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Empires of Sand
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 27 hrs and 59 mins
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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
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By: Douglas Jackson
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Unholy Night
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- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
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They're an iconic part of history's most celebrated birth. But what do we really know about the Three Kings of the Nativity, besides the fact that they followed a star to Bethlehem bearing strange gifts? The Bible has little to say about this enigmatic trio. But leave it to Seth Grahame-Smith, the brilliant and twisted mind behind Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to take a little mystery, bend a little history, and weave an epic tale.
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A nice twist to the greatest story ever told.
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The young orphaned boy was abandoned and raised in an Ethiopian monastery. He has never seen outside its walls - at least, not the way most people see. Now he must flee those walls or die. But the world is hardly ready for a boy like Caleb. When relief expert Jason Marker agrees to take Caleb from the monastery, he unwittingly opens humanity's doors to an incredible journey filled with intrigue and peril.
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Cheesy
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A wild land too mountainous to be tamed by plows…A Duke of the Holy Roman Empire, his cunning overshadowed only by his ambition…A young Priestess of the Old Religion, together with a charismatic outlaw, sparking a rebellion from deep within the forests…And an ex-Hospitaller caught between them all. At the end of the thirteenth century, five hundred orphans and second sons are rounded up from villages in the Alpine countryside and sold to the Hospitaller Knights of St John. Trained to serve as Soldiers of Christ, they fight in eastern lands they know nothing about, for a cause they do not understand.
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Life's Trials.
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Druss, Captain of the Axe: the stories of his life were told everywhere. Instead of the wealth and fame he could have claimed, he had chosen a mountain lair, high in the lonely country bordering on the clouds. There the grizzled old warrior kept company with snow leopards and awaited his old enemy, death.
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Two Legends Come to Audible
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A young girl called Tozi stands at the bottom of a pyramid, waiting to be led to the top where her heart will be cut out.... Pepillo, a Spanish orphan who serves a sadistic Dominican friar, is aboard the Spanish fleet as it sails towards Mexico.... This is the epic story of the clash of two empires, two armies and two gods of war. Five hundred desperate adventurers are about to pit themselves against the most brutal armies of the ancient Americas, armies hundreds of thousands strong.
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engaging story.
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The House of the Stag
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Overall
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Performance
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Before the Riders came to their remote valley, the Yendri led a tranquil, pastoral life. When the Riders conquered and enslaved them, only a few escaped to the forests. Rebellion wasn't the Yendri way; they hid, or passively resisted, taking consolation in the prophecies of their spiritual leader. Only one possessed the necessary rage to fight back: Gard the foundling, half-demon, who began a one-man guerrilla war against the Riders.
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Delightfully humorous
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The Skystone
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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
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Edge of Eternity
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Nick Seagrave is a disillusioned business executive who has lost loved ones to tragedy and his family to neglect. Now, at a point of great crisis, he finds himself inexplicably transported to what appears to be another world. Suddenly he's confronted with profoundly clear views of his own past and personality. And he's enabled to see, hear, taste, and smell the realities of both heaven and hell - realities that force him to face dangers and trials far greater than any he's known before.
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AMAZING
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Rosemarked
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When Zivah falls prey to the deadly rose plague, she knows it's only a matter of time before she fully succumbs. Now she's destined to live her last days in isolation, cut off from her people and unable to practice her art - until a threat to her village creates a need that only she can fill. Broken by torture at the hands of the Amparan Empire, Dineas thirsts for revenge against his captors. Now escaped and reunited with his tribe, he'll do anything to free them from Amparan rule - even if it means undertaking a plan that risks not only his life but his very self.
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My first book review ever (CONTAINS SPOILERS)
- By Ileana on 11-21-17
By: Livia Blackburne
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What listeners say about Empires of Sand
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Pamela
- 08-18-11
my first review
This book was so great it compelled me to write my first review. I will simply say that the book was perfect! It pulls you into the lives and minds and hearts of the diverse characters that people its pages; is full of action and feeling - never a dull moment throughout. I was so sad when it was over and am hoping the author is prolific!!
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13 people found this helpful
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- J.
- 11-25-11
Read one, read them all
This is Ball's first novel, but I read Ironfire first. The characters and plots of Ironfire and Empires are largely one and the same, different only in detail. Good reads as historical fiction and the facts are accuate. The characters are rather stock and lack complexity. Ball seems to have it in for the Catholic Church. Priests and nuns have nothing better to do than engage in self-serving or sadistic activity.
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12 people found this helpful
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- Paul McMahon
- 11-04-12
After 13 hrs I gave up.
Any additional comments?
After 13 hrs I gave up.
Maybe it is just the book isn’t for me, but I couldn’t find anything to sympathise with in any of the characters. The plot seemed to be more melodrama, or if not that, then “stock”; predictable, mechanical devices to drive the narrative. Action often doesn’t fit well with the development of the characters who act; the extent of the internal dialogue doesn’t match up with the impetuousness, thoughtlessness, or foolishness; mechanical devices.
Set in the last quarter of the 19th century, against the Franco-Prussian War and the French in the Sahara, the period should be fascinating, but it is never really a “character”.
