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The Traitor Baru Cormorant
- Narrated by: Christine Marshall
- Length: 14 hrs
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Publisher's summary
In Seth Dickinson's highly anticipated debut The Traitor Baru Cormorant, a young woman from a conquered people tries to transform an empire in this richly imagined geopolitical fantasy. Baru Cormorant believes any price is worth paying to liberate her people - even her soul.
When the Empire of Masks conquers her island home, overwrites her culture, criminalizes her customs, and murders one of her fathers, Baru vows to swallow her hate, join the empire's civil service, and claw her way high enough to set her people free. Sent as an imperial agent to distant Aurdwynn, another conquered country, Baru discovers it's on the brink of rebellion. Drawn by the intriguing duchess Tain Hu into a circle of seditious dukes, Baru may be able to use her position to help. As she pursues a precarious balance between the rebels and a shadowy cabal within the empire, she orchestrates a do-or-die gambit with freedom as the prize.
But the cost of winning the long game of saving her people may be far greater than Baru imagines.
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The Roman grip on Britain is weakening. Emperor Nero has turned his face away from this far-flung outpost. The Druids are on the rise, spreading seeds of rebellion among the British tribes. Roman cruelty and exploitation has angered their British subjects. The warrior queen Boudicca will lead the tribes to war. Standing against the rising tide of Boudicca's rebellion is Roman Tribune, Gaius Valerius Verrens, Commander of the veteran legions at Colonia.
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Good story, well told and well read
- By Mike Varley on 10-01-14
By: Douglas Jackson
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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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Black Wolves
- By: Kate Elliott
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 28 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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He lost his honor long ago. Captain Kellas was lauded as the king's most faithful servant until the day he failed in his duty. Dismissed from service, his elite regiment disbanded, he left the royal palace and took up another life. Now a battle brews within the palace that threatens to reveal deadly secrets and spill over into open war. The king needs a loyal soldier to protect him. Can a disgraced man ever be trusted?"
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Very engaging. Can't wait for book 2
- By Claudia Alderman on 01-15-16
By: Kate Elliott
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Quillifer
- Quillifer, Book 1
- By: Walter Jon Williams
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 18 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Quillifer is young, serially in love, studying law, and living each day keenly aware that his beloved homeport of Ethlebight risks closure due to silting of the harbor. His concerns for the future become much more immediate when he returns from a summery assignation to find his city attacked by Aekoi pirates, leading to brigands in the streets and his family and friends in chains.
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The opposite of George R R Martin (in a good way)
- By A reader on 10-30-17
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The Briar King
- The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone, Book 1
- By: Greg Keyes
- Narrated by: Patrick Michael
- Length: 19 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Two thousand years ago, the Born Queen defeated the Skasloi lords, freeing humans from the bitter yoke of slavery. But now monstrous creatures roam the land and destinies become inextricably entangled in a drama of power and seduction. The kings woodsman, a rebellious girl, a young priest, a roguish adventurer, and a young man made suddenly into a knight all face malevolent forces that shake the foundations of the kingdom, even as the Briar King, legendary harbinger of death, awakens from his slumber.
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Good stuff
- By Jake on 06-10-10
By: Greg Keyes
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The Half-Drowned King
- A Novel
- By: Linnea Hartsuyker
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 15 hrs and 33 mins
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Ragnvald Eysteinsson, the son and grandson of kings, grew up believing that he would one day take his dead father's place as chief of his family's lands. But, sailing home from a raiding trip to Ireland, the young warrior is betrayed and left for dead by men in the pay of his greedy stepfather, Olaf. Rescued by a fisherman, Ragnvald is determined to have revenge for his stepfather's betrayal, claim his birthright and the woman he loves, and rescue his beloved sister, Svanhild.
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I was disappointed
- By TC on 04-06-18
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The Tiger's Daughter
- By: K Arsenault Rivera
- Narrated by: Caroline McLaughlin
- Length: 14 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
The Hokkaran Empire has conquered every land within their bold reach - but failed to notice a lurking darkness festering within the people. Now their border walls begin to crumble, and villages fall to demons swarming out of the forests. Away on the silver steppes, the remaining tribes of nomadic Qorin retreat and protect their own, having bartered a treaty with the empire, exchanging inheritance through the dynasties. It is up to two young warriors, raised together across borders since their prophesied birth, to save the world from the encroaching demons.
