive with the fate of the realms in his hands...
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Great Series!
- By Bob-o on 08-30-16
By: Carol Berg
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Cephrael's Hand
- A Pattern of Shadow and Light, Book 1
- By: Melissa McPhail
- Narrated by: Nick Podehl
- Length: 32 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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In Alorin...300 years after the genocidal Adept Wars, the realm is dying, and the blessed Adept race dies with it. One man holds the secret to reverting this decline: Bjorn van Gelderan, a dangerous and enigmatic man whose shocking betrayal three centuries past earned him a traitor's brand. It is the Adept Vestal Raine D'Lacourte's mission to learn what Bjorn knows in the hope of salvaging his race. But first he'll have to find him....
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This is a great book!!!
- By Dason on 07-30-16
By: Melissa McPhail
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Shadowmarch
- Shadowmarch, Volume I
- By: Tad Williams
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 29 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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For generations the misty Shadowline has marked the boundary between the lands of men and the lost northern lands that are the lair of their inhuman enemies, the ageless Qar. But now that boundary line is moving outward, threatening to engulf the northernmost land in which humans still live - the kingdom of Southmarch.
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It's the characters that matter...
- By JC on 11-09-10
By: Tad Williams
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The Moon in the Palace
- The Empress of Bright Moon, Book 1
- By: Weina Dai Randel
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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There is no easy path for a woman aspiring to power. A concubine at the palace learns quickly that there are many ways to capture the emperor's attention. Many paint their faces white and style their hair attractively, hoping to lure in the One Above All with their beauty. Some present him with fantastic gifts, such as jade pendants and scrolls of calligraphy, while others rely on their knowledge of seduction to draw his interest. But young Mei knows nothing of these womanly arts, yet she will give the emperor a gift he can never forget.
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One of the most annoying narrations
- By Foodiewife on 01-28-17
By: Weina Dai Randel
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The Wretched of Muirwood
- Legends of Muirwood, Book 1
- By: Jeff Wheeler
- Narrated by: Kate Rudd
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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In the ancient and mystical land of Muirwood, Lia has known only a life of servitude. Labeled a “wretched”, an outcast unwanted and unworthy of respect, Lia is forbidden to realize her dream to read or write. All but doomed, her days are spent toiling away as a kitchen slave under the charge of the Aldermaston, the Abbey’s watchful overseer. But when an injured squire named Colvin is abandoned at the kitchen’s doorstep, an opportunity arises.
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Faith-based fantasy series
- By Skipper on 11-16-16
By: Jeff Wheeler
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The Winter King
- By: C. L. Wilson
- Narrated by: Heather Wilds
- Length: 21 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Khamsin Coruscate, Princess of Summerlea and summoner of Storms, has spent her life exiled to the shadows of her father's palace. Reviled by her father, marriage to Wintercraig's icy king was supposed to be a terrible punishment, but instead offers Kham her first taste of freedom - and her first taste of overwhelming passion. As fierce, indomitable Wynter weathers even Khamsin's wildest storms, surprising her with a tenderness she never expected, Kham wants more than Wynter's passion - she yearns for his love.
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Good until the end
- By McCall on 03-14-18
By: C. L. Wilson
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The Briar King
- The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone, Book 1
- By: Greg Keyes
- Narrated by: Patrick Michael
- Length: 19 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Two thousand years ago, the Born Queen defeated the Skasloi lords, freeing humans from the bitter yoke of slavery. But now monstrous creatures roam the land and destinies become inextricably entangled in a drama of power and seduction. The kings woodsman, a rebellious girl, a young priest, a roguish adventurer, and a young man made suddenly into a knight all face malevolent forces that shake the foundations of the kingdom, even as the Briar King, legendary harbinger of death, awakens from his slumber.
