The Siege Winter
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Kate Reading
About this listen
A powerful historical novel by the late Ariana Franklin and her daughter Samantha Norman, The Siege Winter is a tour de force mystery and murder, adventure and intrigue, a battle for a crown, told by two courageous young women whose fates are intertwined in 12th century England's devastating civil war.
1141. England is engulfed in war as King Stephen and his cousin, the Empress Matilda, vie for the crown. In this dangerous world, not even Emma, an 11-year-old peasant, is safe. A depraved monk obsessed with redheads kidnaps the ginger-haired girl from her village and leaves her for dead. When an archer for hire named Gwyl finds her, she has no memory of her previous life. Unable to abandon her, Gwyl takes the girl with him, dressing her as a boy, giving her a new name - Penda - and teaching her to use a bow. But Gwyn knows that the man who hurt Penda roams free, and that a scrap of evidence she possesses could be very valuable.
Gwyl and Penda make their way to Kenilworth, a small but strategically important fortress that belongs to 15-year-old Maud. Newly wedded to a boorish and much older husband after her father's death, the fierce and determined young chatelaine tempts fate and Stephen's murderous wrath when she gives shelter to the empress.
Aided by a garrison of mercenaries, including Gwyl and his odd red-headed apprentice, Maud will stave off Stephen's siege for a long, brutal winter that will bring a host of visitors to Kenilworth - kings, soldiers... and a sinister monk with deadly business to finish.
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Gwenhwyfar moves in a world where gods walk among their pagan worshipers, where nebulous visions warn of future perils, and where there are two paths for a woman: the path of the Blessing or the rarer path of the Warrior. Gwenhwyfar chooses the latter, giving up the power that she is born into. Yet the daughter of a king is never truly free to follow her own calling.
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Good Book, Distracting Narrator
- By P. Stover on 12-14-09
By: Mercedes Lackey
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Guardian of Darkness
- De Reyne Domination, Book 1
- By: Kathryn Le Veque
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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1200 A.D.—After decades of warring between the Lairds of Kerr and Prudhoe Castle in Northumbria, a tentative peace is reached. The Lady Carington Kerr is sent to Prudhoe as a hostage to ensure her father's good behavior, and a more reluctant hostage there never was. Small and dark, with emerald eyes and a luscious figure, she is as gorgeous as she is fiery. Enter Sir Creed de Reyne; a gentle giant of a man, he is, by nature, calm and wise. He is the ice to Carington's fire.
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Not a New AudioBook!
- By Splash on 01-07-23
By: Kathryn Le Veque
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Deverry: Books 1-4
- By: Katharine Kerr
- Narrated by: Ruth Urquhart
- Length: 58 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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This boxed set includes books 1-4 in the the Deverry series: Daggerspell, Darkspell, The Bristling Wood, and The Dragon Revenant.
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Masterpiece
- By Luke on 09-05-22
By: Katharine Kerr
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Katherine
- A Novel
- By: Anya Seton
- Narrated by: Lorna Bennett
- Length: 29 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Set in the vibrant fourteenth century of Chaucer and the Black Death, the story features knights fighting in battle, serfs struggling in poverty, and the magnificent Plantagenets—Edward III, the Black Prince, and Richard II—who rule despotically over a court rotten with intrigue. Within this era of danger and romance, John of Gaunt, the king’s son, falls passionately in love with the already-married Katherine. Their affair persists through decades of war, adultery, murder, loneliness, and redemption.
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my favorite novel brought to life
- By Heather on 10-04-23
By: Anya Seton
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Wolf's Head
- The Forest Lord
- By: Steven A. McKay
- Narrated by: Nick Ellsworth
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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After viciously assaulting a corrupt but powerful clergyman Robin Hood flees the only home he has ever known in Wakefield, Yorkshire. Becoming a member of a notorious band of outlaws, Hood and his new companions - including John Little and Will Scaflock - hide out in the great forests of Barnsdale, fighting for their very existence as the law hunts them down like animals. When they are betrayed, and their harsh lives become even more unbearable, the band of friends seeks bloody vengeance.
