Labyrinth

By: Kate Mosse

Narrated by: Donada Peters

July 2005. In the Pyrenees mountains near Carcassonne, Alice, a volunteer at an archaeological dig stumbles into a cave and makes a startling discovery: two crumbling skeletons, strange writings on the walls, and the pattern of a labyrinth; between the skeletons, a stone ring, and a small leather bag.

Eight hundred years earlier, on the eve of a brutal crusade to stamp out heresy that will rip apart southern France, Alais is given a ring and a mysterious book for safekeeping by her father as he leaves to fight the crusaders. The book, he says, contains the secret of the true Grail, and the ring, inscribed with a labyrinth, will identify a guardian of the Grail. As crusading armies led by Church potentates and nobles of northern France gather outside the city walls of Carcassonne, it will take great sacrifice to keep the secret of the labyrinth safe.

In the present, another woman sees the find as a means to the political power she craves; while a man who has great power will kill to destroy all traces of the discovery and everyone who stands in his way.

©2006 Mosse Associates, Ltd. (P)2006 Penguin Audio, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., and Books on Tape

Facinating listen

I disagree with the notion that the narrator was horrible, I thought she was very good. The abundance of French names and places made it hard to follow sometimes, but I thought this was a solid story set against a backdrop of history that was previously unknown to me. It seemed well researched and had a good balance between the old and new, interweaving stories and characters from the 13th and 21st centuries in a compelling way.

solid mix of history and their story

Excellent narration and accurate history more than compensate for an only-slightly weak plot of the girl in the 1200s. The character of the present-day archaeologist is believable and the story draws the reader to investigate present-day Carcassonne.

Intriguing but slow

Overall, there is some interesting material here. I found myself interested in and researching the central locations in the story.

However, the pace is slower than I like, the number of characters with similar names confused me more than once, and it didn't consistently keep my attention.

I mildly enjoyed it, but I won't go out of my way to seek out the author again. It's too bad because the plot and setting had a lot of potential.

Loved the book and the reader

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the book on audio - the reader was amazing, able to take a listener through the various emotions of the story - in some places, I was transported to the past, as an observer. The book was well researched - I learned a lot, and would like to visit these historical places mentioned in the book, some day. Thank you!

an excellent read

Or if you prefer, listen. This is the first book that i have listened to by Kate Mosse, and I found this to be very difficult to 'put down', I found myself trying to find time to listen to the book, even at times that I should have been doing other things. I always enjoy books based on history from the middle ages and this was perfect, Ms. Mosse did her research and her detail on the life back then was great, right down to the last detail

Meh...

I really enjoy books of this genre - historical fiction and mysticism - but this book was kind of drawn out at times. Maybe an unabridged version would have been better? I did like the way that the characters in the past and present were similar to each other. All in all, I felt like I was left sort of flat at the end.

The eternal link between then and now

Wonderful book. Plan to listen again for the interweavings early on that I missed the first time through. Thanks you.

Fantastic Medieval Story

I was scared at first to purchase this book because of some of the reviews, but I love Historical Fiction, and Medieval times, so it seemed as though it would be something I would enjoy. I more than enjoyed it, I was sucked in. I couldn't get it out of my head. When I wasn't thinking about it, I was researching it. It was wonderful, I loved the medieval times story the best, but I loved to hate some of the characters in the current time.

There were complaints about the French and Occitan language in the book, but when I listened to it, even the first time, they typically follow it up with the English Translation, so I didnt struggle with it much. Kate Mosse makes it feel like the character speaks his native language and then translates it for the English speaking characters in the conversation. The suspense was wonderful, just when you think you know what is going to happen she switches time periods, so you have to wait to find out what is going to happen. The imagery was good, you feel as though your in the South of France, in the mountains, in the cities, and walking along with Alice as she visits the same places Alais is living in 800 years ago.

If you like Historical Fiction, and you like Medieval times, and are willing to pay attention (I wouldnt recommend this book for someone just looking for an easy listen) this may be a good book for you. If you like the Eight by Katherine Neville, or Da Vinci Code, you will more than likely enjoy this book. I know I did, and I love the eight, and enjoyed DVC.

I highly recommend this book.

When it was good it was very good...

This book was very unbalanced. At times I loved it at other times...not so good. I preferred the parts of the story that took place in the 1200's: Aliese's family, the crusades, the grail story. When the book flip-flopped into the present it wasn't done very well. I think the author could have handled this in a better way. She definately could have made it much briefer.

In the present the author spent a lot of time with details and descriptions of France I really didn't care about. I felt it took away from the story. Plus the french dialogue was very distracting. I found myself zoning out a lot during these parts.

But when we went back to the past the author had my full attention again. She should have stayed there more. There were stories from the past that I would have liked to have seen in the past that were explained in a giant info dump by one of the present characters towards the end of the story. I felt like the author realized she was going on too long and took the easy way out. She shouldn't have skimped on this part.

Narrator did an excellent job as she always does. If you like historical fiction and don't mind a meandering story the good parts of this story are worth your while. Otherwise keep looking for another title.

Overall good

Overall this was a well narrated, entertaining performance of a book we have previously read and enjoyed.