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Good stuff
- By Jake on 06-10-10
By: Greg Keyes
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The Emperor's Knife
- Book One of the Tower and Knife Trilogy
- By: Mazarkis Williams
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 15 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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There is a cancer at the heart of the mighty Cerani Empire: a plague that marks each victim with a fragment of a greater design. Geometric patterns spread across the skin, until the victim dies in agony or becomes a Carrier, doing the bidding of an evil intelligence. The lost prince Sarmin, the emperor's only surviving brother, lies locked in a hidden room. As the pattern draws closer to the palace he is at last remembered: now he awaits a bride, Mesema, a Windreader from the northern plains.
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Unable to listen
- By T Rao on 09-28-15
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Fool's Errand
- The Tawny Man Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Robin Hobb
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 25 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
For fifteen years FitzChivalry Farseer has lived in self-imposed exile, assumed to be dead by almost all who once cared about him. But now, into his isolated life, visitors begin to arrive: Fitz's mentor from his assassin days; a hedge-witch who foresees the return of a long-lost love; and the Fool, the former White Prophet, who beckons Fitz to fulfill his destiny. Then comes the summons he cannot ignore. Prince Dutiful, the young heir to the Farseer throne, has vanished.
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A solid fantasy story in first person
- By Kevin Stokes on 08-31-14
By: Robin Hobb
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Lord of the Fading Lands
- Tairen Soul, Book 1
- By: C. L. Wilson
- Narrated by: Abby Craden
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
Once he drove back the darkness. Once he loved with such passion his name was legend. Once, driven wild with grief over the murder of his beloved, the majestic Fey King Rain Tairen Soul had laid waste to the world before vanishing into the Fading Lands. Now, a thousand years later, a new threat draws him back into the world — and a new love reawakens the heart he thought long-dead. Ellysetta, a woodcarver’s daughter, calls to Rain in a way no other ever had.
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My favorite books of all time
- By Amanda on 03-03-21
By: C. L. Wilson
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The Glass Spare
- By: Lauren DeStefano
- Narrated by: Billie Fulford-Brown
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Wilhelmina Heidle, the fourth child and only daughter of the king of the world's wealthiest nation, has grown up in the shadows. Kept hidden from the world in order to serve as a spy for her father - whose obsession with building his empire is causing a war - Wil wants nothing more than to explore the world beyond her kingdom, if only her father would give her the chance. Until one night Wil is attacked, and she discovers a dangerous secret. Her touch turns people into gemstone.
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Story doesn’t finish (and a warning for parents)
- By GLENNO on 03-17-22
By: Lauren DeStefano
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Macbeth: A Novel
- By: A. J. Hartley, David Hewson
- Narrated by: Alan Cumming
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Macbeth: A Novel brings the intricacy and grit of the historical thriller to Shakespeare’s tale of political intrigue, treachery, and murder. In this full-length novel written exclusively for audio, authors A. J. Hartley and David Hewson rethink literature’s most infamous married couple, grounding them in a medieval Scotland whose military and political upheavals are as stark and dramatic as the landscape in which they are played.
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Narrator choice inspired
- By Beverly on 07-10-11
By: A. J. Hartley, and others
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Tunuva Melim is a sister of the Priory. For fifty years, she has trained to slay wyrms – but none have appeared since the Nameless One, and the younger generation is starting to question the Priory's purpose. To the north, in the Queendom of Inys, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hróth, narrowly saving both realms from ruin. Their daughter, Glorian, trails in their shadow – exactly where she wants to be. The dragons of the East have slept for centuries. Dumai has spent her life in a Seiikinese mountain temple, trying to wake the gods from their long slumber.
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Absolutely incredible and original fantasy! Just listen/read it immediately!
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The Pale Dreamer
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A dreamer is born - the exhilarating prequel to the ground-breaking, extraordinary Bone Season series. In the perilous heart of Scion London, a dangerous and valuable poltergeist is on the loose - and it must be caught before chaos erupts on the streets of the capital. Here, the clairvoyant underworld plays by its own rules, and rival gangs will stop at nothing to win such a magnificent prize. Sixteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working for Jaxon Hall, the most notorious mime-lord in the city. He thinks she is hiding a powerful gift.
