Night’s Master

Tales from the Flat Earth, Book One

By: Tanith Lee

Narrated by: Susan Duerden

Night's Master is the first book of the stunning arabesque high-fantasy series Tales from the Flat Earth, which, in the manner of The One Thousand and One Nights, portrays an ancient world in mythic grandeur via connected tales.

Long ago when the Earth was flat, beautiful, indifferent Gods lived in the airy Upperearth realm above; curious, passionate demons lived in the exotic Underearth realm below; and mortals were relegated to exist in the middle. Azhrarn, Lord of the Demons and the Darkness, was the one who ruled the night, and many mortal lives were changed because of his cruel whimsy. And yet, Azhrarn held inside his demon heart a profound mystery which would change the very fabric of the Flat Earth forever.

Come within this ancient world of brilliant darkness and beauty, of glittering palaces and wondrous elegant beings, of cruel passions and undying love. Discover the exotic wonder that is the Flat Earth.

©1978 Tanith Lee (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Narration ruins the book

This book is so good! But the narrator speaks like a BBC news castor reading a teleprompter. It’s just… unbearable.

A Master of her craft

Tanith Lee weaves a Dark World of great wonder and awe. Flat is the world where demons and man coexist teasing and tormenting the inner reaches of the soul. A tapestry of tales to enchant and entertain your dark dreams.

A beautifully told mythology

Lee does not disappoint. This book is a masterfully-written mythos. The world and characters a rich and memorable. Enjoyed the book and found a new author to love. Excellent narration; perfect tone, rhythm and pronunciation. Thank you!

Had to return because of narrator

I love Tanith Lee, and this is a great book, but I could not deal with the horrible, sing-song narration. The narrator is fine when reading character dialog, but when not she uses the exact same tone pattern on every line of text regardless of whether it fits that line of text or not. It completely pulled me out of the story every time.

While not for everyone....

Any additional comments?

Tanith Lee is to fantasy what Siouxsie Sioux is to punk. A darker beauty.

My first experience of Tanith Lee was finding a copy of Red As Blood back in the early 80's at Forbidden Planet in NYC. I remember sitting on the floor and scouring the shelves for a special book...money was tight and I wanted to pick just the right book and that was it! It began a life long love of this amazing writer...

Tanith's work is dark and sensual. It has a grace and beauty that is purely imaginative. Her writing is like poetry...strong on imagery and ideas. She creates moods and dreams.

I was happy to revisit this world and I thought Susan Duerden's narration was good for this particular series, but I understand why others didn't quite get it - I think they are more familiar and comfortable with modern narration, but this it more like classical myth story telling, so I do believe strongly she is what this piece requires for the proper tone. This series has the feel of old myths and legends and the point of view from the darker side has a fascinating appeal.

Tanith Lee's books are hard to find in the USA, so I hope this helps bring her to a wider audience...she writes so beautifully.

Really looking forward to the rest of the series and anything else by her that Audible adds in the future.