-
Macbeth: A Novel
- Narrated by: Alan Cumming
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel
- By: A. J. Hartley, David Hewson
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is a tale of ghosts, of madness, of revenge - of old alliances giving way to new intrigues. Denmark is changing, shaking off its medieval past. War with Norway is on the horizon. And Hamlet - son of the old king, nephew of the new - becomes increasingly entangled in a web of deception - and murder. Beautifully performed by actor Richard Armitage ("Thorin Oakenshield" in the Hobbit films), Hamlet, Prince of Denmark takes Shakespeare’s original into unexpected realms, reinventing a story we thought we knew.
-
-
Something Rotten in Denmark...
- By Carole T. on 08-23-14
By: A. J. Hartley, and others
-
Macbeth: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: full cast
- Length: 2 hrs and 12 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Macbeth, one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, is among the most powerful and influential tragedies in the English language. Promised a golden future as ruler of Scotland by three sinister witches, Macbeth murders the king in order to succeed to the throne. Tortured by his conscience and fearful of discovery, he becomes fatally enmeshed in a web of treachery and deceit.
-
-
excellent
- By Laura W. on 05-25-18
-
Ghost Stories: Stephen Fry's Definitive Collection
- By: Stephen Fry, Washington Irving, M.R. James, and others
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the days grow shorter and the temperature drops, Halloween approaches. Come, brave listener, pull up a chair, and spend some time with master storyteller Stephen Fry as he tells us some of his favourite ghost stories of all time, in truly terrifying spatial audio. From the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow to the tortured spirits of M.R. James, from Edgar Allan Poe’s terrifying tale of a doppelganger to Charlotte Riddell’s Open Door that should definitely stay shut, join Stephen as he tells you some truly terrifying tales.
-
-
Fry is as comforting as ever. Loved it
- By Jack Arnouts on 10-11-23
By: Stephen Fry, and others
-
Romeo and Juliet: A Novel
- By: David Hewson
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's a story you think you know: the age-old tale of "star-cross'd lovers"; two families at war; a romance, so pure and absolute, fated for a tragic end. It's a story so thoroughly embedded in our culture, and so frequently retold. Yet, nothing captures the spark, the possibility, and the surprise of Shakespeare's work quite like this....
-
-
Wonderful, Imaginative
- By DPM on 12-13-16
By: David Hewson
-
The Iliad & The Odyssey
- By: Homer
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 28 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Little is known about the Ancient Greek oral poet Homer, the supposed 8th century BC author of the world-read Iliad and his later masterpiece, The Odyssey. These classic epics provided the basis for Greek education and culture throughout the classical age and formed the backbone of humane education through the birth of the Roman Empire and the spread of Christianity.
-
-
Worth the price, worth the time
- By Sam on 12-31-04
By: Homer
-
Beowulf
- By: Seamus Heaney
- Narrated by: Seamus Heaney
- Length: 2 hrs and 13 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times best seller and Whitebread Book of the Year, Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney's new translation of Beowulf comes to life in this gripping audio. Heaney's performance reminds us that Beowulf, written near the turn of another millennium, was intended to be heard not read.
-
-
Why, oh, why is it abridged?
- By Tad Davis on 09-25-08
By: Seamus Heaney
-
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel
- By: A. J. Hartley, David Hewson
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is a tale of ghosts, of madness, of revenge - of old alliances giving way to new intrigues. Denmark is changing, shaking off its medieval past. War with Norway is on the horizon. And Hamlet - son of the old king, nephew of the new - becomes increasingly entangled in a web of deception - and murder. Beautifully performed by actor Richard Armitage ("Thorin Oakenshield" in the Hobbit films), Hamlet, Prince of Denmark takes Shakespeare’s original into unexpected realms, reinventing a story we thought we knew.
-
-
Something Rotten in Denmark...
- By Carole T. on 08-23-14
By: A. J. Hartley, and others
-
Macbeth: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: full cast
- Length: 2 hrs and 12 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Macbeth, one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, is among the most powerful and influential tragedies in the English language. Promised a golden future as ruler of Scotland by three sinister witches, Macbeth murders the king in order to succeed to the throne. Tortured by his conscience and fearful of discovery, he becomes fatally enmeshed in a web of treachery and deceit.
-
-
excellent
- By Laura W. on 05-25-18
-
Ghost Stories: Stephen Fry's Definitive Collection
- By: Stephen Fry, Washington Irving, M.R. James, and others
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the days grow shorter and the temperature drops, Halloween approaches. Come, brave listener, pull up a chair, and spend some time with master storyteller Stephen Fry as he tells us some of his favourite ghost stories of all time, in truly terrifying spatial audio. From the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow to the tortured spirits of M.R. James, from Edgar Allan Poe’s terrifying tale of a doppelganger to Charlotte Riddell’s Open Door that should definitely stay shut, join Stephen as he tells you some truly terrifying tales.
-
-
Fry is as comforting as ever. Loved it
- By Jack Arnouts on 10-11-23
By: Stephen Fry, and others
-
Romeo and Juliet: A Novel
- By: David Hewson
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's a story you think you know: the age-old tale of "star-cross'd lovers"; two families at war; a romance, so pure and absolute, fated for a tragic end. It's a story so thoroughly embedded in our culture, and so frequently retold. Yet, nothing captures the spark, the possibility, and the surprise of Shakespeare's work quite like this....
-
-
Wonderful, Imaginative
- By DPM on 12-13-16
By: David Hewson
-
The Iliad & The Odyssey
- By: Homer
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 28 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Little is known about the Ancient Greek oral poet Homer, the supposed 8th century BC author of the world-read Iliad and his later masterpiece, The Odyssey. These classic epics provided the basis for Greek education and culture throughout the classical age and formed the backbone of humane education through the birth of the Roman Empire and the spread of Christianity.
-
-
Worth the price, worth the time
- By Sam on 12-31-04
By: Homer
-
Beowulf
- By: Seamus Heaney
- Narrated by: Seamus Heaney
- Length: 2 hrs and 13 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times best seller and Whitebread Book of the Year, Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney's new translation of Beowulf comes to life in this gripping audio. Heaney's performance reminds us that Beowulf, written near the turn of another millennium, was intended to be heard not read.