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A great novella
- By Sabrina Williams on 05-01-21
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The Jasmine Throne
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Exiled by her despotic brother, princess Malini spends her days dreaming of vengeance while imprisoned in the Hirana: an ancient cliffside temple that was once the revered source of the magical deathless waters but is now little more than a decaying ruin. The secrets of the Hirana call to Priya. But in order to keep the truth of her past safely hidden, she works as a servant in the loathed regent’s household, biting her tongue and cleaning Malini’s chambers.
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I had to stop
- By Evanlee on 07-11-21
By: Tasha Suri
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The Complete Poppy War Trilogy
- The Poppy War, The Dragon Republic, The Burning God
- By: R. F. Kuang
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 66 hrs and 29 mins
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This collection features the novels in her historical military fantasy trilogy—The Poppy War, The Dragon Republic, and The Burning God—a complete epic inspired by the bloody history of China’s twentieth century and filled with treachery and magic.
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Not a book for everyone but an excellent story
- By Anonymous User on 06-23-23
By: R. F. Kuang
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She Who Became the Sun
- By: Shelley Parker-Chan
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In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.
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Almost great.
- By stacey on 09-13-21
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Crier's War
- By: Nina Varela
- Narrated by: Kim Mai Guest
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
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Overall
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After the War of Kinds ravaged the kingdom of Rabu, the Automae, designed to be the playthings of royals, usurped their owners’ estates and bent the human race to their will. Now, Ayla, a human servant rising in the ranks at the House of the Sovereign, dreams of avenging her family’s death...by killing the sovereign’s daughter, Lady Crier.
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the ending was so unsatisfying
- By April Ohms on 11-23-19
By: Nina Varela
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A Day of Fallen Night
- By: Samantha Shannon
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Tunuva Melim is a sister of the Priory. For fifty years, she has trained to slay wyrms – but none have appeared since the Nameless One, and the younger generation is starting to question the Priory's purpose. To the north, in the Queendom of Inys, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hróth, narrowly saving both realms from ruin. Their daughter, Glorian, trails in their shadow – exactly where she wants to be. The dragons of the East have slept for centuries. Dumai has spent her life in a Seiikinese mountain temple, trying to wake the gods from their long slumber.
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Absolutely incredible and original fantasy! Just listen/read it immediately!
- By Kayleigh Padilla on 10-07-23
By: Samantha Shannon
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The Pale Dreamer
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- By: Samantha Shannon
- Narrated by: Alana Kerr Collins
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A dreamer is born - the exhilarating prequel to the ground-breaking, extraordinary Bone Season series. In the perilous heart of Scion London, a dangerous and valuable poltergeist is on the loose - and it must be caught before chaos erupts on the streets of the capital. Here, the clairvoyant underworld plays by its own rules, and rival gangs will stop at nothing to win such a magnificent prize. Sixteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working for Jaxon Hall, the most notorious mime-lord in the city. He thinks she is hiding a powerful gift.
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A great novella
- By Sabrina Williams on 05-01-21
By: Samantha Shannon
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The Jasmine Throne
- By: Tasha Suri
- Narrated by: Shiromi Arserio
- Length: 19 hrs and 43 mins
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Exiled by her despotic brother, princess Malini spends her days dreaming of vengeance while imprisoned in the Hirana: an ancient cliffside temple that was once the revered source of the magical deathless waters but is now little more than a decaying ruin. The secrets of the Hirana call to Priya. But in order to keep the truth of her past safely hidden, she works as a servant in the loathed regent’s household, biting her tongue and cleaning Malini’s chambers.
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I had to stop
- By Evanlee on 07-11-21
By: Tasha Suri
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The Complete Poppy War Trilogy
- The Poppy War, The Dragon Republic, The Burning God
- By: R. F. Kuang
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 66 hrs and 29 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
This collection features the novels in her historical military fantasy trilogy—The Poppy War, The Dragon Republic, and The Burning God—a complete epic inspired by the bloody history of China’s twentieth century and filled with treachery and magic.
