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The Prestige  By  cover art

The Prestige

By: Christopher Priest
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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Publisher's summary

In 1878, two young stage magicians clash in the dark during the course of a fraudulent séance. From this moment on, their lives become webs of deceit and revelation as they vie to outwit and expose each other. In the course of pursuing each other's ruin, they will deploy all the deception their magician's craft can command. Their rivalry will take them to the peaks of their careers, but with terrible consequences. In the end, their legacy will be passed on for generations to descendants who must, for their sanity's sake, untangle the puzzle left to them.
©1995 Christopher Priest (P)2006 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

  • Winner of the World Fantasy Award, 1996
  • Audie Award Finalist, Fiction, Unabridged, 2007

"Extraordinary, like a dazzling magic act!" (Entertainment Weekly)
"A brilliant conjuring act by one of the master illusionists of our time." (Wired)
"A taut, twisting, prize-winning story of two magicians and their fierce fin-de-siècle rivalry that taints successive generations of their respective families....An unexpectedly compelling fusion of weird science and legerdemain." (Kirkus Reviews)

What listeners say about The Prestige

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    2 out of 5 stars

Slow Start, Ultimately a Good Yarn

Glad I stuck with this one. But it did take quite some time to become involving. Not a perfect book, but any interesting Tale.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Alright

It wasn't a bad book, but it seemed lengthy to me and at times difficult to get through. Its written much like its movie counterpart yet has several large discrepancies, including the ending. If you liked the movie the book could be worth a read for a similar yet different story.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Such a fun ride

i would recommend it. i remember seeing the movie and knew i needed to read the book.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Ok.

A bit quirky. I finished it, so it obviously had something to hold my attention.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Not Like the Movie

The book is a far more complex story than the one the movie portrayed. The characters also are different to the extent that the movie is loosely based on this very interesting story

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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so different and better than the movie

So different and better than the movie.

A must for the movie fans. woo.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Disappointed with the ending

I felt like there was a missed opportunity to have Olive, or Julia, or both, be responsible for continuing the feud.
It was a wonderful story on its own, but then it tried to mimic Frankenstein…unsuccessfully.

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    3 out of 5 stars

Good story; great performance

Interesting story of the magicians rivalry with a point of view from each magician. The plot was entertaining, but the details of the ending were disappointing and choppy
I felt like the book had been abridged. But overall I would recommend the book.

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Loved it

I saw the movie a while ago and remembered really enjoying it. Over the years I had forgotten a lot about the content but I’m really glad to have also listened to the book version as it was told in a different manner.

It was nice to listen to this book too, as the narration was superb!!

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Bro your wife had a miscarriage and you hardly cared???

I’m in the process of listening to this book but I am FLOORED about how easily the main character was able to shake off his miscarriage while his wife is totally miserable… understandably! Idk he is just giving “I’m a huge piece of shit” energy. But I’ll update when I’m done. Just so so shocked how he was like “I’ll dive into being a magician again”. Bro, what???? I guess people really just don’t care about women at all sometimes.

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