-
-
Why, oh, why is it abridged?
- By Tad Davis on 09-25-08
By: Seamus Heaney
-
Mythologies
- The Complete Edition, in a New Translation
- By: Roland Barthes, Annette Lavers - translator, Richard Howard - translator
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Roland Barthes's groundbreaking Mythologies first appeared in English in 1972, it was immediately recognized as one of the most significant works in French theory - yet nearly half of the essays from the original work were missing. This new edition of Mythologies is the first complete, authoritative English version of the French classic. It includes the brilliant "Astrology", never published in English before.
-
-
Fun and engaging
- By Chris Hall on 01-08-19
By: Roland Barthes, and others
-
Emma
- An Audible Original Drama
- By: Jane Austen, Anna Lea - adaptation
- Narrated by: Emma Thompson, Joanne Froggatt, Isabella Inchbald, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Austen wrote, 'I am going to take a heroine whom no-one but myself will much like' and thus introduces the handsome, clever, rich - and flawed, Emma Woodhouse. Emma is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage; nothing however delights her more than matchmaking her fellow residents of Highbury. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected.
-
-
Background sonds RUINED this
- By Sandra Dodd on 09-09-18
By: Jane Austen, and others
-
The Winter King
- By: Bernard Cornwell
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 19 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The tale begins in Dark Age Britain, a land where Arthur has been banished and Merlin has disappeared, where a child-king sits unprotected on the throne, where religion vies with magic for the souls of the people. It is to this desperate land that Arthur returns, a man at once utterly human and truly heroic: a man of honor, loyalty, and amazing valor; a man who loves Guinevere more passionately than he should; a man whose life is at once tragic and triumphant.
-
-
Might be my favorite take on Arthur
- By Allen Young on 06-12-16
By: Bernard Cornwell
-
A Midsummer Night's Dream
- Arkangel Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Amanda Root, David Harewood, Roy Hudd
- Length: 2 hrs and 18 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Oberon, King of the Fairies, uses his magic upon four runaway lovers in a midsummer wood outside Athens, chaos ensues. Who really loves whom? Meanwhile, a band of well-meaning but bungling local actors have their rehearsal sabotaged by the mischievous Puck, who bewitches their leader, Bottom, and Titania, the Fairy Queen. The result is a lively and anarchic comedy that can only be resolved by an elaborate disentangling of spells.
-
-
Shakespeare is rolling in his grave.
- By Zombie Gil 007 on 02-14-15
-
The Medici Murders
- By: David Hewson
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a well-known British TV historian, Marmaduke Godolphin, is found murdered in the canals of Venice during carnival, stabbed by a stiletto blade, the Venetian police are eager to have the case solved and cleared up within a day—murder is bad for tourism! The police recruit the help of retired archivist, Arnold Clover. Godolphin had hired his services on arriving in Venice to help sort through some historical papers of note. These dusty documents may contain previously unknown information about the assassination of the murderer, Lorenzino de' Medici, 500 years previously.
-
-
Mediocre Murders
- By SB on 10-28-22
By: David Hewson
-
A Tale of Two Cities [Tantor]
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Tale of Two Cities is one of Charles Dickens's most exciting novels. Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, it tells the story of a family threatened by the terrible events of the past. Doctor Manette was wrongly imprisoned in the Bastille for 18 years without trial by the aristocratic authorities.
-
-
it's the singer not the song*
- By Maynard on 11-09-13
By: Charles Dickens
-
The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes
- By: Arthur Conan Doyle
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 70 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here in one recording is every Sherlock Holmes story ever written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Originally appearing in serial form, these famous stories are here presented in the order in which they were first published beginning in 1887. Included in this definitive, award-winning collection are four novels and 56 short stories, a total of 60 titles. The 56 short stories are aggregated into five named collections, just as they were originally published in book form.
-
-
More collections like this, please!
- By Myusollo on 07-22-14
-
Dracula [Audible Edition]
- By: Bram Stoker
- Narrated by: Alan Cumming, Tim Curry, Simon Vance, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The modern audience hasn't had a chance to truly appreciate the unknowing dread that readers would have felt when reading Bram Stoker's original 1897 manuscript. Most modern productions employ campiness or sound effects to try to bring back that gothic tension, but we've tried something different. By returning to Stoker's original storytelling structure - a series of letters and journal entries voiced by Jonathan Harker, Dr. Van Helsing, and other characters - with an all-star cast of narrators, we've sought to recapture its originally intended horror and power.
-
-
IS THAT NOT SO?
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 11-05-15
By: Bram Stoker
-
Not My Father's Son: A Memoir
- By: Alan Cumming
- Narrated by: Alan Cumming
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With ribald humor, wit, and incredible insight, Alan seamlessly moves back and forth in time, integrating stories from his childhood in Scotland and his experiences today as the celebrated actor of film, television, and stage. At times suspenseful, at times deeply moving, but always incredibly brave and honest, Not My Father's Son is a powerful story of embracing the best aspects of the past and triumphantly pushing the darkness aside.
-
-
The Best Part of Saturday
- By George Knight on 12-16-14
By: Alan Cumming
-
The Heart of the Matter
- By: Graham Greene
- Narrated by: Michael Kitchen
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Scobie, a police officer in a West African colony, is a good and honest man. But when he falls in love, he is forced into a betrayal of everything that he has ever believed in, and his struggle to maintain the happiness of two women destroys him.
-
-
Starts Very Slowly then Boom!
- By Michael on 05-21-17
By: Graham Greene
-
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- A Lisbeth Salander Novel
- By: Stieg Larsson, Reg Keeland - translator
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 16 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption.
-
-
A Classic Mystery with Wonderful Characters
- By Robert on 12-22-08
By: Stieg Larsson, and others
-
The Joy Luck Club
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Gwendoline Yeo
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Four Chinese women, drawn together by the shadow of their past, meet in San Francisco to play mah jong, invest in stocks, eat dim sum, and to "say" stories to each other. Nearly 40 years later, one of the women has died, and her daughter arrives to take her place. However, the daughter never expected to learn of her mother's secret lifelong wish - and the tragic way in which it has come true. The revelation creates among the women an urgent need to remember the past.