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I JUST WANT TO KILL NOBLES
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 11-07-14
By: Steven A. McKay
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The Book of Kells
- By: R. A. MacAvoy
- Narrated by: Alan Robertson
- Length: 14 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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A contemporary man, John Thornburn (a meek, non-violent and unpredictable artist) and woman, Derval (his tough, confrontational, strong and warrior-like lover) time travel to ancient Ireland to avenge a Viking attack. Packed with fascinating details of historical time and place in Irish history and delicately balanced on the border between realism and fantasy, the story centers around one of the most famous and beautiful illuminated manuscripts in history, the legendary but entirely real Book of Kells.
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The Book of Irish Fantasy
- By S. Wells on 12-10-12
By: R. A. MacAvoy
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The Queen's Lady
- By: Barbara Kyle
- Narrated by: Barbara Kyle
- Length: 21 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Abducted as a child-heiress, Honor Larke escapes to London seeking justice from the only lawyer she knows: the brilliant Sir Thomas More. With More as her affectionate guardian, Honor grows to womanhood, when the glitter of the royal court lures her to attend Her Majesty, Queen Catherine of Aragon. But life at Henry VIII’s court holds more than artifice for an intelligent observer, and Honor knows how to watch - and when to act.
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Very Disappointing
- By elizabeth on 03-27-14
By: Barbara Kyle
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The Crown
- By: Nancy Bilyeau
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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In this debut historical thriller, an aristocratic young nun must find a legendary crown in order to save her father’s life and preserve all she holds dear. When novitiate nun Joanna Stafford learns her rebel cousin is condemned by King Henry VIII to be burned at the stake, she makes the decision to break the sacred rule of enclosure and flee her Dominican order in Dartford to stand at her cousin’s side. Arrested for interfering with king’s justice, Joanna, along with her father, Sir Richard Stafford, is sent to the Tower of London.
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Torture
- By S. Wells on 03-24-13
By: Nancy Bilyeau
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Between Two Fires
- A Novel
- By: Mark Noce
- Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Saxon barbarians threaten to destroy medieval Wales. Lady Branwen becomes Wales' last hope to unite their divided kingdoms when her father betroths her to a powerful Welsh warlord, the Hammer King. But the fledgling alliance is fraught with enemies from within and without as Branwen becomes the target of assassination attempts and courtly intrigue.
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An epic tale!
- By Voracious Reader on 09-14-16
By: Mark Noce
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Empress
- Godspeaker, Book 1
- By: Karen Miller
- Narrated by: Josephine Bailey
- Length: 20 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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In a family torn apart by poverty and violence, Hekat is no more than an unwanted mouth to feed, worth only a few coins from a passing slave trader. But Hekat was not born to be a slave. For her, a different path has been chosen. It is a path that will take her from stinking back alleys to the house of her God, from blood-drenched battlefields to the glittering palaces of Mijak. This is the story of Hekat, slave to no man.
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depressing and left me feeling empty
- By Bonnie on 09-16-09
By: Karen Miller
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I, Strahd: The Memoirs of a Vampire
- Ravenloft: Strahd, Book 1
- By: P. N. Elrod
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Some of the parchment pages were the color of cream, thick and substantial, made to last many, many lifetimes. Other pages were thin and desiccated, positively yellow from age, and crackled alarmingly as Van Richten turned them over. There were no ornate illuminations, no fussy borders, only lines of plain text in hard black ink. The flowing handwriting was a bit difficult to follow at first; the writer's style of calligraphy had not been in common use for 300 years. No table of contents, but from the dates it looked to be some kind of history.
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Love it...just one complaint....
- By Ryan Conrad on 03-15-14
By: P. N. Elrod
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Knight of Desire: All The King's Men Series, Book 1
- By: Margaret Mallory
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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His surcoat still bloody from battle, William FitzAlan comes to claim the strategic borderlands granted to him by the king. One last prize awaits him at the castle gates: the lovely Lady Catherine Rayburn. Catherine risked everything to spy for the crown. Her reward? Her lands are declared forfeit and she is given this choice: marry FitzAlan or be taken to the Tower. Catherine agrees to give her handsome new husband her body, but she's keeping secrets, and dare not give him her heart.
