The Tower of Fools
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Narrated by:
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Peter Kenny
About this listen
"A fantastic novel that any fan of The Witcher will instantly appreciate." (The Gamer)
Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher series has become a fantasy phenomenon, finding millions of fans worldwide and inspiring the hit Netflix show and video games. Now the best-selling author introduces listeners to a new hero on an epic journey in The Tower of Fools, the first book of the Hussite Trilogy.
Reinmar of Bielawa, sometimes known as Reynevan, is a healer, a magician, and according to some, a charlatan. When a thoughtless indiscretion forces him to flee his home, he finds himself pursued not only by brothers bent on vengeance but by the Holy Inquisition.
In a time when tensions between Hussite and Catholic countries are threatening to turn into war and mystical forces are gathering in the shadows, Reynevan's journey will lead him to the Narrenturm — the Tower of Fools.
The Tower is an asylum for the mad...or for those who dare to think differently and challenge the prevailing order. And escaping it, avoiding the conflict around him, and keeping his own sanity will prove more difficult than he ever imagined
"A ripping yarn delivered with world-weary wit, bursting at the seams with sex, death, magic and madness." (Joe Abercrombie)
"This is historical fantasy done right." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)
"A highly enjoyable historical fantasy." (Booklist)
The Tower of Fools is an historical novel set during the Hussite Wars in Bohemia during the 1400s, a period of religious conflict and persecution. Characters in the novel may express views that some listeners might find offensive.
Also by Andrzej Sapkowski:
Witcher collections
The Last Wish
Sword of Destiny
Witcher novels
Blood of Elves
The Time of Contempt
Baptism of Fire
The Tower of Swallows
Lady of the Lake
Season of Storms
The Malady and Other Stories: An Andrzej Sapkowski Sampler (e-only)
Translated by David French
©2020 Andrzej Sapkowski (P)2020 OrbitListeners also enjoyed...
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The Road to Jerusalem
- Crusades Trilogy Series, Book 1
- By: Jan Guillou
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Born in 1150 to a noble Swedish family and coming of age at a monastery under the tutelage of a Cistercian monk and a former Knight Templar, young Arn Magnusson is sent to fulfill his destiny beyond the cloister walls. But the world awaiting him is a place at odds with his monastic ways. And when the murder of a king engulfs Western Götaland into a whirlwind of intrigue and ruthless power plays, headstrong and naive Arn is forced to leave the woman he loves behind and take up arms to battle infidels in the Holy Land.
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Went looking for trashy historical fiction...
- By Anonymous User on 02-01-22
By: Jan Guillou
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The Lost War
- The Eidyn Saga, Book 1
- By: Justin Lee Anderson
- Narrated by: Euan Morton
- Length: 20 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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With a ragged peace in place, demons burn farmlands, violent Reivers roam the wilds and plague has spread beyond the Black Meadows. The country is on its knees. In a society that fears and shuns him, Aranok is the first magically-skilled draoidh to be named King's Envoy. Now, charged with restoring an exiled foreign queen to her throne, he leads a group of strangers across the ravaged country. But at every step, a new mystery complicates their mission.
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Holy Cow!
- By Lisa M. Perkey on 05-11-20
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Veil of Lies
- A Crispin Guest Medieval Mystery, Book 1
- By: Jeri Westerson
- Narrated by: Noah James Butler
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Accused of treason and stripped of his knighthood, Crispin Guest has survived on the gritty streets of London by reinventing himself as The Tracker, an investigator for hire who can locate lost objects and uncover secrets. When the merchant Nicholas Walcote hires Guest to investigate his young wife Philippa for adultery, he discovers an underground world of danger and dirty dealings. Philippa is indeed hiding something—but she's not the only one. Walcote himself is rumored to possess a holy relic so powerful that some would even kill for it.
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Character insight and I am satisfied with my short answers and don’t want to count out 15 words!
- By frances anne bramhall on 05-06-24
By: Jeri Westerson
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Mistress of the Art of Death
- A Novel
- By: Ariana Franklin
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins
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In medieval England, four children have been murdered, and the townsfolk blame their Jewish neighbors. The doctor chosen to investigate is a woman, Adelia. As she examines the victims and retraces their last steps, she must conceal her true identity in order to avoid accusations of witchcraft. Along the way, she's assisted by Sir Rowley Picot, a man with a personal stake in the investigation. A former Crusader knight, Rowley may be a needed friend - or the fiend for whom they are searching.