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Not a book for everyone but an excellent story
- By Anonymous User on 06-23-23
By: R. F. Kuang
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She Who Became the Sun
- By: Shelley Parker-Chan
- Narrated by: Natalie Naudus
- Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.
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Almost great.
- By stacey on 09-13-21
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Crier's War
- By: Nina Varela
- Narrated by: Kim Mai Guest
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
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After the War of Kinds ravaged the kingdom of Rabu, the Automae, designed to be the playthings of royals, usurped their owners’ estates and bent the human race to their will. Now, Ayla, a human servant rising in the ranks at the House of the Sovereign, dreams of avenging her family’s death...by killing the sovereign’s daughter, Lady Crier.
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the ending was so unsatisfying
- By April Ohms on 11-23-19
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The City of Brass
- A Novel
- By: S. A. Chakraborty
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 20 hrs and 1 min
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Overall
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Performance
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Nahri has never believed in magic. Certainly, she has power; on the streets of 18th-century Cairo, she’s a con woman of unsurpassed talent. But she knows better than anyone that the trades she uses to get by - palm readings, zars, and a mysterious gift for healing - are all tricks, both the means to the delightful end of swindling Ottoman nobles and a reliable way to survive. But when Nahri accidentally summons Dara, an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior, to her side during one of her cons, she’s forced to reconsider her beliefs.
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it's a love/hate thing
- By Zahai on 02-28-18
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The Will of the Many
- Hierarchy, Book 1
- By: James Islington
- Narrated by: Euan Morton
- Length: 28 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Catenan Republic—the Hierarchy—may rule the world now, but they do not know everything. I tell them my name is Vis Telimus. I tell them I was orphaned after a tragic accident three years ago, and that good fortune alone has led to my acceptance into their most prestigious school. I tell them that once I graduate, I will gladly join the rest of civilized society in allowing my strength, my drive, and my focus—what they call Will—to be leeched away and added to the power of those above me, as millions already do. As all must eventually do.
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I don’t know what the other reviews are on about
- By Chase on 06-24-23
By: James Islington
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Gideon the Ninth
- By: Tamsyn Muir
- Narrated by: Moira Quirk
- Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap out of the audio, as skillfully animated as arcane revenants. The result is a heart-pounding epic science fantasy. Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse.
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Fun. Not art, very gory, but 100% fun.
- By Sarah K. on 10-27-19
By: Tamsyn Muir
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Babel
- Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution
- By: R. F. Kuang
- Narrated by: Chris Lew Kum Hoi, Billie Fulford-Brown
- Length: 21 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. Babel is the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire’s quest for colonization.
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The novel language lovers have been waiting for
- By LisaLee on 09-06-22
By: R. F. Kuang
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The Rage of Dragons
- By: Evan Winter
- Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Omehi people have been fighting an unwinnable fight for almost 200 years. The lucky ones are born gifted. One in every 2,000 women has the power to call down dragons. One in every 100 men is able to magically transform himself into a bigger, stronger, faster killing machine. Everyone else is fodder, destined to fight and die in the endless war. Young, giftless Tau knows all this, but he has a plan of escape. He's going to get himself injured, get out early, and settle down to marriage, children, and land. Only, he doesn't get the chance. Those closest to him are murdered....
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It's... almost really good.
- By Chris on 01-25-20
By: Evan Winter
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Fireborne
- The Aurelian Cycle, Book 1
- By: Rosaria Munda
- Narrated by: Christian Coulson, Candice Moll, Steve West
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
Annie and Lee were just children when a brutal revolution changed their world, giving everyone—even the lowborn—a chance to test into the governing class of dragonriders. Now, they are both rising stars in the new regime, despite backgrounds that couldn't be more different. Annie's lowborn family was executed by dragonfire, while Lee's aristocratic family was murdered by revolutionaries. Growing up in the same orphanage forged their friendship, and seven years of training have made them rivals for the top position in the dragonriding fleet.