-
-
Joy Luck - abridged
- By Leslie Teicholz on 03-16-04
By: Amy Tan
Editorial reviews
As British best-selling crime author David Hewson reflects in his introduction to this innovative project, "the Scottish play" is shrouded in mysteries that are not to be taken lightly. Shakespeare condensed and confused 17 years in the history of a beloved king into a play covering a few days rife with political intrigue and shadowy motivations. In The Bard's tragic canon, Macbeth stands as an anomaly for many reasons, including how short it is and how flat all the characters are besides Macbeth himself. With the help of A.J. Hartley, distinguished professor of Shakespeare at UNC-Charlotte and thriller novelist, Macbeth: A Novel is poised to provide a more complete and fleshy picture of this odd little play.
Going where many other actors would fear to tread is, of course, Alan Cumming. Cumming has a long history with daring characters on stage and on the big screen, as well as his fair share of Shakespeare with a previous turn as Hamlet. With an Audie Award already under his belt, he has the chops necessary to imagine and give voice to paranoid kings and conniving witches, but perhaps one of the greatest joys of his work on Macbeth: A Novel is just the fact of his naturally beautiful Scottish accent left unfettered. Nothing sets the landscape so clearly as listening to those long, rolling vowels come up from a part of the belly that only a Scot must have.
Cumming does not shy away from the devious depths of feeling that Hartley and Hewson have so carefully layered onto the play. No more off-stage murder, no more simply scary witches chanting, and quite a bit more sympathy for this story's many devils. Every poisonous cup and every stab wound are rendered in living battle colors. The three witches are not just weird, but positively demonic, each with their own dynamic contribution to the making of a king. Lady Macbeth and Banquo in particular have personalities that loom as large as Macbeth's familiar form.
A strikingly modern interpretation that nevertheless faithfully adapts Shakespeare's original, this audiobook will surely please a wide variety of listeners. Lovers of mysteries or political thrillers, teachers struggling to blow the dust off a classic for their students, and fans of Shakespeare will all find many reasons to enjoy Hartley and Hewson's fresh presentation. —Megan Volpert
Publisher's summary
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 on which they are played.
Macbeth is a war hero and a patriot, doing everything in his power to hold together Duncan’s crumbling kingdom, which is beset by sedition from within and with threats from overseas. But when Duncan, contrary to ancient Scottish tradition, turns to building a family dynasty instead of rewarding those who have borne the brunt of the fighting, Macbeth and his powerful wife, Skena, make plans of their own, plans designed to hold both the nation and their strained relationship together. Sinister figures who claim supernatural knowledge spur them on, but the terrible outcome is as much about accident and failure as it is malevolence. Soon Macbeth and his wife find themselves preeminent in all the land, but struggling to hold themselves and their country together as former friends turn into bitter and deadly enemies.
This is Macbeth as you have not heard it before: fresh, edgy, and vital. It is a story of valor in battle, whispering in shadows, witchcraft in the hollows of an ancient landscape, and the desperate struggle of flawed people to do what they think is right.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
A. J. Hartley, a professor of Shakespeare at the Univ. of North Carolina-Charlotte, is the author of the “Will Hawthorne” fantasy series as well as several thrillers.
David Hewson is the best-selling author of 16 novels, including the Rome-based “Nic Costa” crime series.
ABOUT THE NARRATOR
Alan Cumming stars in CBS's The Good Wife, for which he received an Emmy nomination, and is the host of PBS’s Masterpiece Mystery. He was honored with the 2011 Audie Award for Best Male Narrator.
The Irish folk song “She Moved Through the Fair” is performed by Heather O'Neil of the Irish Repertory Theater.
Critic reviews
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
The Bloody Cup
- By: M. K. Hume
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 18 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Celtic Britain is on the brink of collapse, and the kingdom's bloodiest days are upon it. For many years, the people of Briton have enjoyed peace and prosperity under the reign of King Arthur. He has ruled with dignity, honor, and humility. Arthur is now weakening with age, however, and the seeds of discontent are being sown. Seeking to cleanse the land of Christian belief, dissenters need a symbol with which to legitimize their pagan claim and gather malcontents together into a cohesive weapon.
-
-
Worth your time.
- By Helen on 07-01-22
By: M. K. Hume
-
The Bone Doll's Twin
- Tamir Triad, Book 1
- By: Lynn Flewelling
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine, Lynn Flewelling
- Length: 16 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As people start to recall the Oracle's prophecy, Erius begins to quietly kill off his female relatives who pose the only threat to his monarchy. Constantly in fear for her life, Princess Ariani the King's sister, gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. But Ariani is married to Lord Rhius, the patron of the powerful wizard Iya, and Iya has sinister plans for the babes.
-
-
Not a bad beginning, but . . .
- By bluestategirl on 12-29-10
By: Lynn Flewelling
-
Morningstar
- By: David Gemmell
- Narrated by: David Monteath
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A country in desperate need of heroes. Angostin invaders surge through the Highlands, laying waste to everything in their path. Darkness follows in their wake as a mad necromancer resurrects the eons-dead Vampyre Kings. Only the bandit Jarek Mace, and the magicker and bard Owen Odell, have the courage to fight the Angostins and the undead. Whispers soon spread that Mace is the legendary Morningstar, a saviour who will protect his country in its hour of need. Yet Mace seems nothing more than a thief and a liar.
-
-
Sheer Magnificence!
- By Carol on 11-29-18
By: David Gemmell
-
Shadowmarch
- Shadowmarch, Volume I
- By: Tad Williams
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 29 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For generations the misty Shadowline has marked the boundary between the lands of men and the lost northern lands that are the lair of their inhuman enemies, the ageless Qar. But now that boundary line is moving outward, threatening to engulf the northernmost land in which humans still live - the kingdom of Southmarch.
-
-
It's the characters that matter...
- By JC on 11-09-10
By: Tad Williams
-
Forge of Darkness
- Kharkanas Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Steven Erikson
- Narrated by: Daniel Philpott
- Length: 31 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Forge of Darkness takes listeners to Kurald Galain, the warren of Darkness, and tells of a realm whose fate plays a crucial role in the fall of the Malazan Empire and surrounds one of the Malazan world’s most fascinating and powerful characters, Anomander Rake. It’s a conflicted time in Kurald Galain, where Mother Dark reigns above the Tiste people. But this ancient land was once home to many a power...and even death is not quite eternal. The commoners’ great hero, Vatha Urusander, longs for ascendency and Mother Dark’s hand in marriage, but she has taken another Consort, Lord Draconus.