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History-Mystery of the Year & its only March
- By Irenehope on 03-02-07
By: Ariana Franklin
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The Dragon Waiting
- By: John M. Ford
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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In a snowbound inn high in the Alps, four people meet who will alter fate. A noble Byzantine mercenary.... A female Florentine physician.... An ageless Welsh wizard.... And Sforza, the uncanny duke. Together they will wage an intrigue-filled campaign against the might of Byzantium to secure the English throne for Richard, Duke of Gloucester - and make him Richard III.
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Read not listen.
- By Anna Marie on 08-08-21
By: John M. Ford
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Mystery of the Templars
- By: Martina André
- Narrated by: Sam Devereaux
- Length: 25 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1156, the sixth Grand Master of the Knights Templar brings a mysterious object from Jerusalem to his homeland in the South of France. "The Head of Wisdom", as the strange artifact is called, ensures that the Order achieves unprecedented wealth. But in October 1307, the French king fights against the Templars. All commanderies of the Templars are closed, all members arrested. Templar Commander Lieutenant Gero of Breydenbach is to flee to Germany with the "Head of Wisdom" to keep their secret. A truly fantastic journey begins. Suddenly he finds himself in 2004 - dependent on a fascinating young woman, who might help him to fulfill his mission.
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Great mystery, excitement, legends and Devereaux!
- By Eggert Eggertsson on 11-12-18
By: Martina André
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Taliesin
- The Pendragon Cycle, Book 1
- By: Stephen R. Lawhead
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 19 hrs and 17 mins
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It was a time of legend, as the last shadows of the mighty Roman conqueror faded from the captured Isle of Britain. Meanwhile, across a vast sea, bloody war shattered a peace that had flourished for 2,000 years in the doomed kingdom of Atlantis. This is the remarkable adventure of Charis, the courageous princess from Atlantis who escapes the terrible devastation of her land, and of the fabled seer and druid prince Taliesin, singer at the dawn of the age. It is a story of an incomparable love that joins two astonishing worlds....
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A Classic interpretation of a Classic tale
- By John on 08-11-03
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Suldrun’s Garden
- Lyonesse: Book 1
- By: Jack Vance
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 18 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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The Elder Isles, located in what is now the Bay of Biscay off the coast of Old Gaul, are made up of 10 contending kingdoms, all vying with each other for control. At the centre of much of the intrigue is Casmir, the ruthless and ambitious king of Lyonnesse. His beautiful but otherworldly daughter, Suldrun, is part of his plans. He intends to cement an alliance or two by marrying her well. But Suldrun is as determined as he and defies him.
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Not my cup of tea
- By Ann on 01-10-11
By: Jack Vance
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Dragon's Child
- The King Arthur Trilogy, Book 1
- By: M. K. Hume
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 18 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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The future of Britain is at stake. In the turbulent times of the Dark Ages, the despotic Uther Pendragon, High King of Celtic Britain, is nearing death, and his kingdom is being torn apart by the squabbling of minor kings. But only one man can bring the Celts together as a nation and restore peace - King Arthur. Artorex (Arthur) doesn't yet seem like the great man he will grow into. We meet him as a shy, subservient twelve-year-old living in the foster home of Lord Ector, who took in Artorex as a babe to protect him from murderous kin.
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A Dry, Dull Tale, Marred in "Realism"
- By Steven on 09-21-15
By: M. K. Hume
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Year of the Reaper
- By: Makiia Lucier
- Narrated by: Jonathan Myles
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Three years ago, young Lord Cassia disappeared in the midst of war. Since then, a devastating illness has swept the land, leaving countless dead and a kingdom forever altered. Having survived war and plague, Cas, now 18, wants only to return to his home in the mountains and forget past horrors. But home is not what he remembers.
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Narrator Really Isn't My Cup of Tea...
- By Kallie on 12-03-21
By: Makiia Lucier
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The Serpent Sword
- The Bernicia Chronicles, Book 1
- By: Matthew Harffy
- Narrated by: Barnaby Edwards
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Beobrand is compelled by his brother's almost-certain murder to embark on a quest for revenge in the war-ravaged kingdoms of Northumbria. The land is rife with danger, as warlords vie for supremacy and dominion. In the battles for control of the region, new oaths are made and broken, and loyalties are tested to the limits. With no patronage and no experience, Beobrand must form his own allegiances and learn to fight with sword and shield. Relentless in pursuit of his enemies, he faces challenges which transform him from a boy to a man.
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Amazing story, needs a warning in the description.
