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The Relic Master
- A Novel
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
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Publisher's summary
From New York Times best-selling author Christopher Buckley, "one of the funniest writers in the English language" (Tom Wolfe), a compelling and hilarious adventure featuring a 16th-century relic hunter and his best friend, Albrecht Dürer, who conspire to forge the Shroud of Turin.
The year is 1517. Dismas is a relic hunter: one who procures "authentic" religious relics for wealthy and influential clients. His two most important patrons are Frederick the Wise, elector of Saxony; and soon-to-be Cardinal Albrecht of Mainz. While Frederick is drawn to the recent writing of Martin Luther, Albrecht pursues the financial and political benefits of religion and seeks to buy a cardinalship through the selling of indulgences. When Albrecht's ambitions increase his demands for grander and more marketable relics, Dismas and his artist friend, Dürer, conspire to manufacture a shroud to sell to the unsuspecting noble. Unfortunately Dürer's reckless pride exposes Albrecht's newly acquired shroud as a fake, so Albrecht puts Dismas and Dürer in the custody of four loutish mercenaries and sends them all to steal Christ's burial cloth (the Shroud of Chambéry), Europe's most celebrated relic.
On their journey to Savoy, where the Shroud will be displayed, they battle a lustful count and are joined by a beautiful female apothecary. It is only when they reach their destination that they realize they are not alone in their intentions to acquire a relic of dubious legitimacy. Filled with fascinating details about art, religion, politics, and science; Vatican intrigue; and Buckley's signature wit, The Relic Master is a delightfully rich and intelligent comic adventure.
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- Narrated by: Nadia May
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Magdalene la Batarde is the madam of the Old Priory Guesthouse in Southwark. She and her women are expected to engage in a number of sinful activities, but bloody murder isn't one of them until Baldassare, the messenger, dies. Though Baldassare isn't a regular client of the Old Priory Guesthouse, Magdalene and her women refuse to allow his death to go unavenged. Of course, their efforts aren't completely altruistic.
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Delightful
- By Jim on 08-25-05
By: Roberta Gellis
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Sylvia
- By: Bryce Courtenay
- Narrated by: Edwina Wren
- Length: 19 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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From master storyteller Bryce Courtenay comes a colorful, lusty story set in the 13th century, an epic tale of a Europe torn by religious intolerance. The story centers around Sylvia Honeyeater, who sings like an angel and can literally charm the birds from the trees. The narrative also features the Pied Piper of Hamelin, Francis of Assisi, the Muslim Sultan and his harem, and the fervor that becomes the Children's Crusade and then, later, the Crusades.
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a departure for Bryce
- By G. on 06-11-07
By: Bryce Courtenay
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The Serpent Garden
- By: Judith Merkle Riley
- Narrated by: Alison Larkin
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Susanna Dallet is the daughter of a Flemish painter and wife to a philandering husband, living in the court of Henry VIII. When her husband is murdered, Susanna is suddenly left with a household to provide for and nothing to her name. Her days of anonymity are over when Susanna finds that guild rules preventing women from working do not apply at the king’s court, and she manages to secure a position as a miniature-portrait painter. Before long, she has not only made a name for herself, she is close to those who surround Princess Mary. But even in this lofty company, Susanna is not safe....
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DON'T FALL FOR THE PRINT VERSION AMAZON REVIEWS
- By The Louligan on 03-06-14
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A Plague on Both Your Houses
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- By: Susanna Gregory
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
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Matthew Bartholomew, unorthodox but effective physician to Michaelhouse college in medieval Cambridge, is as worried as anyone about the pestilence that is ravaging Europe and seems to be approaching England. But he is distracted by the sudden and inexplicable death of the Master of Michaelhouse - a death the University authorities do not want investigated.
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I should have loved this book.
- By J. Miller on 09-11-19
By: Susanna Gregory
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The Reluctant Swordsman
- By: Dave Duncan
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Wallie Smith can feel the pain. He goes to the hospital, remembers the doctors and the commotion, but when he wakes up it all seems like a dream. However, if that was a dream how do you explain waking up in another body and in another world? Little Wallie finds himself in the physique of a barbarian swordsman, accompanied by both an eccentric priest babbling about the Goddess and a voluptuous slave girl. Is this a rude awakening or a dream come true?
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An enjoyable listen
- By Joe on 10-21-12
By: Dave Duncan
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The Iron King
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From the publishers that brought you A Game of Thrones comes the series that inspired George R.R. Martin’s epic work. France became a great nation under Philip the Fair - but it was a greatness achieved at the expense of her people, for his was a reign characterised by violence, the scandalous adulteries of his daughters-in-law, and the triumph of royal authority.
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Historical Goodie
- By Syd Young on 08-03-13
By: Maurice Druon
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The Last Jew
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In the year 1492, the Inquisition has all of Spain in its grip. Yonah Toledano, the 15-year-old son of a celebrated Spanish silversmith, has seen his father and brother die during terrible days - victims whose murders go almost unnoticed in a time of mass upheaval. Trapped in Spain by circumstances, he is determined to honor the memory of his family by remaining a Jew. On a donkey named Moise, Yonah begins a meandering journey, a young fugitive zigzagging across the vastness of Spain.