-
-
A Precursor Epic Fantasy - A Rewarding Beginning!
- By Michael on 11-08-12
By: Steven Erikson
-
Dragon's Child
- The King Arthur Trilogy, Book 1
- By: M. K. Hume
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 18 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
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.
-
-
A Dry, Dull Tale, Marred in "Realism"
- By Steven on 09-21-15
By: M. K. Hume
-
The Bloody Cup
- By: M. K. Hume
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 18 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Celtic Britain is on the brink of collapse, and the kingdom's bloodiest days are upon it. For many years, the people of Briton have enjoyed peace and prosperity under the reign of King Arthur. He has ruled with dignity, honor, and humility. Arthur is now weakening with age, however, and the seeds of discontent are being sown. Seeking to cleanse the land of Christian belief, dissenters need a symbol with which to legitimize their pagan claim and gather malcontents together into a cohesive weapon.
-
-
Worth your time.
- By Helen on 07-01-22
By: M. K. Hume
-
The Bone Doll's Twin
- Tamir Triad, Book 1
- By: Lynn Flewelling
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine, Lynn Flewelling
- Length: 16 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As people start to recall the Oracle's prophecy, Erius begins to quietly kill off his female relatives who pose the only threat to his monarchy. Constantly in fear for her life, Princess Ariani the King's sister, gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. But Ariani is married to Lord Rhius, the patron of the powerful wizard Iya, and Iya has sinister plans for the babes.
-
-
Not a bad beginning, but . . .
- By bluestategirl on 12-29-10
By: Lynn Flewelling
-
Morningstar
- By: David Gemmell
- Narrated by: David Monteath
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A country in desperate need of heroes. Angostin invaders surge through the Highlands, laying waste to everything in their path. Darkness follows in their wake as a mad necromancer resurrects the eons-dead Vampyre Kings. Only the bandit Jarek Mace, and the magicker and bard Owen Odell, have the courage to fight the Angostins and the undead. Whispers soon spread that Mace is the legendary Morningstar, a saviour who will protect his country in its hour of need. Yet Mace seems nothing more than a thief and a liar.
-
-
Sheer Magnificence!
- By Carol on 11-29-18
By: David Gemmell
-
Shadowmarch
- Shadowmarch, Volume I
- By: Tad Williams
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 29 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For generations the misty Shadowline has marked the boundary between the lands of men and the lost northern lands that are the lair of their inhuman enemies, the ageless Qar. But now that boundary line is moving outward, threatening to engulf the northernmost land in which humans still live - the kingdom of Southmarch.
-
-
It's the characters that matter...
- By JC on 11-09-10
By: Tad Williams
-
Forge of Darkness
- Kharkanas Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Steven Erikson
- Narrated by: Daniel Philpott
- Length: 31 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Forge of Darkness takes listeners to Kurald Galain, the warren of Darkness, and tells of a realm whose fate plays a crucial role in the fall of the Malazan Empire and surrounds one of the Malazan world’s most fascinating and powerful characters, Anomander Rake. It’s a conflicted time in Kurald Galain, where Mother Dark reigns above the Tiste people. But this ancient land was once home to many a power...and even death is not quite eternal. The commoners’ great hero, Vatha Urusander, longs for ascendency and Mother Dark’s hand in marriage, but she has taken another Consort, Lord Draconus.
-
-
A Precursor Epic Fantasy - A Rewarding Beginning!
- By Michael on 11-08-12
By: Steven Erikson
-
Dragon's Child
- The King Arthur Trilogy, Book 1
- By: M. K. Hume
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 18 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
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.
-
-
A Dry, Dull Tale, Marred in "Realism"
- By Steven on 09-21-15
By: M. K. Hume
-
Wars of the Roses
- Stormbird
- By: Conn Iggulden
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1437, the Lancaster king Henry VI ascends the throne of England after years of semi-peaceful regency. Named "The Lamb," Henry is famed more for his gentle and pious nature than his father's famous battlefield exploits; already, his dependence on his closest men has stirred whispers of weakness at court. A secret truce negotiated with France to trade British territories for a royal bride - Margaret of Anjou - sparks revolts across English territory.
-
-
100% Fiction and 0% Real History
- By Mary Elizabeth Reynolds on 04-25-18
By: Conn Iggulden
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Good stuff
- By Jake on 06-10-10
By: Greg Keyes
-
Deverry: Books 1-4
- By: Katharine Kerr
- Narrated by: Ruth Urquhart
- Length: 58 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This boxed set includes books 1-4 in the the Deverry series: Daggerspell, Darkspell, The Bristling Wood, and The Dragon Revenant.
-
-
Masterpiece
- By Luke on 09-05-22
By: Katharine Kerr
-
Kushiel's Dart
- By: Jacqueline Carey
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 31 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassing beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good...and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.
-
-
The Kushiel series in order
- By Glen Gaines on 10-27-09
By: Jacqueline Carey
-
Knights of Dark Renown
- By: David Gemmell
- Narrated by: Ben Onwukwe
- Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Knights of the Gabala were legendary protectors of the Nine Duchies - until they disappeared through a demon-haunted gateway between worlds. Manannan, the Coward Knight, held back. Now he lives in torment. Yet war is coming to the Duchies - and with it Manannan's chance for redemption. But to regain his honour and save his land, he will have to confront his deepest fear. He must ride through the gateway and seek out his lost companions in the unknown world beyond. And the secret he will learn there will tear his soul apart.
-
-
One of Gemmell’s earliest, one of the best
- By Robert on 04-04-18
By: David Gemmell
-
Between Two Fires
- A Novel
- By: Mark Noce
- Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Saxon barbarians threaten to destroy medieval Wales. Lady Branwen becomes Wales' last hope to unite their divided kingdoms when her father betroths her to a powerful Welsh warlord, the Hammer King. But the fledgling alliance is fraught with enemies from within and without as Branwen becomes the target of assassination attempts and courtly intrigue.