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Writing format that didn't work for this book
- By kara-karina on 02-24-18
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Macbeth: A Novel
- By: A. J. Hartley, David Hewson
- Narrated by: Alan Cumming
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
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Macbeth: A Novel brings the intricacy and grit of the historical thriller to Shakespeare’s tale of political intrigue, treachery, and murder. In this full-length novel written exclusively for audio, authors A. J. Hartley and David Hewson rethink literature’s most infamous married couple, grounding them in a medieval Scotland whose military and political upheavals are as stark and dramatic as the landscape in which they are played.
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Narrator choice inspired
- By Beverly on 07-10-11
By: A. J. Hartley, and others
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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
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Performance
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Story
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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Fire from Heaven
- A Novel of Alexander the Great
- By: Mary Renault
- Narrated by: Roger May
- Length: 18 hrs and 33 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Alexander's beauty, strength and defiance were apparent from birth, but his boyhood honed those gifts into the makings of a king. His mother, Olympias, and his father, King Philip of Macedon, fought each other for their son's loyalty, teaching Alexander politics and vengeance from the cradle. His love for the youth Hephaistion taught him trust, while Aristotle's tutoring provoked his mind and Homer's Iliad fuelled his aspirations.
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Renewed Pleasure
- By James on 01-28-15
By: Mary Renault
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Orion
- Orion Series, Book 1
- By: Ben Bova
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
John O'Ryan is not a god...not exactly. He is an eternal warrior destined to combat the Dark Lord through all time for dominion of the Earth. Follow him, servant of a great race, as he battles his enemy down the halls of time, from the caves of our ancestors to the final confrontation under the hammer of nuclear annihilation.
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Cornucopia of Genre's
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 06-10-12
By: Ben Bova
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The Skystone
- Camulod Chronicles, Book 1
- By: Jack Whyte
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 21 hrs and 3 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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Everyone knows the story-how Arthur pulled the sword from the stone, how Camelot came to be, and about the power struggles that ultimately destroyed Arthur's dreams. But what of the time before Arthur and the forces that created him?
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Fascinating new series
- By Jim R. Whitt Jr. on 08-27-13
By: Jack Whyte
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Narrator is a bit too much
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Structured in three parts, each recounting a new expedition, there are some long-awaited answers here, to be sure, but also more questions, and profound new surprises. Absolution is a brilliant, beautiful, and ever-terrifying plunge into unique and fertile literary territory. It is the final word on one of the most provocative and popular speculative fiction series of our time.
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The Grace of Kings
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Wily, charming Kuni Garu, a bandit, and stern, fearless Mata Zyndu, the son of a deposed duke, seem like polar opposites. Yet in the uprising against the emperor, the two quickly become the best of friends after a series of adventures fighting against vast conscripted armies, silk-draped airships, and shapeshifting gods.
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Unfortunately cannot recommend
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What listeners say about The Traitor Baru Cormorant
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Brine
- 08-23-18
How do you change the world
One of my all time favorites. I'm looking forward to the sequal when we see how far Baru goes once she has reasources.
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- David Moore
- 01-14-23
Decent story strange pronunciations
The story was good enough and it's a bit rare to have fantasy tackle broader social issues like imperialism. That said, the overarching plot undercuts the author's emphasis on economics and social structure by introducing an Illuminati equivalent that actually pulls all the strings.
The voice acting was fine except for some weird pronunciations. it would be easy to gloss over them except some were very frequently used words. in a book about a ducal rebellion is grating to hear duchy pronounced /doochie/ every couple pages.
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- Masso Nordin
- 04-22-21
If you have a problem with is pronunciation give this a miss
I thought the book was good but the narrator can't pronounce, among others the word duchy which is used in what felt like every other sentence it became struggle for me to finish it.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Shelby Knauss
- 07-10-22
Not a fan, but somehow still a fan
This is beyond amazingly well written. The apparent setting is a wholly unique world separate from our own, while still managing to mirror the hauntingly recognizable realities of what was early English/American colonization. Told from the perspective of one of those who’s small, hut-dwelling society, was peacefully yet forcefully assimilated into that of a deceptively well-meaning, advanced power hungry empire. The plot of this character’s story is strictly adhered to in a way that I have never seen so seamlessly done before. Usually a plot throughout the story remains loose, pliable, and changes based on unfolding events and the character’s motivations. This story manages to do the complete opposite. The plot remains an immovable obelisk Baru is tethered to that no matter how hard the character might pull, fight, or struggle to break away from, cannot.