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Stong Heroine.
- By 🌸DARA on 12-07-13
By: Margaret Mallory
What listeners say about The Siege Winter
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Laurel
- 11-11-15
A Personal Sory
I read a lot of "historical" fiction. Most in Britain or Scotland, and often in the same time period, 12th Century. The wars between Kung Steven and Empress Matilda are frequently aback drop of Hesse books. This is different because the story is being recorded as it is told by a dying Abbott. He doesn't tell the story from his view but from that if a young girl he had known.
I enjoyed learning more about the ole of cross bows and archers.I also enjoyed the inside look at a feudal castle and a siege. Very enjoyable. I wish it were a series.
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4 people found this helpful
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- MxH
- 04-04-15
Pleasant Listen, Above Average Writing
Above average writing especially considering Norman finished Franklin's work after Franklin died. Historical relevance, character development, and plot are nicely balanced. Kate Reading delivers the story and characters with a clear, strong voice. The subject might not appeal to everyone, but the book should be on the list of any reader who enjoys historical fiction set in the Middle Ages.
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16 people found this helpful
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- Cheap and Lazy
- 01-28-19
Great Period Piece
Beautiful writing. Not fast-paced, but doesn’t drag, either. Engaging. Narrator is good with the variety of voices and accents, but does make Gyll sp? sound kind of lame. Interesting setting, deeply-described without going overboard. The buildup to the central conflict with a truly awful villain is excruciating to the point I almost stopped reading because I couldn’t take what was coming. Glad I kept on. The ending was perfectly balanced with the rest of the book (not too short, not too long). I have that wonderful feeling of satisfaction one gets after completely a really good read.
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- Gail Jester
- 04-26-15
This is a very absorbing story and well written.
i hope we see more historical novels from this talented author.. I really love the character's and the back story is gripping. not to mention the. interesting historical. period backdrop.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Maria A. Cosenza
- 03-21-15
Good But Different
Great story though slow going. If you followed her other books, Grave Goods among them, you know she favors strong women, and this is no exception. But the writing is vastly different. I recommend this book to anyone who loves historical novels with strong female characters.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-29-17
I (nearly) love everything from Ariana Franklin
If you could sum up The Siege Winter in three words, what would they be?
Literate, medieval, feminist.
Have you listened to any of Kate Reading’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Narrator was good.
Any additional comments?
Wow, you can really tell where Ariana Franklin left off (due to her death) and where her daughter took over the writing. Book became rather stilted at the end. The fight scenes were particularly badly done. I wish, in general with Ariana Franklin's (aka Diana Norman's) books that she didn't have quite such a grisly imagination. She seemed to really enjoy writing about perverted child molesters. Everything else is wonderful. The settings, the mystery, the pacing, the other (non-murderous) characters.
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- Suze
- 02-12-18
Better than expected historical fiction
I enjoyed The Siege Winter. I purchased it as a sale item and was pleasantly surprised. If you are interested in historical fiction (especially British history), I'd recommend this. This is not a mystery, but a slice of time in the lives of two women and their struggles. I think it is a realistic portrayal of a time in which women faced brutality when unprotected and had little control of their futures. Liked the structure of the book-the main story of the book being told by a dying monk.
Narration was good overall-found the tone of narrator's voice grating at times.
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- Joanne1953
- 11-03-22
More Please
Strong female characters, good story line, enjoyable listen. Hope the author writes more, perhaps following the Plantagenet line to Henry VIII
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- Avid reader and shopper
- 03-26-15
True Ariana Franklin
I thought I'd read all of A F books & grieved to have lost such talent. I don't know how much her daughter contributed to this book, but as soon as I finish writing this review, I'm going to do a search to find out if she has written any other books!
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10 people found this helpful
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- NL
- 04-17-19
good start...lacking ending
I love the twists and turns. Good story but I felt the last quarter of the story lacked something the rest of the story had a lot of. The final win was a bit lusterless. No fight for your life ending to the chase; it was just over...done, we won somewhat...
All in all a good story. Will listen again.
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