-
-
An epic tale!
- By Voracious Reader on 09-14-16
By: Mark Noce
-
I, Strahd: The Memoirs of a Vampire
- Ravenloft: Strahd, Book 1
- By: P. N. Elrod
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some of the parchment pages were the color of cream, thick and substantial, made to last many, many lifetimes. Other pages were thin and desiccated, positively yellow from age, and crackled alarmingly as Van Richten turned them over. There were no ornate illuminations, no fussy borders, only lines of plain text in hard black ink. The flowing handwriting was a bit difficult to follow at first; the writer's style of calligraphy had not been in common use for 300 years. No table of contents, but from the dates it looked to be some kind of history.
-
-
Love it...just one complaint....
- By Ryan Conrad on 03-15-14
By: P. N. Elrod
-
Fire from Heaven
- A Novel of Alexander the Great
- By: Mary Renault
- Narrated by: Roger May
- Length: 18 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
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.
-
-
Renewed Pleasure
- By James on 01-28-15
By: Mary Renault
-
Transformation
- Rai-Kirah, Book 1
- By: Carol Berg
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 16 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seyonne is a man waiting to die. He has been a slave for 16 years, almost half his life, and has lost everything of meaning to him: his dignity, the people and homeland he loves, and the Warden's power he used to defend an unsuspecting world from the ravages of demons. Seyonne has made peace with his fate. With strict self-discipline he forces himself to exist only in the present moment and to avoid the pain of hope or caring about anyone.
-
-
Seriously Excellent
- By Sharon on 09-25-13
By: Carol Berg
-
The Serpent Sword
- The Bernicia Chronicles, Book 1
- By: Matthew Harffy
- Narrated by: Barnaby Edwards
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beobrand is compelled by his brother's almost-certain murder to embark on a quest for revenge in the war-ravaged kingdoms of Northumbria. The land is rife with danger, as warlords vie for supremacy and dominion. In the battles for control of the region, new oaths are made and broken, and loyalties are tested to the limits. With no patronage and no experience, Beobrand must form his own allegiances and learn to fight with sword and shield. Relentless in pursuit of his enemies, he faces challenges which transform him from a boy to a man.
-
-
Amazing story, needs a warning in the description.
- By Lisa Schilling on 04-12-17
By: Matthew Harffy
-
Orion
- Orion Series, Book 1
- By: Ben Bova
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
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.
-
-
Cornucopia of Genre's
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 06-10-12
By: Ben Bova
-
Green Rider
- By: Kristen Britain
- Narrated by: Ellen Archer
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Karigan G’ladheon, running away from school, is traveling through a deep forest when a galloping horse pounds up to her, its rider impaled by two black-shafted arrows. With his dying breath, he tells her he is a Green Rider, one of the magical messengers of the King. Before he dies, he makes Karigan swear to deliver the message he’s carrying, and gives her his green coat, with the symbolic brooch of his office.
-
-
What a fantastic discovery!
- By GLENNO on 11-27-14
By: Kristen Britain
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel
- By: A. J. Hartley, David Hewson
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is a tale of ghosts, of madness, of revenge - of old alliances giving way to new intrigues. Denmark is changing, shaking off its medieval past. War with Norway is on the horizon. And Hamlet - son of the old king, nephew of the new - becomes increasingly entangled in a web of deception - and murder. Beautifully performed by actor Richard Armitage ("Thorin Oakenshield" in the Hobbit films), Hamlet, Prince of Denmark takes Shakespeare’s original into unexpected realms, reinventing a story we thought we knew.
-
-
Something Rotten in Denmark...
- By Carole T. on 08-23-14
By: A. J. Hartley, and others
-
Macbeth
- Shakespeare Appreciated: (Unabridged, Dramatised, Commentary Options)
- By: William Shakespeare, Simon Potter, Phil Viner
- Narrated by: Joan Walker, Nick Murchie, Coralyn Sheldon
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Experience Macbeth as a powerful full-cast drama with entertaining and enlightening commentary that explains what's what and who's who as the plot unfolds. To help you get the most out of Shakespeare, the narrator offers historical insights and background information, so you can enjoy the jokes, appreciate the references, and get a real sense of Shakespeare's world.
-
-
Now I get it...
- By Amazon Customer on 01-23-13
By: William Shakespeare, and others
-
Romeo and Juliet: A Novel
- By: David Hewson
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's a story you think you know: the age-old tale of "star-cross'd lovers"; two families at war; a romance, so pure and absolute, fated for a tragic end. It's a story so thoroughly embedded in our culture, and so frequently retold. Yet, nothing captures the spark, the possibility, and the surprise of Shakespeare's work quite like this....
-
-
Wonderful, Imaginative
- By DPM on 12-13-16
By: David Hewson
-
Macbeth
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: James Marsters, Joanne Whalley, Josh Cooke, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 59 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Infamously known as the cursed Scottish play, Macbeth is perhaps Shakespeare’s darkest tragedy. When General Macbeth is foretold by three witches that he will one day be King of Scotland, Lady Macbeth convinces him to get rid of anyone who could stand in his way – including committing regicide. As Macbeth ascends to the throne through bloody murder, he becomes a tyrant consumed by fear and paranoia.
-
-
Might want to Read Along
- By Syd Young on 02-03-14
-
Macbeth (Dramatized)
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Alan Cumming
- Length: 1 hr and 44 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Star of stage, film, and television Alan Cumming delivers a virtuoso performance playing every role in the National Theatre of Scotland's bold presentation of Shakespeare's chilling tale of desire, ambition, and the supernatural. This radical reimagining of one of Shakespeare's most deeply psychological plays is set in a psychiatric unit in which Cumming is the lone patient. Channeling the story of Macbeth, he is inhabited in turn by each of the characters of the drama, including some of Shakespeare's most complex and troubled creations.
-
-
Second best to seeing this performance
- By Carole T. on 08-18-12
-
The Medici Murders
- By: David Hewson
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a well-known British TV historian, Marmaduke Godolphin, is found murdered in the canals of Venice during carnival, stabbed by a stiletto blade, the Venetian police are eager to have the case solved and cleared up within a day—murder is bad for tourism! The police recruit the help of retired archivist, Arnold Clover. Godolphin had hired his services on arriving in Venice to help sort through some historical papers of note. These dusty documents may contain previously unknown information about the assassination of the murderer, Lorenzino de' Medici, 500 years previously.