The strength of the book is in the descriptions of physical details … Paris, action, the desert, etc; the physical aspects of the characters.
“…over the summer the moat became ever more elaborate, winding in a grand circle around the tree, with bridges made of branches where one had to give the password. And on the bottom of the moat were carefully arranged patches of rocks that—if you looked just the right way at them—became crocodiles that ate trespassers, tax collectors, and knights of the evil kingdom …”
The other strength, for me, was the reader.
The style of the writing, in audio book form, seemed to owe something to that of “The Count of Monte Cristo.”; but without that story’s heart.
It didn’t help that the description on the Audible site includes a spoiler … “…follows the lives of two cousins who are raised as brothers but destined to become enemies …”; I guess it’s somewhere in the other 13hrs.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Chrissie
- 10-02-12
Exciting plot-driven adventure story
Empires of Sand is an exciting, plot driven adventure story based on true events. It starts with a bang - a boar hunt in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. Two cousins, Moussa and Paul, are playing in the very same forest,of course in close proximity to the furious, wounded boar. What will happen?! The adventure continues chronicling the de Vries family through Bismarck's siege of Paris, 1870-71, with balloon flights and subterranean escape routes under the streets of Paris. The hunger, the rats, and two boys up to pranks. The research is solid and the escapades are fun and exciting.
The story doesn't stop there. Next thing you know you are off to the deserts of Sahara. And there we have the Tuareg people. Again the author has built his story on research about these proud people. The women are unveiled and independent, but the men are hidden behind indigo colored veils. All one sees is their eyes through small slits. Here the book continues to follows Moussa and Paul within the framework of real events. France wanted to build a railroad that would cross the Algerian Sahara south to Timbuktu in the French Sudan, what is today Mali. Colonel Paul Flatters led an exploratory expedition for France in 1880-81. The true events of this massacre are related through this story.
You are delivered one adventure after another. You get love and hatred and the evils of the Church and balloon rides and...... put your self in a deep irrigation tunnel, naked, digging as a slave. This is an adventure story that teaches about real historical events.
You can tell the author is having fun. There is humor. You can tell the author is poking at the church.....wait till you meet the Bishop and oh, there is a demonic nun! The author clearly has a message about hatred, about love and about being an outsider, a person who doesn't fit in.
Impressive narration by George Guidall.The audiobook had both an author's note and a final interview with the author. Perfect conclusion to a fun book. The author says that the most successful parts of any book will be those parts where the author has had fun. Authors must write for themselves. It is difficult; you must persevere. You must build upon solid research. I think this author has had fun and there is solid research. It shows.
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5 people found this helpful
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- J. Leon
- 06-23-12
annoying "Tom sawyer" element killed it for me
Would you try another book from David Ball and/or George Guidall?
Yes. Already read Ironfire, which was masterful.
Would you be willing to try another book from David Ball? Why or why not?
Yes. Already read Ironfire, which was masterful.
What aspect of George Guidall???s performance would you have changed?
The historical settings came to life for me. Ball has a rare talent for this. I am enriched for having read this. However, his descriptions in the first half of the book of the two young boys and their adventures growing up together were a bit too "Tom Sawyer-ish." These subplots seemed to go on forever and about 50% of this could have been cut out with little loss to the story. The shifts from world-altering global events to the boys trapping rats in the church basement just didn't work for me.
Was Empires of Sand worth the listening time?
About 2/3 of it was very worthwhile. the rest was a bit laborious.
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- jane thompson
- 09-30-17
really a brilliant work by a non prodigious writer
I encourage readers of historical fiction to absorb this talented author's work. life is so short for those with immense curiosity and driive, so little time to perfect the art of writing, to leave behind a legacy for future generations. this author has gifted us with an unselfish gift of insights and stimulation to learn more of history, human dimension while still pursuing his own private aspirations. jj
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- Joon
- 01-30-13
Not in the same calibre as Ken Follet
The Tuareg was an interesting source material. Especially in the light of the recent French intervention in Mali. However, it was not as sweeping an epic as the Sahara promised. I read it right after finishing Winter of the World by Ken Follet and I found myself continually measuring it up to it. I would have enjoyed it more if I had read them the other way round.
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- Terry J
- 10-15-13
"Job" had it easy compared to the main characters
There is NO sense worrying because every thing will GO WRONG for us!!! This should be the main theme in this story.... Because it does in triplicate!
Do NOT give up! Hang in there --- YOU MIGHT ENJOY THIS chronicle...!!
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- Harley
- 03-05-13
Good book, great narration
Detail laden - from bloody battles with endless examples of man cruelty to man to tender love scenes - this story goes into complex relationships and cultures. The cousins relationship as written by David Ball becomes reality. Perhaps it is the factual historical background that makes the book wobble between fiction and non fiction. To my surprise I truly enjoyed it! George Guidall narration is excellent. I hesitate to recommend this book because of the involved cruelty scenes but if the listener can get past those details this is, indeed, a wonderful listen.
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- JEANIE W.
- 03-28-24
interesting
gripping characters kept me interested for such a long story. I enjoyed the story about a place I hadn't read about before.
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