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Look up what Dystopian means
- By Kindle Customer on 12-11-23
By: Rosaria Munda
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The Shadow of the Gods
- By: John Gwynne
- Narrated by: Colin Mace
- Length: 18 hrs and 14 mins
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Story
After the old gods warred and drove themselves to extinction, the cataclysm of their fall shattered the land of Vigrio. Now, power-hungry jarls carve out petty kingdoms, and monsters stalk the shadow-haunted woods and mountains. A world where the bones of the dead gods still hold great power, promising fame, and fortune for those brave - or desperate - enough to seek them out. As whispers of war echo over the plains and across the fjords, fate follows the footsteps of three people. All three will shape the fate of the world, as it once more teeters on the edge of chaos.
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Not for me
- By John on 05-31-21
By: John Gwynne
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The Sword of Kaigen: A Theonite War Story
- By: M. L. Wang
- Narrated by: Andrew Tell
- Length: 24 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
On a mountainside at the edge of the Kaigenese Empire live the most powerful warriors in the world, superhumans capable of raising the sea and wielding blades of ice. For hundreds of years, the fighters of the Kusanagi Peninsula have held the Empire's enemies at bay, earning their frozen spit of land the name "The Sword of Kaigen". Born into Kusanagi's legendary Matsuda family, f14-year-old Mamoru has always known his purpose: To master his family's fighting techniques and defend his homeland.
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OH. MY. GODS! Holy emotional epicness!
- By Kevin Potter on 09-03-20
By: M. L. Wang
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The City We Became
- By: N. K. Jemisin
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
In Manhattan, a young grad student gets off the train and realizes he doesn't remember who he is, where he's from, or even his own name. But he can sense the beating heart of the city, see its history, and feel its power. In the Bronx, a Lenape gallery director discovers strange graffiti scattered throughout the city, so beautiful and powerful it's as if the paint is literally calling to her. In Brooklyn, a politician and mother finds she can hear the songs of her city, pulsing to the beat of her Louboutin heels.
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I don't understand the hype
- By Joe on 04-13-20
By: N. K. Jemisin
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Uprooted
- By: Naomi Novik
- Narrated by: Julia Emelin
- Length: 17 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.
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Great story, hard to listen to.
- By Rej on 05-21-15
By: Naomi Novik
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Malice
- A Novel
- By: Heather Walter
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Gideon
- Length: 13 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
Princess Aurora. The last heir to Briar’s throne. Kind. Gracious. The future queen her realm needs. One who isn’t bothered that I am Alyce, the Dark Grace, abhorred and feared for the mysterious dark magic that runs in my veins. Humiliated and shamed by the same nobles who pay me to bottle hexes and then brand me a monster. Aurora says I should be proud of my gifts. That she...cares for me. Even though a power like mine was responsible for her curse. But with less than a year until that curse will kill her, any future I might see with Aurora is swiftly disintegrating
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Couldn't stop listening.
- By Cori Steinberg on 04-16-21
By: Heather Walter
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The Final Strife
- A Novel
- By: Saara El-Arifi
- Narrated by: Nicole Lewis, Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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In the first book of a visionary fantasy trilogy with its roots in the mythology of Africa and Arabia that “sings of rebellion, love, and the courage it takes to stand up to tyranny” (Samantha Shannon, author of The Priory of the Orange Tree), three women band together against a cruel empire that divides people by blood.
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This One Is For Real Fantasy Fans
- By Avid reader and shopper on 11-06-22
By: Saara El-Arifi
What listeners say about The Priory of the Orange Tree
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Overall
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Performance
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- Eric Suchyta
- 03-05-19
Rich world evincing present-day issues
Samantha Shannon masterfully constructs a fantasy world underscoring many of the same issues important today -- feminism, religion and the dangers of fanaticism, distrust of outsiders, etc. Notably, the story takes place in a sophisticated, complex political climate, where there are not simple answers to everyone working together in harmony, ringing true to the globe today. Personal identity themes are also embedded throughout -- homosexuality, religion/skepticism, and the value of friendship to name a few. It's intriguing how much of society is matriarchal, allowing Shannon to explore a world where misogyny has not abounded for centuries. The story itself is very well interwoven between many characters and lands, and I found myself completely engrossed. You might feel a little confused and overwhelmed at the beginning because there are a lot of names and places to digest, but as you keep reading it all builds, connects, and becomes interwoven.
