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The Curse of Chalion
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 18 hrs and 41 mins
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Publisher's summary
Amidst the decaying splendor and poisonous intrigue of Chalion's ancient capital, Cazaril is forced to confront not only powerful enemies but also the malignant curse that clings to the royal household, trapping him, flesh and soul, in a maze of demonic paradox, damnation, and death for as long as he dares walk the five-fold pathway of the gods.
Critic reviews
"Bujold weaves a convincing and captivating fantasy world, well researched, with magic that works and gods that live without destroying the balance of this medieval society....A finely balanced mixture of adventure, swordplay, court intrigue, romance, magic, and religion makes this book a delightful read." (School Library Journal)
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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.
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It's the characters that matter...
- By JC on 11-09-10
By: Tad Williams
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The Innocent Mage
- By: Karen Miller
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 20 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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"The Innocent Mage is come, and we stand at the beginning of the end of everything." Being a fisherman like his father isn't a bad life, but it's not the one that Asher wants. Despite his humble roots, Asher has grand dreams. And they call him to Dorana, home of princes, beggars, and the warrior mages who have protected the kingdom for generations. Little does Asher know, however, that his arrival in the city is being closely watched by members of the Circle, people dedicated to preserving an ancient magic.
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Heroic Fantasy well written
- By Bruce on 03-29-12
By: Karen Miller
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New Spring
- The Wheel of Time Prequel
- By: Robert Jordan
- Narrated by: Kate Reading, Michael Kramer
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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For three days battle has raged in the snow around the great city of Tar Valon. In the city, a foretelling of the future is uttered. On the slopes of Dragonmount, the immense mountain that looms over the city, a child is born, an infant prophesied to change the world. That child must be found before he can be killed by the forces of the Shadow.
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Read it after reading others in the series
- By Stacy Fair on 12-13-07
By: Robert Jordan
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Magic Casement
- A Man of His Word, Book 1
- By: Dave Duncan
- Narrated by: Mil Nicholson
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Princess Inos lived an idyllic life in her fathers' sleepy, backwater kingdom, and she was best friends with her childhood companion, the stableboy, Rap. But when a prophecy seemed to say Inos should be married, she was exiled to the Impire to learn to be a lady. She was far away when Rap's magical talents began to emerge, and it was he who told her of the fate awaiting them both.
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One of my favorite Fantasy Series
- By Sean Dustman on 10-12-12
By: Dave Duncan
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Katherine
- A Novel
- By: Anya Seton
- Narrated by: Lorna Bennett
- Length: 29 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Set in the vibrant fourteenth century of Chaucer and the Black Death, the story features knights fighting in battle, serfs struggling in poverty, and the magnificent Plantagenets—Edward III, the Black Prince, and Richard II—who rule despotically over a court rotten with intrigue. Within this era of danger and romance, John of Gaunt, the king’s son, falls passionately in love with the already-married Katherine. Their affair persists through decades of war, adultery, murder, loneliness, and redemption.
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my favorite novel brought to life
- By Heather on 10-04-23
By: Anya Seton
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The Widow's Kiss
- By: Jane Feather
- Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Lady Guinevere Mallory has been married four times in 12 years, and each of her husbands has died mysteriously. Adept in the laws of property, she has secured the land of each of her late spouses, vastly increasing her personal wealth. After the death of her fourth husband, this trend raises some eyebrows at the royal court, and Hugh of Beaucaire is sent to investigate these puzzling events.
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Not bad, but veeerryyy ssslllooowwww narration.
- By I like to shop on 08-31-18
By: Jane Feather
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Reign of Madness
- By: Lynn Cullen
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons
- Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Juana of Castile, third child of the Spanish monarchs Isabel and Fernando, grows up with no hope of inheriting her parents' crowns, but as a princess knows her duty: to further her family's ambitions through marriage. Yet stories of courtly love, and of her parents' own legendary romance, surround her. When she weds the Duke of Burgundy, a young man so beautiful that he is known as Philippe the Handsome, she dares to hope that she might have both love and crowns.
By: Lynn Cullen
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Green Rider
- By: Kristen Britain
- Narrated by: Ellen Archer
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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What a fantastic discovery!
