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The Stress of Her Regard
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 16 hrs and 57 mins
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Publisher's summary
When Michael Crawford discovers his bride brutally murdered in their wedding bed, he is forced to flee, not only to prove his innocence but to avoid the deadly embrace of a vampire who has claimed him as her true bridegroom. Joining forces with Byron, Keats, and Shelley in a desperate journey that crisscrosses Europe, Crawford desperately seeks his freedom from this vengeful lover who haunts his dreams and will not rest until she destroys all that he cherishes.
Told in the guise of a secret history, this tale of passion and terror brilliantly evokes the 19th century. The chilling horror and adventure blend to create a riveting romantic fantasy.
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vocal performance
- By Christopher Hopper on 03-23-24
By: Frank Darabont, and others
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The Moon-Spinners
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- Narrated by: Daphne Kouma
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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While on a walking holiday through the beautiful, deserted hills of Crete, Nicola Ferris stumbles across a critically injured Englishman, guarded by a fierce Greek. Nicola cannot abandon them and so sets off on a perilous search for their lost companion - all the while being pursued by someone who wants to make sure none of them leave the island....
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Classic thriller, but wish narrator was literate
- By VirginiaMom on 09-04-19
By: Mary Stewart
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Breaking Gods
- Godbreaker, Book 1
- By: D. J. Molles
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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In the beginning, the gods destroyed the world. Five hundred years later, things haven’t gotten much better for humans. The demigods that were left behind to guard over humanity have been using them as fodder for an endless civil war between themselves, and the humans just go on dutifully slaughtering each other, battle after battle. It’s not all bad, though. Perry McGown makes his living off those bloody, stinking battlefields. He works on a crew that reclaims all the spent shell casings. But if anyone found out that he was a deserter from the war, he’d be executed for heresy.
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Why does the author make it so hard to like the main character
- By Teressa Vanda on 10-02-19
By: D. J. Molles
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Bloodleaf
- By: Crystal Smith
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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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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The King in Yellow
- By: Robert W. Chambers
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki, Gabrielle de Cuir
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
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There is a book that is shrouded in mystery. Some even say it's a myth. Within its pages is a play - one that brings madness and despair to all who read it. It is the play of the King in Yellow, and it will haunt you for the rest of your days. The King in Yellow is a collection of stories interwoven loosely by the elements of the play, including the central figure himself.
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Great Introduction to Robert Chambers
- By David S. Mathew on 11-23-16
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Star Eater
- By: Kerstin Hall
- Narrated by: Samara Naeymi
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Elfreda Raughn will avoid pregnancy if it kills her, and one way or another, it will kill her. Though she's able to stomach the gruesome day-to-day duties, the reality of preserving the Order's magical bloodline horrifies her, but the Sisters of Aytrium have sworn to pay a price for the safety of their nation. Elfreda wants out, whatever the cost. So when a shadowy cabal approaches her with an offer of escape, she leaps at the opportunity. As their spy, she gains access to the highest reaches of the Order....
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Strong performance in a cannibalistic world
- By Bri N Miller on 06-23-21
By: Kerstin Hall
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Child of the Flames
- A Sword and Sorcery Saga
- By: D.W. Hawkins
- Narrated by: Malk Williams
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The Red Swords came with the sunrise and took everything Shawna Llewan held dear. Her family massacred, her home destroyed, she escapes with nothing but her mother’s heirloom and the desire for vengeance. When she’s found by Dormael, a Warlock of the Conclave, she learns that her mother’s keepsake - the very reason her family was killed - holds the power to unleash boundless destruction.
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Great start!
- By Gordon on 08-18-19
By: D.W. Hawkins
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Orange World and Other Stories
- By: Karen Russell
- Narrated by: full cast
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Karen Russell’s comedic genius and mesmerizing talent for creating outlandish predicaments that uncannily mirror our inner in lives is on full display in these eight exuberant, arrestingly vivid, unforgettable stories. In “Bog Girl”, a revelatory story about first love, a young man falls in love with a 2,000-year-old girl that he’s extracted from a mass of peat in a Northern European bog. In “The Prospectors”, two opportunistic young women fleeing the depression strike out for new territory, and find themselves fighting for their lives. Plus much more.
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Wild Ride
- By Georgia on 02-07-20
By: Karen Russell
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Three Parts Dead
- By: Max Gladstone
- Narrated by: Claudia Alick
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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A god has died, and it’s up to Tara, a first-year associate in the international necromantic firm of Kelethras, Albrecht, and Ao, to bring him back to life before his city falls apart. Her client is Kos, recently deceased fire god of the city of Alt Coulumb. Without him, the metropolis’ steam generators will shut down, its trains will cease running, and its four million citizens will riot. Tara’s job: resurrect Kos before chaos sets in.