- By Lisa Schilling on 04-12-17
By: Matthew Harffy
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A Vision of Light
- A Margaret of Ashbury Novel, Book 1
- By: Judith Merkle Riley
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
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Margaret of Ashbury wants to write her life story. However, like most women in 14th-century England, she is illiterate. Three clerics contemptuously decline to be Margaret’s scribe, and only the threat of starvation persuades Brother Gregory, a Carthusian friar with a mysterious past, to take on the task. As she narrates her life, we discover a woman of startling resourcefulness.
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Old fashioned heroine
- By Margaret on 06-22-13
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Stalking the Beast
- By: Howard Andrew Jones
- Narrated by: Dina Pearlman
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
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When a mysterious monster carves a path of destruction across the southern River Kingdoms, desperate townsfolk look to the famed elven ranger Elyana and her half-orc companion Drelm for salvation. For Drelm, however, the mission is about more than simple justice - it's about protecting the frontier town he's adopted as his home, and the woman he plans to marry.
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Amazing
- By Aaron on 04-10-20
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They are the fatemarked. Misunderstood. Worshipped. Hated. Murdered at birth. Their time to step into the light has come. An ancient prophecy foretold their coming, the chosen few who will bring peace to a land embroiled in a century of mistrust and war. When kings start dying, that hope and belief swiftly turns to fear. Roan Loren is one of the fatemarked, but has hidden his mark of power his entire life, fearing the damage it might cause to those around him. A great evil is coming. He can't hide anymore.
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Written to fit an ideology, not the story it tells
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Elric of Melniboné
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When Michael Moorcock began chronicling the adventures of the albino sorcerer Elric, last king of decadent Melniboné, and his sentient vampiric sword, Stormbringer, he set out to create a new kind of fantasy adventure, one that broke with tradition and reflected a more up-to-date sophistication of theme and style. The result was a bold and unique hero: a rock-and-roll antihero who would channel all the violent excesses of the '60s into one enduring archetype.
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Skip the first chapter, it's not Moorcock.
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When Citaria falls under the shadow of a demonic incursion, only a legendary hero can stop them. For Karian Vanador, though, being resurrected comes with a price. Not only is she in a different time and place, but the world has changed in her absence, and she must face the dark demons of her past once again.
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Hard Boiled Morally Ambiguous Epic Fantasy
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Some say that in the city of Orlyn, godhood is on sale to the highest bidder. Thousands flock to the city each year, hoping for a chance at immortality. Lydia Hastings is a knowledge sorcerer, capable of extracting information from anything she touches. When she travels to Orlyn to validate the claims of the local faith, she discovers a conspiracy that could lead to a war between the world's three greatest powers. At the focal point is a prisoner who bears a striking resemblance to the long-missing leader of the pantheon she worships.
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OK magic system, but everything else is flat
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What listeners say about The Tower of Fools
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Pam W
- 12-16-20
Wild journey of Reynevan
Reynevan is caught with another man's wife. Vengeful brothers are hot on the trail and so the story of the trials of Reynevan begin. Our main character is an absolute fool that everyone tries to help along the way, which he repeatedly ignores following a fools course, thus The Tower of Fools is aptly named. Set somewhere between the Czech Republic and Poland, he finds himself caught up in the war of the Hussites and the Catholics, with neither side trusting his motives.
A lot of this story isn't translated, and I'm not very familiar with that part of European history, so much was hard to follow.
I had fun with the first half of the book, but Reynevan was a character that I soon grew tired of, because of his constant stupidity. A couple of his supporting characters saved the day, as far as keeping my interest in the story with humor and common sense. I think if I could have read the original version and have known something of the historical characters and time period, I would have enjoyed this book more. Peter Kenny was spot on brilliant with his narration, as usual.
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- Scentart
- 07-01-22
Peter Kenny nails it again
This work of fiction centers around the history of the emerging Christian reformation while adding comedic touches and magic. One issue I had was difficulty with Czech and Polish names and places. plus, not translating Latin , which is used repeatedly left me in the dark.
To help me better appreciate the novel, researching Medieval terms and the names for clothing. military weapons and armor was helpful. I also found it helpful to study maps of Bohemia in the mid 1400's.
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- Brian
- 10-07-21
Good story, just couldn't get into it
Giving this less than 3 stars would simply be rude. It's not a bad book. Nor is the narration bad. The narration is quite good. The book also had some great moments.
Overall I just couldn't get into it.
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- Sharon
- 10-01-22
What an amazing work and performance
About an era and area i knew nothing about other than WWII and the cold war. which are now much more clear. Now eager to visit and see first hand the rural towns of Silesia not just Prague.