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Disappointing narration
- By karen inbal glickman on 04-09-19
By: Noah Gordon
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Mirror Mirror
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It is 1502, and seven-year-old Bianca de Nevada lives at Montefiore, the farm of her father, Don Vicente. But one day a noble entourage makes its way up to the farm. In the presence of Cesare Borgia and his sister, the lovely and vain Lucrezia, no one can claim innocence for very long. When Borgia sends Don Vicente on a quest, he leaves Bianca under the care of Lucrezia. She plots a dire fate for the young girl in the woods below the farm, but salvation can be found in the dark forest as well.
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Interesting re-telling of the fairy tale.
- By Patricia on 03-04-10
By: Gregory Maguire
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Green Darkness
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The marriage of the Englishman Richard Marsdon and his young American wife, Celia, slowly turns tragic as Richard withdraws into himself and Celia suffers a debilitating emotional breakdown. A wise mystic realizes that Celia can escape her past only by reliving it. She journeys back four hundred years to her former life as the servant girl Celia de Bohun during the reign of Edward VI - and to her doomed love affair with the chaplain Stephen Marsdon.
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A different narrator would have made all the difference.
- By J on 06-04-15
By: Anya Seton
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What listeners say about The Relic Master
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Merlyn
- 02-15-16
Fun
Twists and turns to the plot shot through with humor, Monty-Python-ish. It took me an hour to get into it, but then the characters came alive. Quite delightful!
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- Adam Shields
- 06-09-17
Relic hunter is forced into quest for True Shroud
Christopher Buckley has a history of writing smart comic novels, usually about political subjects. But his last couple novels have fallen a bit flat. However, I still picked up The Relic Master when I saw it on sale at a BOGO sale at Audible, especially since it was out of Buckley’s normal subject area.
The Relic Master is set 500 years ago as Martin Luther was writing his 95 Thesis and the reformation was beginning to dawn. This is historical fiction that is pretty historically accurate for the known characters. There were relic fairs and prominent people did buy and sell relics, which created markets for forgers.
The main character, Dismas has attempted to be an honest relic hunter, although he is real enough to know that many of the relics being sold are fakes and real enough to know that many of the miraculous proofs are frauds and cynical enough to want out of the business. After being robbed of his savings, he decides to attempt a grand fraud to give him enough to retire to the country and become a happy, stable farmer and family man.
The fraud is caught because of the pride of the artist (Durer). Dismas and Durer’s are then forced into a quest to steal the Shroud of Chambery.
Once the book is actually set up, it goes fairly well (although it starts slow). The main story moves along fairly well, but the ending is a bit too abrupt. There are a few areas where I was pretty sure historical inaccuracies were added (one of these involves a syringe, but evidently there were early plunger syringes back to the 1st century).
I like the characters, which is important to me in Buckley’s writing. And I liked the humor, although this wasn’t as comic a novel as many. Buckley is taking fairly easy pot shots for much of his humor. So the bite of the sarcasm is also not as sharp, although that may be at least somewhat because the subjects are 500 years old.
Historical fiction can be hard. It is easy to make the characters, especially the good ones, into modern characters that happen to be in a historical period. This was somewhat true with The Relic Master, but matters of faith were mostly taken pretty seriously.
I still have not enjoyed Buckley’s recent novels nearly as much as some of his early ones like Supreme Courtship and God is My Broker. But Relic Master was far better than They Eat Puppies, Don’t They?.
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- J. Schmitz
- 07-11-23
This book has it all
Mix together history, a sense of humor, a bit of Mission Impossible, and a tiny dash of romance and you have this wonderful book.
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- lorraine person
- 01-26-16
OMG Brilliant
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Revives my faith in Western Civilization. Perfect blend of history, drama, erudition, and wit. Buckley shows off his formidable upbringing, combined with contemporary charm
What did you like best about this story?
The fastidious narration of foreign and obscure references
If you could rename The Relic Master, what would you call it?
I wouldn't change a thing
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2 people found this helpful
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- Michael Russell
- 06-07-16
Indulge yourself!
Though it starts a little slowly, once the story gets going it is a marvelous tale. Set in the midst of the Lutheran Reformation it carries the listener into the world of relics and indulgences that sparked Luther into action. I loved it.
It is splendidly performed. One becomes entwined with the richly formed characters.
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- William
- 07-21-18
Enjoyed it a second time
I revisited this book and listened to it a second time. My rule is that if I listen to a book twice I have to give it 5 stars, so I upgraded my rating.
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- Robert
- 01-05-16
Intelligent and highly enjoyable
Funny, thoughtful, and offering a mostly credible picture of the time period. Very well done.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Phyllis
- 08-06-17
Clever
The story moves, and the characters engage. Charm and Wit mix with the brutality of the Middle Ages setting. Interesting historic references keep the story flowing, with twists from first to last chapter.
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- Peter MacLeod
- 04-15-16
Rollicking fun and less than suble pokes at relics
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes, and did. Good fun and a good tale.
How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?
Not any as it holds the interest well.
Which scene was your favorite?
The theft of the .... but that would be telling.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No, I wanted to try and predict the next stage, unsuccessfully.
Any additional comments?
This is just fun. Even though the Catholic church gets exposed for what it was and still is in many ways, as Martin Luther arrives on the scene, a pope might find it fun too.
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-23-16
Always Best to Do Religious Reformations Before TV
Reformations are much too nasty for the squeamish. Had we waited there would have been no WASPs. Buckley has written a splendid lampoon of the Shroud of Turin and attempts to steal it in the early 1500s. A sharp turn near the end is a bit of a surprise.
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