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Great story, but the narrator was off
- By John on 07-27-14
By: Max Gladstone
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The Recognitions
- By: William Gaddis
- Narrated by: Nick Sullivan
- Length: 47 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Wyatt Gwyon's desire to forge is not driven by larceny but from love. Exactingly faithful to the spirit and letter of the Flemish masters, he produces uncannily accurate "originals" - pictures the painters themselves might have envied. In an age of counterfeit emotion and taste, the real and fake have become indistinguishable; yet Gwyon's forgeries reflect a truth that others cannot touch - cannot even recognize.
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Breathtaking, Dizzying, Stimulating, Funny
- By andrew on 11-17-10
By: William Gaddis
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The Golden Hour
- A Novel
- By: Beatriz Williams
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Saskia Maarleveld
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The Bahamas, 1941. Newly widowed Leonora “Lulu” Randolph arrives in Nassau to investigate the governor and his wife for a New York society magazine. After all, American readers have an insatiable appetite for news of the duke and duchess of Windsor, that glamorous couple whose love affair nearly brought the British monarchy to its knees five years earlier. What more intriguing backdrop for their romance than a wartime Caribbean paradise, a colonial playground for kingpins of ill-gotten empires? Or so Lulu imagines.
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Stick with it!
- By Colleen on 07-17-19
By: Beatriz Williams
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What listeners say about The Stress of Her Regard
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- James
- 03-03-13
wierd and wonderful
The stress of her regard is not your typical vampire novel, it's not your typical anything. Like anything Tim Powers writes it begins in left field and goes from there.
This one requires your attention, but it is worth the effort.
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- Amazon Customer
- 12-30-20
One of my favorites
Powers is a master at his craft. the narrator is very proficient. a great experience..
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- Samuel Montgomery-Blinn
- 04-03-12
Wonderfully dark novel of fictional Romantic poets
A wonderful and dark novel of a fictionalized Shelley, Lord Byron, and John Keats, and of the more completely fictional Michael Crawford, amidst a world of vampires and poetry. If I have any complaint at all about the audiobook, which I very, very much enjoyed, it is that the character of Mary Shelley, who (briefly) writes Frankenstein during the events of the book, is such an invisible character. Indeed, Percy Shelley (and perhaps even more so, Lord Byron) are larger-than-life characters here, but Mary shows almost no agency of her own amidst Percy's costly self-destructions. But through it all, Vance is magnificent, and I hope against hope that the recently released (in print) sequel, Hide Me Among the Graves, comes to audio under Vance's narration. 4.5 stars.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Doug D. Eigsti
- 04-10-14
Vampire Lamia as Poetic Muse
Tim Powers offers up an alternative mythology that is more intriguing than the inanity of the pop-culture version of Greeks and Romans that infest the social dialog. Tim Powers builds a complex world where the Biblical Nephilim are at once a source of immortality and the lamia and succubae of vampire lore. Counter that with other forces whose foresight cancels human volition and you have this odd fantasy novel. My mind was fascinated by the complicated inter-workings of the fantastical rules that govern Powers’ world; so much so, that the story lost any aspect of horror it might otherwise have had for me. It is a vampire story that is so detached from the real world that it retains nothing scary. But that is not a bad thing unless you are looking to be frightened. I was looking for Tim Powers to show off his capacity for strangeness and intricate plotting; that I did find. Powers effectively weaves his love for poetry throughout this novel. As is the case with most of his work, each section is introduced with quotes that are quite appropriate with the times and the themes of the book. Incidentally, if you are of a mind to trace the quotations, realize that the poet William Ashbless is a fabrication of Tim Powers and his friend Jim Blaylock that both draw upon to provide period citations whenever required in their books.
Simon Vance provides a journeyman effort. His delivery is soothing and so very British. Sometimes I found that I was momentarily confused at some of his gender voicings. As soon as I thought I was able to recognize his typical intonation for one of the female characters one would turn out to be a male. His talent is that of having a great accent and excellent enunciation. He is not always consistent with giving each characters his own voice, or being consistent with a voice at every appearance.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Spencer
- 03-30-17
Everything is Connecterd
Would you listen to The Stress of Her Regard again? Why?
I think I will listen to this again later. It has a lot of richness and nuance.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Stress of Her Regard?