-
-
Mediocre Murders
- By SB on 10-28-22
By: David Hewson
-
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel
- By: A. J. Hartley, David Hewson
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is a tale of ghosts, of madness, of revenge - of old alliances giving way to new intrigues. Denmark is changing, shaking off its medieval past. War with Norway is on the horizon. And Hamlet - son of the old king, nephew of the new - becomes increasingly entangled in a web of deception - and murder. Beautifully performed by actor Richard Armitage ("Thorin Oakenshield" in the Hobbit films), Hamlet, Prince of Denmark takes Shakespeare’s original into unexpected realms, reinventing a story we thought we knew.
-
-
Something Rotten in Denmark...
- By Carole T. on 08-23-14
By: A. J. Hartley, and others
-
Macbeth
- Shakespeare Appreciated: (Unabridged, Dramatised, Commentary Options)
- By: William Shakespeare, Simon Potter, Phil Viner
- Narrated by: Joan Walker, Nick Murchie, Coralyn Sheldon
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Experience Macbeth as a powerful full-cast drama with entertaining and enlightening commentary that explains what's what and who's who as the plot unfolds. To help you get the most out of Shakespeare, the narrator offers historical insights and background information, so you can enjoy the jokes, appreciate the references, and get a real sense of Shakespeare's world.
-
-
Now I get it...
- By Amazon Customer on 01-23-13
By: William Shakespeare, and others
-
Romeo and Juliet: A Novel
- By: David Hewson
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's a story you think you know: the age-old tale of "star-cross'd lovers"; two families at war; a romance, so pure and absolute, fated for a tragic end. It's a story so thoroughly embedded in our culture, and so frequently retold. Yet, nothing captures the spark, the possibility, and the surprise of Shakespeare's work quite like this....
-
-
Wonderful, Imaginative
- By DPM on 12-13-16
By: David Hewson
-
Macbeth
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: James Marsters, Joanne Whalley, Josh Cooke, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 59 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Infamously known as the cursed Scottish play, Macbeth is perhaps Shakespeare’s darkest tragedy. When General Macbeth is foretold by three witches that he will one day be King of Scotland, Lady Macbeth convinces him to get rid of anyone who could stand in his way – including committing regicide. As Macbeth ascends to the throne through bloody murder, he becomes a tyrant consumed by fear and paranoia.
-
-
Might want to Read Along
- By Syd Young on 02-03-14
-
Macbeth (Dramatized)
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Alan Cumming
- Length: 1 hr and 44 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Star of stage, film, and television Alan Cumming delivers a virtuoso performance playing every role in the National Theatre of Scotland's bold presentation of Shakespeare's chilling tale of desire, ambition, and the supernatural. This radical reimagining of one of Shakespeare's most deeply psychological plays is set in a psychiatric unit in which Cumming is the lone patient. Channeling the story of Macbeth, he is inhabited in turn by each of the characters of the drama, including some of Shakespeare's most complex and troubled creations.
-
-
Second best to seeing this performance
- By Carole T. on 08-18-12
-
The Medici Murders
- By: David Hewson
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a well-known British TV historian, Marmaduke Godolphin, is found murdered in the canals of Venice during carnival, stabbed by a stiletto blade, the Venetian police are eager to have the case solved and cleared up within a day—murder is bad for tourism! The police recruit the help of retired archivist, Arnold Clover. Godolphin had hired his services on arriving in Venice to help sort through some historical papers of note. These dusty documents may contain previously unknown information about the assassination of the murderer, Lorenzino de' Medici, 500 years previously.
-
-
Mediocre Murders
- By SB on 10-28-22
By: David Hewson
-
Macbeth: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: full cast
- Length: 2 hrs and 12 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Macbeth, one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, is among the most powerful and influential tragedies in the English language. Promised a golden future as ruler of Scotland by three sinister witches, Macbeth murders the king in order to succeed to the throne. Tortured by his conscience and fearful of discovery, he becomes fatally enmeshed in a web of treachery and deceit.
-
-
excellent
- By Laura W. on 05-25-18
-
Macbeth
- By: Martin Powell, William Shakespeare, Daniel Ferran
- Narrated by: anonymous
- Length: 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The epic tale of Macbeth. Macbeth and Banquo are Scottish generals returning home from a victorious war campaign. Their journey is interrupted when three strange witches come upon them and predict their futures. They claim that Macbeth will one day become King of Scotland! Macbeth is stirred by the prophesy.
-
-
Not Shakespeare just a bad summary
- By Christa on 01-23-24
By: Martin Powell, and others
-
The Garden of Angels
- By: David Hewson
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage
- Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Palazzo Colombina is home to the Uccello family: three generations of men, trapped together in the dusty palace on Venice's Grand Canal. Awkward 15-year-old Nico. His distant, business-focused father. And his beloved grandfather, Paolo. Paolo is dying. But before he passes, he has secrets he's waited his whole life to share.
-
-
Excellent Story, Expert Narration, A Winning Combo!
- By U. Campanella on 01-30-21
By: David Hewson
-
Macbeth: A Dagger of the Mind
- By: Harold Bloom
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 2 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Macbeth is one of William Shakespeare's more brilliantly populated plays and remains among the most widely read. Award-winning writer and beloved professor Harold Bloom investigates Macbeth's interiority and unthinkable actions with razor-sharp insight, agility, and compassion. He also explores his own personal relationship to the character. The book also becomes an extraordinarily moving argument for literature as a path to and a measure of our humanity.
-
-
Great Companion
- By Justin on 01-16-24
By: Harold Bloom
-
Lady Macbeth
- A Novel
- By: Susan Fraser King
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lady Macbeth takes listeners into the heart of 11th-century Scotland, painting a vivid picture of Gruadh, the last female descendent of the country's most royal line. Married, pregnant, then quickly widowed, she is forced to wed her husband's murderer, the warlord Macbeth. Determined to protect her interests and those of her infant son, she vows to preserve her family's legacy at any cost.