While I agree the narrator is not my favorite ever, I don't agree she's the worst ever. Some characters do sound similar, but not all. It took me a little time to get used to her delivery, but some subtleties grew on me as I listened more. I think she does a reasonable job getting across certain personality traits and drawing my attention to them, such as Ead's growing willingness to stand up to authority and Roos' disgruntled state in his perceived failures.
I listen to a lot of fantasy, and would recommend this one as worth your time.
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- Jefferson
- 08-07-21
A Contemporary Epic Fantasy with a Generic Nemesis
Tane is an apprentice dragon-rider from Seiiki in the East. For her, dragons are divine, wise, beautiful beings of air and water. Ead is a mage-agent of the Priory of the Orange Tree sent to secretly bodyguard Sabran Queen of Inys in the West while serving as one of her maids in waiting. In the West, dragons are demonic, malevolent beings of fire and earth. To Tane, Ead’s people are wicked wyrm-killers, while to Ead Tane’s people are wicked wyrm-lovers. If Tane and Ead’s cultures and religions were seeing the same creatures according to different prejudices, Samantha Shannon’s The Priory of the Orange Tree (2019) might be more interesting than it already is, but in fact they are seeing different species who only share great size, strength, and age. The dragons of the East are benign beings who fly via organs in their heads called “crowns” and breathe air, while the dragons of the West are evil monsters who fly via wings and breathe fire. And while the eastern dragons are foes of the Nameless One, the western dragons are the Nameless One’s minions.
The Nameless One is a Satanic figure who was bound down in the Abyss a thousand years ago and whose apocalyptic liberation is rumored to be at hand. Can the different peoples unite to save their world from the apparently inevitable return of the Nameless One and his draconic army? Involved with the millennia-long conflict are two celestial jewels made from and for two kinds of magic (earth and star), a powerful sword composed of both magics, three magical trees (hawthorn, mulberry, and orange), and multiple religions.
With its rival religions, Elizabethan, Africanesque, and Asiatic cultures, sublime dragons, talking birds and ichneumons and vivid descriptions (e.g., “Her voice was war conch and whale song and the distant rumble of a storm, all smoothed into words like glass shaped by the sea”), Shannon’s world is well-imagined.
The chapters of the novel rotate among four point of view characters (two female, two male) in different regions/cultures of the fantasy world (west, east, south). Shannon features more than one sympathetic gay character, as well as a post-racial world in which no one looks down on anyone else for having a different skin color, of which there are plenty. In addition to dragon-riding warriors like Tane and dragon-killing mages like Ead, there are many other strong female characters: the Gloriana-like Queen Sabran of Inys, the Golden Empress leader of 40,000 pirates, a princess trying to rule behind her demonic dragon-possessed father, a thousand-year-old witch of the wood, a younger sister who’s tougher and smarter than her big brother, and more. The male characters are less interesting, but there is a fine one, the exiled gay alchemist Niclays Roos, still mourning his high-born lover, still seeking the elixir of immortality, and still nursing a grudge.
The reader, Liyah Summers, does a good job of enhancing the text. Although she tends to get in a similar rhythm during the narration, she uses a variety of English accents (e.g., RP British, northern British, Caribbean English, and even, I think, American South) for characters from different cultures, doesn’t try too hard to make male voices sound male, and does pretty cool ichneumon and dragons and ancient witches.
The most disappointing part of the novel is the generic, one-dimensional satanic dark lord nemesis, the unimaginatively named Nameless One. There is no explanation or exploration of his motivation to turn the world into a burnt wasteland or of that of his “draconic army” (dragons, wyverns, cockatrices, basilisks et al). Milton’s Satan makes the Nameless One look empty and boring. And when you think of Cob in Le Guin’s The Farthest Shore or the Crippled God in Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen, or even of Voldemort or Sauron, Shannon’s Nameless One is disappointing. I would prefer something interesting happening whereby, for instance, it turns out that there is no Nameless One, that he is a product of religious fanaticism driving war among the human cultures, instead of a real bogeyman driving the humans to cooperate.