Hard to pick just one. I love the way it ties EVERYTHING into the vampires, from hypothetical science to folkloric esoterica. Christianity. Norse theology. Silicon-based life-forms. DNA. Greek Mythology. Wedding customs. Italian cuisine. Romantic poetry. EVERYTHING is connected to vampirism.
What does Simon Vance bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Hard to say. I only notice the reader when the reading voice is very, very good or very, very bad.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
This certainly got me hooked and I kept on reading.
Any additional comments?
The characters surprise me, and this is a great exploration of the vampire mythos. Mix of a well-thought-out take and some so-old-its-new stuff. The lore is amazing. Read this if you are a fan of vampires OR a fan of the romantic poets, or both.
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1 person found this helpful
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- GerryO
- 10-31-20
OMG Romantic poets and vampires.
Engrossing and terrifying. Such a complex story. Requires a lot of attention. A favourite of mine. Maybe Power's best and that's very good.
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- K. Zbikowski
- 02-04-13
A Strange Tale, Indeed
What made the experience of listening to The Stress of Her Regard the most enjoyable?
It was a delight to me to find an audio book that brought together three of my favorite elements - historical fiction, a "spooky story," and Simon Vance's narration. I began listening with high expectations and was not at all disappointed!
What other book might you compare The Stress of Her Regard to and why?
"The Stress of Her Regard" is a re-imagining of known historical events with a secret back story of supernatural involvement that provides alternate explanations for the events of the time. I am reminded of O'Brian's "Aubrey/Maturin" series, for the historical setting, and of Stoker's "Dracula" for the supernatural back story.
What about Simon Vance’s performance did you like?
I like Simon Vance's steady narration. I like the clear articulation of words and phrases, and I like the voice characterizations. His narration never detracts or distracts from the story.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
It was a very long book. It would have been impossible for me to listen to it in all one sitting. Nor would I have wanted to. I like a book that gives the reader or listener material to reflect on, as this one did. It would have been short changing to rush the experience.
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- Josiah R.
- 10-28-22
Incredible Listen
One of my new favorite listens; and incredible work, great author and the narrator did so well. very highly recommended
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- Gereg Jones Muller
- 09-03-24
A Unified Field Theory covering (among others) vampires, lamia, muses, and the Sphinx
Powers is not a writer you want telling your story. His lead characters tend to go through grueling, traumatic, and maiming injuries with some consistency.
Here we have a bridegroom whose wedding night is spoiled by finding the shredded corpse of his bride next morning. Suspected of the murder, he goes on the run, encountering strangers who know more about him than he does himself.
Powers weaves Byron's and Shelley's travels on the Continent, excerpts from their circle's writings, and facts from their biographies, together into a tale that skates nombly on the thin ice of history and myth. (Fact-checking almost any Powers novel can provide a magnificent series of rabbit-holes to dive down and explore.)
Vance's typically superb reading is marred only by his desire to pronounce the title of Byron's "Don Juan" in decent Spanish rather than the winceable English two-syllable "Jue-un" that the poem's meter demands. It's hard to fault him, really. Vance is one of the few readers who, like a favourite film actor, I'll often listen to purely on the confident promise of another fine performance.
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- Troy
- 01-18-13
Superb Storytelling
Tim Powers has this belief that if he writes historical fiction, it has to be supremely accurate with no liberties taken with the known facts. From there, the story behind the story can unfold. In his case, it's typically a supernatural story to explain mortal events. One of the hallmarks of Powers' writing is to make you totally believe it. The more absurd it is, the more you will believe.
The characters are completely engaging, and if you don't know know more about the likes of Byron, Shelley, Keating, and Polidori, you'll want to by the time you get to the end of this novel. These characters and their companion, the main character Michael Crawford, are all too human, making the dread of their circumstances feel visceral. The story is told in the same fashion as it would be had it been written in their time, but with a modern awareness of how to make the macabre truly spooky for even the most seasoned veteran of horror. The result is a vampire story that's not a vampire story, and yet is truly the mother of all vampire stories. It's the kind of story that, while you're reading it, you just feel is twisted and wretched and just guilty fun in a lot of wrong ways. Then when you think about it later, you start connecting dots from things you've read, just as the characters do, and the little voice in the back of your head starts asking, "what if?" It's also the kind of story that's so imaginative that it you'll probably just want to shake your head sadly at most of the other vampire novels in release today.
As narrator, Simon Vance has been one of my favorites, having heard him on the James Bond series and the Master and Commander series. He lends a quiet sophistication and sympathy to characters that are truly beyond either one, which only adds to the verisimilitude. His style isn't over the top like some narrators, in that his performance services the story first and foremost.
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4 people found this helpful