-
-
boring
- By Lanlady on 11-27-09
-
No Fear Shakespeare: Macbeth
- By: SparkNotes
- Narrated by: January LaVoy, Wayne Carr, Eileen Stevens, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Don’t be intimidated by Shakespeare! These popular guides make the Bard’s plays accessible and enjoyable.
-
-
Why are you censoring Shakespeare?!
- By T. WASSOM on 02-06-24
By: SparkNotes
-
Hamlet: Fully Dramatized Audio Edition
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: full cast
- Length: 3 hrs and 32 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hamlet, Shakespeare's most popular, and perhaps most puzzling play, follows the form of a "revenge tragedy", in which the hero, Hamlet, seeks vengeance against his father’s murderer, his uncle Claudius, now the king of Denmark. Much of its fascination, however, lies in its uncertainties. This new full-cast recording - based on the most respected edition of Shakespeare's classic - expertly produced by the Folger Theatre, is perfect for students, teachers, and the everyday listener.
-
-
Loved the voice actors
- By Kenni on 11-25-15
-
Macbeth
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Stephen Dillane, Fiona Shaw, full cast
- Length: 2 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By the time Shakespeare came to write Macbeth - almost certainly in 1605/1606 - he had already completed three of the great tragedies with which modern audiences are so familiar: Hamlet (1601), Othello (1603), and King Lear (1605). Each of those plays gives us an eponymous hero who is in some significant way flawed, but for whom we also inevitably feel deep sympathy, whatever his errors or crimes. But in MacBeth, Shakespeare has chosen for his tragic hero a man guilty of the most terrible crime imaginable to a Jacobean audience, that of regicide - the murder of a king.
-
-
Fire burn and cauldron bubble - an excellent stew
- By Marius on 04-06-04
-
The Chopin Manuscript
- A Serial Thriller
- By: Lee Child, David Corbett, Joseph Finder, and others
- Narrated by: Alfred Molina
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
15 thriller masters. 1 masterful thriller! Former war crimes investigator Harold Middleton possesses a previously unknown score by Frederic Chopin. But he is unaware that, within it's handwritten notes, lies a secret that now threatens the lives of thousands of Americans. As he races from Poland to the U.S. to uncover the mystery of the manuscript, Middleton will be accused of murder, pursued by federal agents, and targeted by assassins.
-
-
Surprisingly good
- By Anonymous User on 11-27-07
By: Lee Child, and others
-
The Tragedy of Macbeth
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Scott Brick, Käthe Mazur, Dion Graham, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This multi-voice production of The Tragedy of Macbeth features an all-star cast under the direction of acclaimed producer Paul Alan Ruben, a Grammy Award-winning veteran of the audiobook industry. With five AudioFile magazine Golden Voice recipients, multiple Grammy and SOVAS nominations, and countless Earphones and Audie Awards, this phenomenal cast brings Shakespeare's work to life.
-
-
Great play, lousy performance.
- By L. M. Atnip on 03-29-23
-
Classic BBC Radio Shakespeare: Tragedies
- Hamlet; Macbeth; Romeo and Juliet
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: full cast, Paul Scofield, Peggy Ashcroft, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three powerful radio productions from the BBC archives starring Ian McKellen, Ronald Pickup and Paul Scofield and a host of celebrated acting talent. These three legendary plays, performed by some of the best-known theatrical actors of the 20th century, are the perfect way to commemorate England's greatest dramatist.
-
-
Abridged
- By Kindle Customer on 07-08-17
-
SPAudiobooks Macbeth (Unabridged, Dramatised)
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Full-Cast featuring Nick Murchie, Coralyn Sheldon
- Length: 2 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An award winning Drama from SmartPass. Unabridged with guided description to set the scene and fill in visual moments.
-
-
Eh...
- By Dorene Kavanagh on 12-30-09
What listeners say about Macbeth: A Novel
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
- Beverly
- 07-10-11
Narrator choice inspired
This wonderful imagining of the tale of Macbeth fleshes out the story line of Shakespeare's play and brings to life even further than Shakespeare implies the love story between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, whom the authors name "Skena," and the love story between Macbeth and Scotland. The scenery is as bleak as ever Scotland in the dark ages can be painted, and yet the players love the land. The theme "the king and the land are one" is maintained from legend to this telling and pathetic fallacy abounds. But as beautiful as the writing is, the choice of Scot Alan Cumming to narrate this novel was nothing short of inspired. Scots are often unintelligible to the American ear, but Cumming is intelligible and completely Scottish at the same time. His narration is charming, romantic, and compelling. The authors have scored high with this imagining of a story found deep in history. I hope their next experiment will be with one of my favorite characters from Shakespeare and history--Richard III.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
94 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jennifer
- 11-12-11
My first Shakespeare (but not my last)
I came to this novel differently than many people probably have - I have never read or watched Shakespeare's plays. I have only the slightest general cultural knowledge of things like MacBeth and Romeo & Juliet, etc. My hope was that this novel would lead me to take on Shakespeare - and it has! The book was dark, of course, and a tragedy (I think even I knew that much) but it also led me through the path of MacBeth and Lady MacBeth from idealistic youth to their tortured endings in an understandable way. The narrator was AMAZING as others have stated, and really made each character come to life for me! I look forward to reading the actual play MacBeth (probably the Spark Notes "no fear Shakespeare version, I'm a wimp) to see the differences and similarities. So really, any novel that leads a regular working-class person to want to read Shakespeare has to be a good one, right?
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
87 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- ElMo Up North
- 08-09-11
English teacher loves the audiobook!
Though I am a stickler for history, and - as another reviewer mentioned - I would have liked this story to include Macbeth's "good years" as a ruler (and I don't think it would have hurt the narrative at all), I loved this audiobook. The narrator was fantastic, I loved the character development (Skena and Macbeth), and the new take on the witches. As for the take on Duncan, it may be unflattering and unfair, but so was the original play. Listened for most of an 8-hour drive...and was upset to finally be at my destination before the story was finished!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
69 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Janice
- 07-17-11
Macbeth fully realized.