Be sure not to forget that we are not reading as if we are Baru. We are reading as outsiders and guests in her mind. We only truly know what she sees and what does. Just as some thoughts go unspoken out of fear, so too do thoughts that go unthought. Baru is wading through territory where many thoughts are too dangerous to think.
So amazing is the writing that you will push through every agonizing step Baru takes in order to achieve her revenge against that which destroyed her culture, her family, and her home. Her victories are hard earned and briefly enjoyed, if enjoyed at all, but no matter how rare, it is enough to keep going.
It is certainly a story you must take your time with in order to fully understand and follow everything happening, or else you risk reading as if one of the sheep of the Empire. At he same time, being able to understand this story as Baru’s true equal is as futile as her own struggle to escape the obelisk. Her layers run so deep you do not realize you do not truly understand her until the very last moments in this book.
It is there at the end where I say I was not a fan; but literally only in the sense that Baru is so brutal a tactician it was too much for me to handle. I understand Baru to the point where she genuinely scares me. She is so much the antithesis of who I am as an individual, that rather than make me angry, dislike, or even resent her; it makes me genuinely afraid of that little feeling I get that makes me believe how I could become someone like her. The fact that the next book is called The Monster Baru Cormorant unsettles me enough to avoid, but I will recommend this series to everyone I know.
The performance is impressive, I only give 4/5 stars just because I’m picky and not a huge fan of her particular style of enunciation.
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- Mimi
- 09-25-15
A triumph of a debut!
A terribly cunning display of the untrustworthy narrator (it's in the title, after all!) Baru is an incredibly engaging protagonist, and this fantastical political thriller keeps you guessing about loyalties, love, and what drives a person to ultimate treachery. This narrative weaves a spectacular warning to the readers: of social injustice, imperialism and the profound danger and power that comes from being truly alone in your mind. Machiavellian machinations in a spectacular feat of world building. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
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12 people found this helpful
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- Matthew Harvey
- 08-23-16
Great story, terrible reader
This is an incredibly incentive and gripping story. The audio book narrator, however, seems not to have been familiar with the English words "duchy" and "elided," which was frustrating and distracting.
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16 people found this helpful
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- Noah Smith
- 02-25-17
Libertarian fan fiction
The Evil Empire is coming to kill all the gays! And their weapon is...fiat currency! Fortunately, our hero, armed with gold (the one true money) is here to infiltrate their evil statist bureaucracy and bring them down!
OK, this is a caricature, but the number of libertarian tropes in this book made me laugh. I listened to it for a book club, and the main question people asked was "Is this fantasy?". I answered "Yeah...the economics is the magic."
That's far from my only criticism, though. The protagonist's motivations are never really explored in depth. We know she's out for revenge for the death of her father and the conquest of her hometown, but that hometown culture just isn't developed very thoroughly. We never get that warm, homey feeling of pre-colonial society the way we would in, say, an Ursula LeGuin book. Instead, Baru seems to be making a bunch of dire decisions and dreadful acts of will for...what? We never really know.
So I'd say this is a fun book, but ultimately unsatisfying.
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- Kindle Customer
- 01-09-22
Fantastic story marred by subpar narrator
This is one of the most original and gripping fantasy books I've ever read. It shares the trope of the child prodigy with many works, but twists it in very interesting ways. Baru Cormorant is not like your other child prodigies. Her genius is political and financial, and seeing how she plots her way up, around, and through various obstacles is gripping.
Unfortunately the narrator is quite hard to follow. Her inflection is often rather odd and in general she speaks too quickly. There is also not much variation between different character voices making it hard to follow at times.
I'd recommend reading this, but if you prefer listening it isn't as bad as some reviews make it sound. If you play the title at reduced speed it becomes more listenable. I'd suggest 70 to 80 percent speed.
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- P Fooshay
- 05-13-23
This is like Siri or Alexa Reading a Book
I have been reading this book on a kindle and bought the Audible recording for when I could not read. I have hundreds of audiobooks and the narrator is terrible. I believe this is a computer narrator, no real human feeling. It’s a terrible shame; the book is excellent. I am writing this as a warning to those who value a dramatic performance with subtle tones and inflections. You will not find this here. Ugh.
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- Olivia Johnson
- 03-25-21
Amazing Series!
As a lesbian, I have to say this is not a gunshot to the heart through a random open window like so many other lgbtqia+ series. Everything that happens is so crucial to Baru’s character. I highly recommend reading the entire series as Baru is one of the most well developed female characters I have ever read. My favorite book is the Tyrant. Stick around as the world building and character development is intense! Baru is a wild child!
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3 people found this helpful