Using the time till the third audiobook is released to listen again, the good thing about audio is no reading glasses, but you can miss things.
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- Nikolas P. Robinson
- 07-21-21
Good Enough I'll Continue the Trilogy
Andrzej Sapkowski's The Tower of Fools won't necessarily appeal to fans of his far more popular The Witcher series. While elements of his distinctive writing style carry over to this first book of the Hussite Trilogy, the story itself is a major departure from what readers might expect.
The Tower of Fools is more akin to Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver (the first book of The Baroque Cycle) or Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, in that it's a dense fantasy tale firmly embedded within true European historical context. Whereas The Baroque Cycle transpired in a fictionalized version of the late 1600s to early 1700s, and Clarke's novel took place in the 1800s, Sapkowski's trilogy inserts itself into Eastern Europe of the 1400s.
We are introduced to Reinmar of Bielawa, an unlikely and peculiar hero, as unwanted adventure is thrust upon him by virtue of Reinmar caught in the process of a different sort of thrusting--with the wife of a member of a wealthy and powerful family. On the run from vengeful aristocrats (and those working on their behalf), the inquisition (for being a magician and heretic), and sinister forces with unknown motives, Reinmar finds himself on a meandering scramble across the Eastern Europe of the late Middle Ages.
Populated by an almost intimidating cast of additional characters, while not as bad as Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow--a book I've never been able to finish--it becomes challenging at times to keep track of precisely who is who. Strange acquaintances along the way become friends, friends become enemies, and enemies become victims of the peculiar sort of charmed life Reinmar seems to live. With the familiar wit and subtle comedic writing Sapkowski brings to the narrative, we witness an extreme example of fortune favoring the fool. As Reinmar stumbles from one bit of trouble to another, dragging unfortunate allies with him as he careens from frying pan to fire and back again.
Densely packed with historical events and figures of the Hussite Revolutionary period, The Tower of Fools is as much a history lesson as a tale of fantasy. Though Sapkowski's novel incorporates elements of magic, witches/sorcerers, and supernatural beings aplenty, the narrative is so deeply fixed in a foundation of historical veracity that it all feels more textured and real than it might otherwise. Of course, those familiar with The Witcher are well aware that the author is capable of fleshing out a fictional world without the benefit of drawing the fine details from real-world history. It's a nice touch, though, being able to explore a historical period many of us aren't familiar with.
The titular Tower of Fools--though referenced at numerous points throughout the story--makes an appearance in Chapter 26, at almost the end of the book. It could be argued that the wider world we witness in the book is the real Narrenturm, and the whole of Eastern Europe and the Holy Roman Empire makes up the real Tower of Fools.
Though the story is not one that I can praise in more than peculiarly specific ways, the narration provided by Petter Kenny is spectacular. This narrator is impressive, to put it mildly. He successfully tackles various accents, dozens of characters, as well as songs and chants performed in Latin and other languages, all with a clarity and quality that almost astounded me.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Daniel R.
- 04-21-21
Decent
Not as good as The Witcher books, but still a decent story. I look forward to the next two books in the series
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- Blake
- 11-25-20
Great Writing as Always, but its not the Witcher.
Andrzej Sapkowski wrote one of my favorite book series, so I figured I would give his new series a listen. Peter Kenny brings the story to life and could make the blandest of stories interesting. I am not saying this story is weak, but it doesn't have the grit that the witcher series had. The writing is phenomenal as always (pretty streamline through all his work); maybe this isn't the type of book I was hoping it would be. I have with the story that after I finished the book, I don't even really know what it was even about. On the bright side, though, I would still give it a listen because the characters are not too bad, and there are some pretty great scenes. Despite my mixed review, I await book two, I hope it elaborates more on what the series plot is supposed to be.
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- EB
- 10-22-24
perfection.
This book is of a genre I don't normally read, but seeing as how it was Peter kenny's narration. I decided to give it a chance and his voice both highlights and completes the masterwork that this novel is. I cannot recommend it enough.
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- Tanna
- 03-16-21
Fantastic book!
I really enjoy Andrzej Sapkowski's work! The beginning was a tiny bit slow (personally I don't mind that) but it picks up quickly. A well written & intriguing mix of historical fiction and fantasy. Great story line and character development.
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- Silicon Valley Software Veteran
- 09-28-21
Soooo bad compared to Witcher, or anything.
The witcher stories are legendary.
+This* is not. *This* is so mind-numblingly hideous that I just had a heart transplant *without* anesthesia and *still* feel nothing.
My God, man. What happened??!
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