- By GLENNO on 11-27-14
By: Kristen Britain
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Cold Magic
- By: Kate Elliott
- Narrated by: Charlotte Parry
- Length: 17 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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The Industrial Revolution has begun, factories are springing up across the country, and new technologies are transforming the cities. But the old ways do not die easy. Cat and Bee are part of this revolution. Young women at college, learning of the science that will shape their future and ignorant of the magics that rule their families. But all of that will change when the Cold Mages come for Cat. New dangers lurk around every corner and hidden threats menace her every move. If blood can't be trusted, who can you trust?
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Absolutely Brilliant Fantasy!
- By bluestategirl on 08-14-13
By: Kate Elliott
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Scattered about the galaxy were the time-space Gates of a vanished but not forgotten alien race. In their time, long before the rise of the native civilizations, they had terrorized a hundred worlds—not from villainy but from folly, from tampering with the strands that held a universe together.
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Somewhere on the frontier between thought and reality exists the Discworld, a parallel time and place that might sound and smell very much like our own, but which looks completely different. Particularly as it’s carried though space on the back of a giant turtle (sex unknown). It plays by different rules. But then, some things are the same everywhere. The Disc’s very existence is about to be threatened by a strange new blight: the world’s first tourist, upon whose survival rests the peace and prosperity of the land.
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The ruling Asharites of Al-Rassan have come from the desert sands, but over centuries, seduced by the sensuous pleasures of their new land, their stern piety has eroded. The Asharite empire has splintered into decadent city-states led by warring petty kings. King Almalik of Cartada is on the ascendancy, aided always by his friend and advisor, the notorious Ammar ibn Khairan - poet, diplomat, soldier - until a summer afternoon of savage brutality changes their relationship forever.
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Lots of drama
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Earth is long since dead. On a colony planet, a band of men has gained control of technology, made themselves immortal, and now rule their world as the gods of the Hindu pantheon. Only one dares oppose them: he who was once Siddhartha and is now Mahasamatman. Binder of Demons, Lord of Light.
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How could a performance be so wrong?
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What listeners say about The Curse of Chalion
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Pete
- 08-17-04
Excellent Fantasy... Epic in feel, finite in pace
Although "Paladin of Souls" ties to this book and thereby engenders the label "series", the satisfaction of completing this well told tale with an actual ending cannot be denied. In the genre of Epic Fantasy with it's continuing storylines and characters, "The Curse of Chalion" encapsulates that flowing grandness into a single volume and deservedly leaves us wanting more. Not needing it, wanting it. That being said, Bujold's mastery of her craft is evident here with an intruiging deep portrayal of her protagonist, Caz. His journey is profound and heartfelt as it winds it's way along it's surprising path. The reading is excellent and kept me immersed throughout.
Well done by all.
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69 people found this helpful
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Overall
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- Robert
- 12-20-11
Brilliant in every respect
When if first heard the voice of the protagonist, Lord Cazaril in The Curse of Chalion, I thought oh brother, this is not going to be good. Was I ever wrong. The narrator Lloyd James was brilliant. This is one of those rare books where the hero is about as reluctant or prepared as one can be to be a hero. But quite the spectacular one he is. This is the perfect fairytale.
While only middle-aged, in those days (whenever that was), he is certainly not young and virile. No, he is beaten-down and crippled by years on a slave ship. But his heart is strong and his mind is as sharp as ever and he rises to every occasion to meet and successfully deal with adversity. Adversity does not often come in the form of knockdown, drag out, hand-to-hand combat or epic wars but skillful and intelligent (often in spite of himself) dealings in royal politics and usually not so adroit magic. And this is a magical story.
While not originally drawn to the book by the court intrigue and romance, what the magic and even religion contributed, it all worked to draw me in deeply to a captivating world and a very sweet story. This was another example of a narrator adding a whole other dimension to the book. I loved it.
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33 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Mysticalsister
- 10-30-09
Action, Magic, Romance = Absolute Heaven!
A grizzled galley slave turns out to be a hero, and a very high magician. And that's just the beginning!
For anyone looking for a new series, or a new brilliant story teller, or a great reader -- look no further. Curse of Chalion is brilliant. I promise you will fall in love with the characters. LMB has a unique ability to create a world that comes alive. I enjoyed every minute of my time in Chalion, and know I will revisit it over and over again.
Also: Do NOT miss the sequel, Paladin of Souls. It is every bit as good. And when you've finished both of them, start the Sharing Knife series. It's exquisite, too! Then, it's on to the Vor books!
