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Kushiel's Scion  By  cover art

Kushiel's Scion

By: Jacqueline Carey
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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Publisher's summary

Imriel de la Courcel's birth parents are history's most reviled traitors, but his adoptive parents, the Comtesse Phedre and the warrior-priest Joscelin, are Terre d'Ange's greatest champions. Stolen, tortured, and enslaved as a young boy, Imriel is now a Prince of the Blood; third in line for the throne in a land that revels in art, beauty and desire. It is a court steeped in deeply laid conspiracies - and there are many who would see the young prince dead. Some despise him out of hatred for his mother, Melisande, who nearly destroyed the entire realm in her quest for power. Others because they fear he has inherited his mother's irresistible allure - and her dangerous gifts.

As he comes of age, plagued by unwanted desires, Imriel shares their fears. When a simple act of friendship traps Imriel in a besieged city where the infamous Melisande is worshiped as a goddess and where a dead man leads an army, the prince must face his greatest test: to find his true self.

©2006 Jacqueline Carey (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Intelligent, sexy, heartbreakingly human.... Carey at her intoxicating best." ( Booklist Starred Review)
"Credible and gripping, this is heroic fantasy at its finest." ( Publishers Weekly Starred Review)

What listeners say about Kushiel's Scion

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

The wrong narrator

I listened to the first three Kushiel's books on audible and thought they were fantastic. I gave up on this one and purchased the Kindle version. The narrator selected was totally wrong for this book. Instead of sounding like Imri, a young teenager, he sounds like a grandpa recalling something from the distant past. He takes the vibrant young characters like the Queen who are clearly in their 30s and makes them sound like elderly British monarchs. His pronouciations were also completely inconsistent with the first narrator, which was jarring. I think this narrator would be fine for different material, but not this series. I am looking forward to picking this up in book form.

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15 people found this helpful

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

Great story horrible narration

What made the experience of listening to Kushiel's Scion the most enjoyable?

I love this series. I really enjoy the plot and intrigue and characters. If I hadn't read this book before listening to it I wouldn't have liked it I don't think and all because of the narration done by Vance.

What didn’t you like about Simon Vance’s performance?

Simon Vance doesn't do this author justice at all. After listening to this story from a woman's point of view over the last 3 books it is natural to find some adjustments going to a male narration, but he can't pronounce half the names, titles and places correct and his inflections for each character are totally bazar. Having a lot of trouble getting through this book. Wish he would have stayed closer to the other narrations.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Fun and frustrating

The story builds slowly, and it probably helps to have read the first three books in the series, but the last three can stand on their own. The characters are interesting, and the story is fun to follow. It's also deeply frustrating, because it leaves off so you have to read the next book. These shouldn't be read if you embarrass easily. There is some serious adult content. If that doesn't bother you, then the world the author creates is interesting, and you'll be left wanting to know how things turn out.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Better than nothing...

This is a good book, and fairly well narrated, except that the voices of the "Tiberians" all sound like Transylvanian vampires.( This is NOT a vampire book) I found it wildly distracting. The earlier books in the series which feature Phaedre and Jocelyn are much more interesting, but the horribly pedantic narrator of those books ruined things for me. I couldn't even listen to the whole preview(I tried, I really tried), so I settled for the better of two narrators from a series I really love. Read the books instead- and make up your own voices.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

great story

i really enjoyed this story. i'm still having trouble with the narrator but not enough to take away from the story. i understand the reasoning for the change in narrators but i don't care for the male narrators interpretation of the voices of many of the characters. but again Jacqueline Carey's writing is what saves the story. to the narrator you seem to have made many of the characters sound very old.

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6 people found this helpful

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

swallowing the names of the main characters

I started this after the Kushiel's Dart series, so I knew that the voices would be different in this new series with a new narrator. But the narrator adopts a very bad french accents and pronunciation during the names of characters and places. Especially with the names that end in "dre" - Isondre, Pheadre, etc. I do understand that Terre D'Ange is imagined to geographically be in France, but those names sound so uncomfortable. I wince whenever the text uses those words. It sounds like he's trying to roll the "r" but doesn't get there and sounds sort of muffled instead.
Additionally, the dialogue is read half in a french accent and half not, not always consistent with the characters.

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5 people found this helpful

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

Brilliant Segue

I have read 5 of the 6 books in this series. This one provides the basis for Emriel, who goes on to be the major character in the next three books. The rest of it wasn't what I cared for, but necessary for the plot structure. If you're into plot, character development, intrigue and a great basis for alternate history this series is totally what you're looking for. I really started to understand the "Love as Thou Wilt" precept. Moral ambiguity set aside, Carey managed to develop an entirely different universe with Terre D'ange. It is a great story that's hard to put down.

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4 people found this helpful

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

Surprised I enjoyed it then hooked on the series

Where does Kushiel's Scion rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of my favorites, in my top five. It's a go to read when I can't decide what to read next. Plus Simon Vance is my favorite narrator. I have been known to search for books he has read

Who was your favorite character and why?

Imriel de la Courcel of course!

Which scene was your favorite?

The end of the siege in Lucca.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Not like my mother.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Not the Same

I was saddened by the direction this novel started - away from Phedre and Joselin. But, in its own the book has merit. J. Carey has still done a great job, I enjoyed listening to the book. Imriel's internal struggles and coming of age and finding himself is something we can all connect with.
However, in one of the books a reviewer wrote "Enough already! We understand you had horrible things done to you". She does repeat that a lot. I think it does have a purpose toward the end but it does get old after a while.
Overall - definite winner and moving to Kushiel's Justice now.

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1 person found this helpful

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

amazing narration

I found it to be slower paced and less intriguing than the previous books in the series. It did explore some complex emotions and responses to trauma and introduced new characters that I came to love, but the "conflict" didn't occur until pretty late. It's so good and I'd love to give it 5 stars, but it just didn't feel as urgent as the previous installments. If I hadn't read the first 3 books in the series, I'd have given 5 stars.

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