Empress Orchid

By: Anchee Min

Narrated by: Alexandra O'Karma

Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

The critically acclaimed author, Anchee Min, paints a fresh portrait of the last Chinese empress in this brilliantly fictionalized tale set during the waning days of the empire.

Seventeen-year-old Orchid belongs to an aristocratic family that has fallen on hard times. Unexpectedly, she is chosen as one of the emperor's lesser concubines. Within the Forbidden City are thousands of women hoping to bear the emperor a son and become his empress. Orchid, determined and resourceful, schemes her way into the royal bed and seduces the emperor. But as the opium trade erodes the might of the Ch'ing dynasty, Orchid find herself at the center of a crumbling nation.

A colorful depiction of one of history's least understood women, The Empress Orchid is another enthralling masterpiece for Anchee Min.

©2004 Anchee Min

Critic reviews

"Powerful and brilliantly conceived....[An] insightful, magnetic, and quietly revolutionary resurrection of a remarkable woman." (Booklist)

Awful narration ruined this book for me

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

This is an interesting story but I would not recommend this audio rendition. Alexandra O'Karma is such an awful narrator! She reads extremely slow. You can hear her sucking in big deep breaths between sentences, and loudly swallowing all the time. I ended up listening at 1.25x because she reads so slowly, but it still felt sluggish. I could not listen to this in my headphones because of O'Karma's distracting breathing and swallowing.

What other book might you compare Empress Orchid to and why?

Imperial Woman: The Story of the Last Empress of China by Pearl S. Buck is the same story. I enjoyed Buck's version much more than Min's.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Alexandra O'Karma?

Janet Song or Jodi Long would have done a much more professional job

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes

Any additional comments?

Do yourself a favor and listen to a sample before you buy this book. If you can stand the horrific narration, you may enjoy the story.

unimpressed orchid

Having read a number of books in this genre, this one does not particularly stand out as exceptional or even good. The writing is disjointed and the author leaves many loose threads in her descriptions and the main character is as flat as a pancake. As for the audio bit, the narrator, in addition to the swallowing annoyance, reads the book as if it were her grocery list. I am disappointed to have even wasted one of my credits on this book.

Worst Recording Ever

The previous reviews on this recording are much too polite. This is worst recording I have ever heard, and I can't believe anyone would offer this for public sale. Offensive swallowing is just a fraction of the problem. From beginning to end, the recording sounds like the narrator is struggling to breathe at every sentence and then taking deep inhalations from an oxygen mask every few words. I was even more offended by the narrator's disruptive and endless smacking and struggle for salivation from what sounds like untreated severe dry mouth. It is a constant throughout the recording and so severe that the entire manuscript is ruined.

Interesting topic defeated by narrator

The empress dowager of China was not much more than a title to me before listening to this book, and I was glad of the opportunity to learn a bit more of the period. Normally, historical novels are the most fun way for me to expand my knowledge; but this one was ponderous, and the narrator, who exemplified the understated constraint of inscrutable Chinese, was soporific. I actually had to press myself to continue listening and finish the book--which is pretty unusual.

Narrator made this book worse!

This book was an ok read. Seemed to have dragged on and on and ended in a disappointing way.
The narrator made this book even more worse. I could hear her swallowing and her throat making noises. It made the book worse than it was.

Re-Record, Erase Swallowing!

I think this probably was a good book. I will not know if they do not re-record, because the swallowing - the very loud, disgusting swallowing - of the narrator caused me to finally have to put it down. I kept thinking I would get used to it, but I didn't and it began to make me want to gag. I understand people swallow, but I have never heard it on an audiobook. Edit the book, get rid of the swallowing, please!

Orchid Ennui

The last empress of China was a fascinating person and a great leader. This book has little history and is mostly an account of court etiquette. I was bored most of the time. The reader has an interesting voice but a bad habit of swallowing hard every few minutes. So, if you want to learn more about the Forbidden City and the extravagant court life of the Chinese emporers, this may interest you. Otherwise, check out some real history books.

Narration drove me batty

I agree with the previous reviews rergarding the narration- there was very annoying mouth noises and the narrator sounded as thought she was bored to tears while reading, or just arrogant. I also did not appreciate her attempts at trying to sound masculine for the male part of the text and childlike for the youth part of the text. It was almost comical. I frequently found myself mocking her aloud while reading.

The story seemed interesting and historically accurate, and I think I will actually have to read the book to be able to enjoy this story.

*note-- the preview didn't capture the fullness of the profoundly irritating narration, which is why I purchased it. Next time I will read the reviews as well.

Slow first half - great second half

This book would be well-enjoyed by the student of Chinese history. The first five hours are full of intricate detail that might be fascinating to the history lover but in many cases, does nothing to further the plot. The main character is bored, the narrator sounds bored (acting the part or tired of the endless nothing) and I was bored. BUT - the second five hours are so riveting, that I was sorry when it was over.

As the other reviewers state, the narrator leaves much to be desired. Even when the main character is experiencing life and death situations, she couldn?t sound more tranquil. Lots of pauses, not the dramatic kind.

Horrible

Manages to make sex and intrigue painfully boring; sadly the narrator is so incredibly monotone, it is hard to tell if the book was really that poorly written, or if the Alexandra O'Karma is to blame. There is absolutely nothing about this book I can recommend.