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29 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Sammy J
- 08-03-04
An imperfect hero captures your heart.
Though somewhat lacking in action, this tale of court intrigue and death magic held me in thrall. As in real life, the main characters were neither purely good nor evil. And most are far from perfect. The main protagonist is a case in point, he is an embittered, semi-crippled man, who is neither young nor handsome, yet his plight grabs the reader and the portrayal of his every action rings true-to-life.. This is a solid story unlike any other fantasy I?ve yet read, and well worth the book credit.
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29 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Christopher
- 12-17-04
Perfect storytelling
The Curse of Chalion by Louise McMaster Bujold
This was my most recent Audible listen, and is most definitely one of the best single (non series) audiobooks I have ever had the pleasure of hearing.
This book is not epic fantasy, high fantasy, or dark fantasy, it falls somewhere in what I would call middle fantasy.
It has a low-magic feel, and is more character driven than any other fantasy piece I can remember. It would definitely appeal to mainstream fiction fans. I don't have any negative comments on this book, it was a fine example of what a fantasy novel should be.
This book gets a perfect 5 from me, and that's saying something, because I don't think I've ever given a perfect score to a fantasy novel before, not even to Tolkien, sorry.
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28 people found this helpful
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Performance
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Story
- Terri
- 04-12-12
What makes a hero... LMB knows
I have yet to read any of LMB's work that does not play the full range of my emotions. She has an incredible knack of turning a person cursed with seemingly unconquerable disabilities of the mind, body or/and heart, giving them an impossible set of tasks and turning them into a hero that takes the reader on a wonderful adventure.
I thoroughly enjoyed the world she has spun with the Chalion series. It does a brilliant job at showing the multi layers that make up each true humans.
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23 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Eric C. Zawadzki
- 05-10-08
Good, solid read
This book hasn't changed fantasy fiction forever, but I definitely enjoyed reading it and would read another book by this author. The world-building isn't amazingly cutting edge, but it's solid and internally consistent. The protagonist isn't utterly unique in the genre, but he's sympathetic, and the supporting characters serve their intended purposes. The plot is relatively straightforward, though there are a few delightful little twists. The writing style relies on a lot of internal monologue and narrative exposition, but this is hardly the only book in the genre to do so, and I've seen many books that did it less successfully. The narrator does a good job distinguishing the voices of the fairly large cast of characters.
In all, I was completely satisfied with this book and its presentation.
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Overall
- Eric
- 05-10-08
Good, solid read
This book hasn't changed fantasy fiction forever, but I definitely enjoyed reading it and would read another book by this author. The world-building isn't amazingly cutting edge, but it's solid and internally consistent. The protagonist isn't utterly unique in the genre, but he's sympathetic, and the supporting characters serve their intended purposes. The plot is relatively straightforward, though there are a few delightful little twists. The writing style relies on a lot of internal monologue and narrative exposition, but this is hardly the only book in the genre to do so, and I've seen many books that did it less successfully. The narrator does a good job distinguishing the voices of the fairly large cast of characters.
In all, I was completely satisfied with this book and its presentation.
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Overall
- Bernadette
- 01-04-10
Lovely Book, Appalling Narrator
This is one of my favorite books, and I was very excited to start listening to it. Unfortunately, this narrator is awful. He imposes weird accents on the characters. The worst is probably Umegat, whom he probably intended to endow with an Arabic accent. Instead he sounds like Apu from the Simpsons (very distracting in a character who is supposed to be learned and spiritually deep). Palli sounds like a stereotypical comic book hero (think The Tick), and the main character Cazaril gruffs and growls his way through every scene. Beyond the accents, the narrator adds weird chuckles, grunts, and other verbal ticks not called for in the text. It's enough to drive a devoted Bujold fan mad. If you're not familiar with the book, perhaps it won't bother you, but if you are, I highly recommend you go with another book from this series (Paladin of Souls or Hallowed Hunt), or one of the books from the Vorkosigan novels (read by the excellent Grover Gardner) instead.
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- Raven
- 05-12-09
green with envy
So Rich in detail that it made me feel apart of this brillant work. My review is a humble one not flowery or really discriptive at all but it was one of only a few that I did not want to end. Hung on every word and loved it all. Hope that this helps. Enjoy I am green with envy that you get to experience her work for the first time.
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14 people found this helpful