• Orb Sceptre Throne

  • Novels of the Malazan Empire, Book 4
  • By: Ian C. Esslemont
  • Narrated by: John Banks
  • Length: 25 hrs and 24 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (566 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Orb Sceptre Throne  By  cover art

Orb Sceptre Throne

By: Ian C. Esslemont
Narrated by: John Banks
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $32.89

Buy for $32.89

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

The epic new chapter in the history of Malaz - the epic fantasy from Steven Erikson's friend and co-creator of this extraordinary and exciting imagined world.

Darujhistan, city of dreams, city of blue flames, is peaceful at last; its citizens free to return to politicking, bickering, trading and, above all, enjoying the good things in life. Yet there are those who will not allow the past to remain buried. A scholar digging in the plains stumbles across an ancient sealed vault. The merchant Humble Measure schemes to drive out the remaining Malazan invaders. And the surviving agents of a long-lost power are stirring, for they sense change and so, opportunity. While, as ever at the center of everything, a thief in a red waistcoat and of rotund proportions walks the streets, juggling in one hand custard pastries, and in the other the fate of the city itself.

Far to the south, fragments of the titanic Moon's Spawn have crashed into the Rivan Sea creating a series of isles...and a fortune hunter's dream. A Malazan veteran calling himself 'Red' ventures out to try his luck - and perhaps say goodbye to old friends. But there he finds far more than he'd bargained for as the rush to claim the Spawn's treasures descends into a mad scramble of chaos and bloodshed. For powers from across the world have gathered here, searching for the legendary Throne of Night. The impact of these events are far reaching, it seems. On an unremarkable island off the coast of Genabackis, a people who had turned their backs upon all such strivings now lift their masked faces towards the mainland and recall the ancient prophesy of a return.

And what about the ex-Claw of the Malazan Empire who now walks the uttermost edge of creation? His mission - the success or failure of which the Queen of Dreams saw long ago - is destined to shape far more than anyone could have ever imagined.

©2016 Random House Audiobooks, all rights reserved.; 2012 Ian Cameron Esselmont.

What listeners say about Orb Sceptre Throne

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    425
  • 4 Stars
    110
  • 3 Stars
    26
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    376
  • 4 Stars
    109
  • 3 Stars
    27
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    384
  • 4 Stars
    99
  • 3 Stars
    29
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Like but don't love

After MBotF, this & the other stories in this series are welcome off-shoots..but PLEASE would the narrator at least LISTEN to some of the original stories? Learn to pronounce the names as already established? & basic pronunciation of normal words ...come ON. The storyline is engaging & new characters are fun to get to know, but I did NOT like the changes made to one very well established major (in BotF) character's persona. If you're familiar with the Malazan world, you'll have to adjust a bit, but all in all, it's a good story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

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

Long awaited look at the Seguleh

anything these two write in the Malazan world (and connecting realms) is the best in the sci fi genre

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

ok

The narrator was good he used a lot of different voices find myself struggling to stay paying attention to it was very all over the place

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

can't get enough

keep these books coming!!! I listen to them while I work and they make the day go by so quick! the characters are amazing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Junk food Malazan. Stand alone friendly too!

Enjoyable expansion to the series that allowed me to spend even more time in this amazing world. This book felt very very stand alone friendly as long as you understand the lingo. I really appreciated the use of calls backs, refreshers and reminders on the world as its been a bit since I jumped into this series and the way this supported a stand alone feel really helped me jump back in.

This felt like a fun action adventure romp but admittedly kinda started losing my attention towards the end. The climax of the story I just had a bit of trouble making sense of a few things and didn't really have a major attachment to some of the main events. The characters were nice though to revisit.

Ultimately out of all the Malazan books I've gotten into do far, this felt like the most junk food type read of the bunch. I loved it but probably won't remember it all that well.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Good story

Good story overall. Seemed to end quickly at the end. The differences on name pronunciation from the regular series and this did take some getting used to

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

important to the Malazan world building

So many threads wrapped up, so much lore explored! I already want to reread it to get the details right.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Best of Malazan

After reading the entirety of Erikson’s Book of the Fallen series and the first three novels by Esslemont, this fourth book was my favorite of them all. It is an absolute must read for any fan of Malazan lore.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Not the most true to Erickson’s main series

First of all I don’t love the voice decisions in this novel. I understand different narrator different accents but he wasn’t particularly consistent even with characters from the same city who should have similar accents one would assume. I also had some issues with the behavior of the characters. Erickson is much more subtle with Krupp for example, Esslemont has Krupp being buffoonish whereas Erickson has him more crafty in his portrayal. In general I think Erickson is more subtle, the best way I can describe it without writing a paragraph is that I feel like Erickson trusts his readers to read between the lines whereas Esslemont seems to think the reader needs things spelled out for them. One last thing that I have found bothers me just a bit between Erickson and Esslemont in general is that Erickson’s characters thumb their nose at the odds and Malazan marines are just as likely to tell a god to go to Hood and then try and throw a munition at their face as to show that same god respect. Esslemont likes to play up the gravity of the situation and his characters are much more serious and reverent of those in power. I prefer that irreverence we get in the main books.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

These really are the best.

Novels of the Malazan Empire are the best, even among hundreds of fantasy and science fiction books, they are still the best.

Above all, these books are always "fun". The worst sort of catastrophic apocalyptic event could be happening, but the author has no interest in despair. instead you are helped through a wonderful adventure by relatable likeable people.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!