This Audible offering takes the familiar story and turns it into a fully realized epic, placed in historical and political context. The writing is outstanding, so that I could envision the very landscape and scenery throughout all of the story locations. It is both an action story and a political and psychological thriller. The characters are fleshed out with complexity that prevents black and white "good guys vs bad guys" caracature. By filling in details of the political and cultural scene of 11th century Scotland, the authors allow us to have a better understanding of the motivations of all the characters, particularly why Macbeth decides to kill the king in the first place - going beyond the motivation of raw ambition. Lady Macbeth is much more complex than the ambitious behind-the-scenes manipulator that we are used to - and much more sympathetic. The presentation of the 3 witches is particularly facinating - no "double, double toil and trouble" - but very specific descriptions of their different personalities and their role in setting the action in motion.
A word about the reading by Alan Cumming - Superb! As a Scot, his voice lends welcome authenticity to the narration. He is a master at providing distinctive voices to all of the characters, and I was especially impressed with his ability to provide credible voices to the female characters - typically a difficult task for male readers.
I listened to the entire book in one day - unable to put it down. This is a wonderful piece of drama that should not be missed. I will look for more original titles from Audible if this is the standard of excellence that can be expected.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
65 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Deborah
- 05-08-12
Not Your Mother's Shakespeare (but still enjoyable
There seems to be a run of Shakespearean adaptations in fiction of late. In addition to this one, I recently reviewed 'Iago' by David Snodden, and 'I, Iag'o by Nicole Galland. 'Macbeth: A Novel' is the collaborative creation of British crime writer A. J. Hartley and David Hewson, a professor of Shakespeare who writes thrillers in his spare time. Although I'm not a reader of either genre, I am a Shakespearean and know the play very well. I wasn't quite sure what to expect of 'Macbeth: A Novel'; after all, no one can improve upon Shakespeare, and many of the adaptations I've read are either laughable or maddening. So I was pleasantly surprised and even enjoyed this one--perhaps particularly because I listened to the audiobook, wonderfully read by Alan Cumming, who for once was free to revel in his glorious Scottish accent.
Hewson and Hartley stick pretty closely to the bare bones of the plot that we are all familiar with, but they take free reign in filling in the "offstage" details. For example, the first third of the book puts readers right in the middle of the civil rebellion and Norse invasion that have been going on as the play opens. We see Macbeth and Banquo fighting in the field; we see Macbeth's capture of the rebel Macdonwald, the blow-by-blow fight to his bloody death preceded by a verbal exchange that prefigures Macbeth's own treacherous acts. Shakespeare, on the contrary, perfunctorily has messengers deliver the news of Macbeth's victories to King Duncan. Back on the home front, the authors give Lady Macbeth a name of her own (Skena). They provide an answer to the oft-asked question, "Where are Lady Macbeth's children?" And they give us plenty of chat between the couple that helps us to understand the powerful forces between them. Interior flashbacks also flesh out the Macbeths' individual biographies, and frequently we're made privy as to what is going on in their minds. Hewson and Hartley imaginatively--but not fantastically--fill in the blanks: why exactly Macbeth turns on Banquo, what happens to Fleance after his father's murder, who the weird sisters are and how they came to be witches, what daily life is like at Macduff's castle before the assassins arrive, and more.
I won't be recommending this book as a classic, or even a must-read. The style is probably better suited to crime novels and thriller: a bit too 'colorful' and 'overwrought,' shall we say, for my taste. Yet it fits just fine with the story of Macbeth. This was a fun piece to breeze through at the end of the semester, which is always a stressful time for me. If the idea of a thriller-crime novel version of Macbeth, read in a charming and authentic Scottish accent by a fine actor, appeals to you, I say, go for it!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
55 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Susan
- 07-02-11
This book is hard to put down.
This is a fantastic rendition of MacBeth. I kept waiting for the book to slow down, so I could stop listening and go to sleep; Finally at 3 a.m. I forced myself to stop the book, so I could go to sleep.
The characters were really fleshed out, which I found fascinating. Alan Cumming as the narrator really brought the story to life.
I can honestly say, I will listen to this book again in the future; It's just that good!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
54 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- R Wixel
- 07-11-11
Et Tu Macbeth?
A briliiant novel, brilliantly performed, Macbeth: A Novel, owes as much to Shakespeare's Julius Caesar as it does to his Scottish Play. Macbeth is presented as a Scottish Brutus, determined to preserve the Scottish oligarchy by which the Scottish king is chosen by the acclimation of the nobles, rather than by heredity.
Far from seizing the crown for himself, Macbeth is presented as an idealist and a patriot with an over active conscience leading him to excess, paranoia and insanity. Lady Macbeth is shown as a pragmatist with a heart that turns sour.
Combining the Shakespearian influences in this way something new and true is created. All involved deserve praise and recognition both for this masterwork and for what it might potentially due to further establish the credibility of the audiobook genre.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
36 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Karen
- 07-23-11
Macbeth comes to life!!!
This is a first review for me;I am not prone to doing such. I cannot praise this effort with sufficient words. As with others, once I began listening, i could not unplug my earbuds. Alan Cummings was spectacular as the narrator; a choice spot on. The writing of the novel, although with some liberties and condensing of history, was superb. I cannot thank the writers enough for taking the risk to do Macbeth in novel form. Congratulations to Audible for making the listening of the novel an exciting adventure.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
35 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Ellen Rosewall
- 08-28-11
More than an audiobook - a work of art
The idea to create an audio-only novelization of Macbeth is a wonderful one, but having Alan Cumming narrate it elevates this into a work of art. The characters are beautifully fleshed out. Macbeth comes off as a patriot instead of a traitor, doing what he believes is best to save Scotland's traditions rather than allow a weak king to appoint his son to replace him. Alan Cumming's narration is brilliant -- superb acting combined with Scottish flair. I could listen to his voice all day (and just did!).
Having just returned from Scotland, I can also say that the atmosphere of the Scottish Highlands comes alive in this novel, as much a character as any of the people. Understanding the Scots, their fierce pride and love of the land, puts Macbeth and his wife into a setting which makes, to me, much more sense than the Shakespeare version. Sorry Will.
I encourage everyone to take advantage of this unique and beautiful book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
28 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Greg
- 07-06-11
I get it now!
Over the years I've tried several times to get into Shakespeare's version of this most interesting tale. I just couldn't do it. (Sorry Professor Hartley, I was an economics major.) This book is well written and superbly narrated. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
24 people found this helpful