Ninth House

By: Leigh Bardugo

Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang, Michael David Axtell

Length: 16 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

From the author of Shadow and Bone, now a hit NETFLIX series.

The smash New York Times bestseller from Leigh Bardugo, a mesmerizing tale of power, privilege, and dark magic set among the Ivy League elite. This program includes a bonus conversation with the author.

"The best fantasy novel I’ve read in years, because it’s about real people.... Impossible to put down."—Stephen King

"Bardugo’s latest is a must-listen, introducing a haunting, Yale-based occult world populated with gloriously complicated characters.... A win-win-win, honestly."—Paste, best audiobooks of 2019

Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug-dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. In fact, by age twenty, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most prestigious universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?

Still searching for answers, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. Their eight windowless “tombs” are the well-known haunts of the rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street’s biggest players. But their occult activities are more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive. They tamper with forbidden magic. They raise the dead. And, sometimes, they prey on the living.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.

©2019 Leigh Bardugo (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

2019, Goodreads Choice Awards, Winner

2019, NPR Best Book of the Year, Long-listed

2019, Amazon.com Best Books of the Year, Long-listed

2019, NYPL Best Books of the Year, Long-listed

2020, Locus Awards, Short-listed

"Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House rocked my world. I could not get enough of sinewy, ghost-haunted Alex Stern, a heroine for the ages. With a bruised heart and bleeding knuckles, she risks death and damnation—again and again—for the people she cares about. I was cheering her on the whole way: from the first brilliant sentence of this book to the last. More, please, Ms. Bardugo." (Joe Hill, New York Times best-selling author of NOS4A2)

"Ninth House is the best thing I’ve read in a long time. There’s so much magic here that you'll begin to feel it seeping into the room around you as you read, and characters so real you ’ll practically hear their voices in your ear. Leigh Bardugo has written a book so delicious, so twisty, and so immersive I wouldn’t blame you for taking the day off to finish it." (Kelly Link, author of Magic for Beginners and Get in Trouble)

Excellent magical world building

My favorite supernatural reading is, paradoxically, stuff that hews closest to real life. So I’d say this series is a bit more like Harry Potter’s world or Charlaine Harris’s Sookie series than, say, The Magicians—which hauls the reader off into a complete fantasy world. I like feeling of real life being lit up, like awesome things are just around the corner, rather than feeling like I escaped completely. Being given a scholarship to Yale when you’re a poor outsider IS a kind of magic, and this novel shows it to be awe-full and even dangerous. Wonderful characters, a fine story arc leave me looking for the next in the series. And the readers were perfect!

Performance

The beginning was really hard to get into but once you get past it it's worth it. I'm also so glad that Lauren was chosen to read this book.

Wow, couldn't break away!

What a compelling story full of intrigue, sometimes sinister secret societies, and gripping magic! I was hooked on the story from the moment I was dropped into this world with Alex and company, wondering what had brought us to the hutch with an injured young woman hiding out. I loved every twist and unfolding of plot, the prickly characters who grew into beloved ones, as the smooth operators took on a loathsome quality that had me reeling and wondering just who I could trust as the story grew. The strings that unraveled as the layers of story were unfurled never fully revealed the truth until the very end. It kept me guessing and gasping, and I loved every second.

Absolutely riveting!!

I loved having the two narrators and I'm looking forward to Book 2 of this series. I'd been in a book rut for a while and this brought me back, so thank you so much Leigh, Lauren, and Michael!

Surprisingly good!

I’m not really a fan of fantasy and magic etc. but this book was surprisingly entertaining and very well done. The writing was excellent the plotline was outstanding and always interesting and surprising and complex and the voice talent was stupendous. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in mystery or suspense. Particularly those readers who enjoy a very strong female central character

Sorry it ended

My first Leigh Bardugo book and I loved it. If you like Harry Potter you like this book.

Adult magic at its finest

Absolutely in awe of this book.. it had everything,..( and that’s hard to come by ) ...I look for, a great plot, excellent characterization, it was long ( this is a plus.. it takes time to develop characters and plot, (despiser of short novels.. it’s like fast food, no depth, little flavor) and a new magic fantasy fueled world based in our real world.. makes it “oh so believable” Standing ovation for performance and author.. great collaboration!

Loved this!

I was truly absorbed into this book. This author is new to me and can’t wait to read some of her others. Narrators were excellent!

Fabulous Narration

I really enjoyed this book. The flashing back and forth makes sense and so do the two perspectives. I personally enjoyed the way the time line was laid out. It isn't confusing to follow. I will listen to the next book when I releases.

Starts a little slow, simmers, then explodes

You won't be able to stop listening to this one. Magic can be so evil! Fascinating major characters, full of surprises, more interesting every chapter. This one is a winner, and should appeal to every listener, early teens to elderly.