The Tangled Lands

De: Paolo Bacigalupi, Tobias S. Buckell

Narrado por: Kate Reading, Tim Gerard Reynolds

From award-winning and New York Times best-selling authors Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias Buckell comes a fantasy novel told in four parts about a land crippled by the use of magic and a tyrant who is trying to rebuild an empire - unless the people find a way to resist.

Khaim, The Blue City, is the last remaining city in a crumbled empire that overly relied upon magic until it became toxic. It is run by a tyrant known as The Jolly Mayor and his devious right hand, the last archmage in the world. Together they try to collect all the magic for themselves so they can control the citizens of the city. But when their decadence reaches new heights and begins to destroy the environment, the people stage an uprising to stop them.

In four interrelated parts, The Tangled Lands is an evocative and epic story of resistance and heroic sacrifice in the twisted remains surrounding the last great city of Khaim. Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias Buckell have created a fantasy for our times about a decadent and rotting empire facing environmental collapse from within - and yet hope emerges from unlikely places with women warriors and alchemical solutions.

©2010, 2018 Paolo Bacigalupi, Tobias S. Buckell (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

An unexpected gem!

Surprisingly at points reminiscent of Greek tragedy. for every inch of good our protagonists get they get another mile of bad road. It is a book of a few short stories that string together to make a cohesive whole... and each protagonist brings something new and interesting to the equation.

Mr Reynolds and Ms. Reading turn in fantastic performances (as usual) and one can hardly find them being disappointed by picking a title with one of their names attached to it.

My single and solitary complaint is that this book is not a series. as of the time of me writing this review, there is no follow-up, and I am anxious for more. one or maybe two got a definite ending, but there are a few protagonists that I really like to see where they went and what they did afterwards... so if my vote means anything, please make another one.

Thank you for your time and consideration

Required Text

Kate Reading and Tim Gerard Reynolds do an amazing job narrating vignettes of a dystopic fantasy.

great listen

This was a great listen. I love old stories like these! Old myths and tales. recommended.

All these stories are so ridiculously GOOD!

Each story provides background and builds the world more and more. The final arch is amazing. Kate did so good. The suspense kept me up at night. I was deeply invested in the last two stories. One was beautiful. The other bittersweet.

how desperate would you have to get to risk magic

gritty & dark yet little gore etc.

Not the usual tropes for magic users.

Much sympathy for have nots in an analog world.

Comes back to the theme of the choices or options among hard ones. Something a single parent living hand-to-mouth can relate to in this world.

Nature of Book

When I purchased this book, I thought it was a series of four consecutive novelettes. I was disappointed to find it was just independent short stories, only loosely tied through a common environment. As I prefer epic fantasy, I was disappointed by the lack of character growth and development. However the narrators did a really good job and the stories were easy to follow. There was nothing uplifting in these books — it is a harsh world with no truly happy endings.

More, please!

Loves the writing and narration! If I have a complaint, it is only that I wanted to hear how the characters in each vignette fared. Highly recommend!

Interesting. idea

Dig these two authors and this is seriously interesting. Modern day fairy tales with modern content. Also two of my absolute favorite narrators. Kate Reading us the bomb!

Excellent. Wish there was more!

I enjoyed this book immensely. After finishing, the first thing I did was google to see if there is more written in this world. I would love to see what other stories emerge from this setting. Definitely worth the credit.

The potential is there!

I enjoyed the book but having four short stories didnt really allow it to be flushed out. I feel like I read a prologue, just wish the rest of the book aas there too.