• Labyrinth

  • By: Kate Mosse
  • Narrated by: Donada Peters
  • Length: 19 hrs and 34 mins
  • 3.6 out of 5 stars (799 ratings)

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Labyrinth  By  cover art

Labyrinth

By: Kate Mosse
Narrated by: Donada Peters
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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

What listeners say about Labyrinth

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    213
  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
    82
  • 1 Stars
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Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
    97
  • 3 Stars
    67
  • 2 Stars
    16
  • 1 Stars
    13
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    141
  • 4 Stars
    103
  • 3 Stars
    70
  • 2 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
    16

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

One of my Audible favorites

One thing that I've learned about reviews is that not everyone likes the same things. Why ask a rock music fan if he likes opera and vice versa. This is historical fiction that explores a people in southern France, the Cathars, who dared challenge the early Catholic Church. If that is of little interest to you, then move on.

This book was one of my favorites because it had good character development, suspense, fluid story, and it taught some very important history about the early Catholic church. The Christain religion had started to go down divergent paths and something had to be done to get it back on the straight and narrow. The story at the very end does get a little fanciful with some connections to Egypt mythology. I think that Mosse was making the connection between ancient Egypt and some of the basic beliefs of Christainity. (See also books by Crossan and Pagels.)

Don't misunderstand - this isn't a faith or spirtual book. It is cultural history told through a pretty good story.

I learned a great deal about the culture of southern France and northern Italy. I realize now that some place names, like the Col de Bonne Homme (Mt Blanc area) is a reference to the native Cathars. Further web searches showed me that Mosse had been pretty faithful to history. The last stand of the Cathars was at a famous castle that became an object of study for the Nazi's (a la Indiana Jones) because of the Cathar connection. Go figure.

As for the narrator, I enjoyed listening to her presentation. She has a good range of voices to use for the different characters. I am not in agreement with others who were less enthusiastic.

Bottom line - it is a sophisticated story that is well worth the listen.

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47 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Terrible Listening Experience

I really had hoped to love this series. I have visited the places in France from this story. I thought it would be fun and that I would feel a connection and would enjoy seeing these sites in the storyline of this book. Not so. It all fell flat. I have to agree with other negative reviewers and put it down to the author's poor writing skills. The whole thing was tiresome, weak, and just plain tedious. Very disappointing.

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33 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Not Recommended

An audio book has two components, which make it either a good listen or bad, or somewhere in between. The writer has to have a good story and understand how to write but the story alone is not enough to hold the reader's attention. And if the writing is poor, the narration is tough . . . to follow and to engage.

This book has two flaws: horrihble writing and terrible narration. To give the narrator the benefit of the doubt, perhaps it's the writing, but in any event, if you respect what a good author and good narrator do, leave this be.

My suggestion is this writer spend a little time studying the craft and that the editor who bought the book be exiled to some land where the written word is banned.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • MS
  • 04-01-06

Not worth the time.

Contrary to some other posts, I thought the narration was good but the story is not.
It's full of holes and has numerous torture and gruesome scenes.

If you're looking for something adventerous and fun, this isn't it.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

NO STARS, didn't finish listening to it

I also very, very much disliked the narrator, whose voice I found grating. The novel, even if I had read it on paper, I did not find well written. I wouldn't have given it even one star, but apparently that is a technical impossiblity on the webpage. There seemed to be many anachronisms. Fairly early in the story, I didn't like or respect the main character, or understand her motivations, and lost interest in the novel about a fifth of the way through. I slogged on, but after getting about a third of the way (and this was just listening in my car, in traffic, so it didn't have to be very good) I was so bored and uninterested that I didn't finish listening to the book. I would not, obviously, recommend it at all.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Find Something Else

A very slow and tedious story. I thought that the story itself was boring and the narration left much to be desired. Although she did really well with all of the French names and places. I would not recommend Labyrinth...it's easy enough to find something else - anything else. Try some Dan Brown, or even The Secret History by Donna Tartt.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Uneven, but worthwhile in the end

I'd give this 3.5 stars. The reader is very good, 4 stars.

The trouble with this book is the unevenness between the past and the present storylines. If you stick with it, eventually you learn to care about Alice (the central character in the present). The book has a pretty slow pace, but the last four hours are engrossing! I feel the end makes up for the problems of the beginning (and, yes, middle). If you are on the fence like I was about this one, I urge you to give it a try.

The historical period covered is one I knew nothing about (a crusade in the 13th C. against the south of France!). The inclusion of some French and some Occitan words was not a distraction for me. Now that I've finished the book, I've learned there are websites with extra materials (maps and further reading). D-oh! Maybe that info will be useful to other readers.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Thoroughly Enjoyed

If you like historical, conspiracy murder mysteries, this will grab you at the beginning and carry you through to the end. It starts in the present at an archaeological dig, then starts going back & forth in time as the story unravels. Very interesting historical facts with some explanation of the story's conspiracy roots and the how & why of it's continuing into the present add greatly to the story. It's somewhat on the level of the Knight's Templar stories, but not the same line. Good reader, good story. Enjoy!

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Long and drawn out...

it was all I could to to keep plugging away at this one. I was WELL into the 2nd of 3 parts before the story really started to get my interest. The reading was okay, but the accent was kind of annoying. Regardless, I stuck it out and the book was pretty satisfying overall. I will say though, I've been a member for many years and this was one of the most books that most challenged my attention. It's not an easy listen -- you have to want it! Good luck!

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

This is one you will want to put down.

I do not finish few books. After all, I paid good money to buy them. I could not suffer through this one. Switching time periods got extremely confusing. The mystery is somewhat there but never grabbed me. The story left me wanting to be challenged by a puzzle and intrigued by a plot. Couple this yawing plot with a reader who does not add dimension to the story but rather distracts the listener, this is one Audio book I could put down.

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8 people found this helpful