Other disappointing features of the book are the not infrequent times when Shannon employs glaring authorial plot contrivances or sleights of hand to put her characters through extra hard challenges or to get them from point A to point B on her map. She makes Tane and her dragon way too conveniently strong or weak depending on plot requirements.
Although it is a relief to find a one-volume stand-alone epic fantasy book these days, I often got the feeling that the novel should either have been longer or shorter. Some of the other rulers apart from Sabran maybe didn’t need to be introduced or should have been introduced earlier with more to do on stage. The Golden Empress (queen of the pirates) feels like an untied loose end.
It does require an investment of time and mind to get into ANOTHER secondary epic fantasy world with its own history and cultures and so on, but once several chapters in, the compelling characters and their various situations take over, and it becomes a page turning experience with some surprisingly moving moments. The climax was neat in being compact and exciting. But I did find that several weeks after finishing it was a rather forgettable book.
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- Liz
- 12-21-19
Wow
I didn’t really know what to expect when I started this book, but I was blown away. The complex and thorough storyline, the performance, voices, and accents—all of it was incredible. If you love fantasy, particularly fantasy worlds and stories that are built, developed, and resolved within a single novel (rather than a series), this is the book for you. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
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- Sarah Glasgow
- 05-07-19
Great all around!
Strong female characters, LGBT+ representation, a complex fantasy world, and dragons, what more can you ask for in a series? The narration was wonderfully done with unique and distinguishable voices for characters.
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- Malory Merrill
- 09-29-22
High Fantasy at its Peak
Not one wasted word in 800 pages. A grand adventure that's breadth expands across many countries and traverses political waters as well as literal waters. Romance, magic, dragon riding and slaying, knights, and pirates, this book has it all without once feeling over-crowded with ideas.
The narration captured well the varying accents of a diverse world and the emotional pulse of each scene.
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- Rebecca Gorzynska
- 06-25-21
Boring characters, so-so narration
Did not finish at 30%.
I didn't much care for the narrator - her female foreign accents were very good, but her male characters sounded either strange (or female), and it was hard to distinguish when the characters were speaking from her general narrating voice, which made the story hard to follow.
I also didn't care for either of the two main characters and didn't see much character development or personality from them.
However, the world building and writing were both lovely.
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- Mary
- 04-01-20
Amazing Standalone
I didn’t know what to expect when I picked up this book. I knew that per the author it was supposed to be a standalone but there were a lot of people that were complaining that there was no way it was. After reading this book I can 100% say it is a standalone. This story came to an end. That is not saying that she can not write another story that is down the road in this world when the characters come together again. This is a case of just because you want more does not mean that there will be more.
I enjoyed this book more than I really thought I would. The story flowed and did not drag on. There were just enough POVs to keep you engaged without being bored.
The love story was wonderful and was built into the story and I did not see it as the main focus. Which for me was a nice change.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an easy fantasy to read. Yes, it is large but it was a fun read.
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- Gianna
- 10-01-20
Top notch!
Loved this book! It was... Satisfying! I will definitely be looking for more from this author in the future.
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- Noah Kester
- 06-21-21
Just don’t listen to the audiobook
I loved the first half of this book so I downloaded the Audio version to listen to in the car. The narrator is so terrible for this book that I almost didn’t finish reading the book because she put me off so much. Her accents and pace are some of the worst I’ve ever heard to point where some specific voices hurt my head to hear.
Critically the book itself is pretty good! The ending is somewhat sloppy feeling and a little anti climatic but overall I enjoyed reading it!
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- Phillip Poythress
- 07-07-21
Spectacular
I really enjoyed the other series with the Pale Dreamer and got this book because of those but the single book was even better.
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