Labyrinth

By: Kate Mosse

Narrated by: Donada Peters

Length: 19 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

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

Good Historical Fiction

Not a bad listen. I found that I didn't mind driving as much while listening to this. Furthermore, it stuck in my mind so much that I found myself researching the times and places relayed in the book. There are supposed to be two more books in this series and I hope Audible picks them up when they come out.

Slow in parts.. but very much worth the effort

I know several others have commented that they couldn't get through this. It is a bit slow in parts Mosse seems to chase a few historical rabbits that (at this point in the series) seem irrelevant to the narrative. But for those of us who love history, the rabit trails are as much fun as the plot.

I started out reading this book (you remember, those things with pages and ink?) but switched to the audio because it was slow, and I adore Donata Peters.

Still, the storyline is interesting, the history is what really kept me engaged. I wish there had been more character development, but there are so many characters that might have slowed the pace to a funeral march.

This is actually an endorsement, I know it doesn't sound like it. I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the rest of the series.

Good stuff... go for it!

A real puzzle to master!

What did you love best about Labyrinth?

The thing I liked the best is that the story lines ran parallel, but you really don't put it all together until midway through the book. It pulls you in, while keeping you trying to figure it all out.

What did you like best about this story?

I really like that the author shared how the characters were feeling, rather than just their thoughts...I felt if gave insight to the personality of each character.

Have you listened to any of Donada Peters’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was my 1st Donada Peter's performance. While I'd bought and listened to this in 2007, I just enjoyed it again and now realize it's a series. I can't wait to get my credits this month to get the other 2 books!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The moment that moved me the most was in the epilogue, but to share it is a spoiler alert. A great listen if you liked Da vinci Code (conspiracy theory-ish) or Time Traveler's Wife (sub-plot type reads).

Captivating - Will Listen To This One Again

I knew nothing about Cathars or Crusades in Southern France when I started this book so much of the first part of the story was somewhat confusing for me. Add the jumping back and forth in time and wow, my head was spinning trying to figure out who was who and what was what. I had to rewind and replay several sections to figure out what was going on. But after doing this and getting through the first section, this was a book I couldn't put down easily. Just the kind of book I enjoy, a great historical/mystery/thriller with religion/holy grail thrown in for good measure. This is an audiobook that I am going to go back and listen to again, all 19+ hours of it!

POOR NARRATION AND REPETITIVE STORYLINE

I liked Kate Moss's book, Sepulchre, but this book is a similar type of story line and not as inventive. This is a book better read with a map and notepaper beside you rather than audible. This is because so many names are French, the locations are French and unless you have a background in the French language and geography it can be confusing. New characters with new names are constantly being introduced in two different time periods which makes the audio listening more difficult. If I listened to the book again it would be with a note pad beside me and stopping to write down each character and determine geographic locations. Maybe this book was recorded years ago with fewer available readers, but this older English woman was not a good choice for this historical novel. Why not a French reader? Why not a female in age closer to the main character of the book? I found the narration flat.
#Historical Fiction on Cathars, #Dramatic, #Tragic, "Medieval France, #Female Protagonist #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

Fast paced historical novel

I read this book in print when it was first published and enjoyed it very much. It is not quite as I good as an audiobook because the novel switches between the the 1990s and 1200s and has so many characters that it can be difficult to follow. Although is plot is somewhat overwrought, the historical setting for the story is fascinating and those who like historical novels with women as the main characters will enjoy this audiobook.

Watch out for the French

This is a mass market thiriller in the Da Vinci Code manner, although written before The DVC came out.

It's not literary fiction, lots of cliches that the discriminating reader will find annoying, but its still a good read/listen IF you can get past the reader.

The French is half Langue d'Oc (Very Old French) and half modern - and all of it is heavily accented by the British reader's inability to, for e.g., NOT add an R at the end of a word that ends with a vowel and in front of another word starting with a vowel. In French this changes the gender of the noun... a serious error.

No warning is given about the Old French so this is particularly disconcerting if you actually speak and understand modern French.

In print it's not so bad because you can see that the spelling is Old French and the story confirms it.

The Author should have insisted on some sort of explanation - or simply let the Old French go... It's quite a stretch to think anyone still speaks this varation of French that is half Spanish.

I will steer away from anything read by this reader as a result.

Beautiful Story

I very much enjoyed this book. Only one small complaint is the amount of French both old and modern dialects. (I am not a linguist by any means.) You do become used to it and the beauty of the language won me over. Other reviewers have mentioned the skipping back and forth between the two time periods - I did not find this to be hard to follow, the characterization helps to clarify what time you are in. I loved how Mosse brought the two periods together. You will find yourself wanting her to write more about one over the other by turns! Engaging characters and deep relationships - all in all a beautiful and original story.

Very nice

Loved the carefully researched information. Had studied French cathedrals in college. Retranslates carefully the French dialogues. Should have read it 50 years ago for accents of the language. Nice to listen as other more mundane chores need to be done. Enjoy.

Disappointing

This was an obvious attempt to cash in on the popularity of DaVinci Code. Which is fine if it had succeeded. It didn't. I think the plot was moving back and forth between the past and present, but I had a hard time following which was which. There were some high points where there was actually some action and plot, but overall I had a very hard time following what was going on.

I really am not sure at all what the point of this book was except to cash in on the DaVinci Code reputation. There is a lot of potential for good stories about the time of the Crusades and Templers, but this book just lacked a coherent story line.

The narrator did it justice, but there was just no plot to hold things together.