The Monster of Elendhaven

De: Jennifer Giesbrecht

Narrado por: Daniel Henning

"[Narrator Daniel Henning] fully commits to this tale, providing a nearly breathless and deliciously evil-sounding narration while also developing unique voices and presenting surprisingly layered characters." — AudioFile Magazine

“A black tide of perversity, violence, and lush writing. I loved it.” —Joe Hill

A darkly compelling story of murder, a monster, and the magician who loves both.

Set against the backdrop of the plague-ridden city of Elendhaven, clinging to the edge of the ocean and stripped of all hope, you’ll find a tale of retribution, magic, and monstrosity.

In the deep shadows of this forsaken city dwells a monster. With a soul as icy as it is cunning, it weaves its hands around throats, immune from the grips of death. A puppet to its fragile master who sends it on perilous errands, it becomes a weapon in a scheme too horrible to name. As the bond between the master and the monster tightens, a catastrophic revenge plan is formed.

These monsters of Elendhaven will have their revenge on everyone who wronged the city, even if they have to burn the world to do it.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Daniel Henning gives a compelling narration of this dark fantasy novella." —AudioFile Magazine

“Jennifer Giesbrecht's The Monster of Elendhaven is a black tide of perversity, violence, and lush writing. I loved it.” —Joe Hill, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of The Fireman, N0S4A2, and Horns

“Pitch dark, whimsical, topical, wild, and lushly written, Jennifer Giesbrecht's The Monster of Elendhaven is the most reading fun you'll have this year.” —Paul Tremblay, author of The Cabin at the End of the World and A Head Full of Ghosts

“Gorily gothic, darkly baroque, rotten with magic and shot with shafts of wicked humor, The Monster of Elendhaven is a perfect nightmare.” —Margo Lanagan

“Giesbrecht's words don't ask, they don't wonder, they don't hope or plead or bargain. They command you to have the experience that she knows you will have, to see what she knows you will see.” —Andrew Hussie, creator of Homestuck

“Jennifer Giesbrecht's The Monster of Elendhaven is a gothic delight, dark as an oil-slick and iridescent with feral humour, bruise-violet prose, and a fascinatingly depraved tragic romance.” —Indrapramit Das

“Delicate, jagged, and unrepentant, The Monster of Elendhaven has the linguistic febrility of Peake and the brutal sentiment of a gothic, perfectly framed in a secondary-world Hanseatic League setting that is as unusual as it is compelling.” —Arkady Martine, author of A Memory Called Empire

Wow!

I ddi not expect to like this as much as I did! The mlm relationship is subtle but exhilarating, the overall story sinks its teeth into you and doesn’t let go! My only complaint is that the MC’s voice is a little grating, the narrator does an amazing job otherwise!! I loved all of this!!

Not a Horror Book

This book is well written, but I do not know why it’s under the horror genre. It’s more like fantasy love story that has some magic.

Tasty

This book is like poisonous berries. Bright and sweet and lethal.

It's written much in that style and it's been a while since I read such a flowery book. But it fit, especially given one of its main characters was a fluffy dandy. The story really is about a pair of villains; any other book would have these as the nefarious antagonists, as what they are doing is quite monstrous and wicked. Yet it works.

What really pushed me through was the sexual tension between the main characters, the hints that kept building. But then the story pulled me past.

A queer quick read that's a horrifically good time

As a fan of Sweeney Todd and as someone just discovering a love for queer horror novels, this short novella scratched just the right itch for me to enjoy this past week! Every night I couldn't wait to listen to more, and if I'd had the physical copy I know I wouldn't have been able to put it down!

I found this book very compelling, although I do admit reluctantly that after all the anticipation and foreshadowing in the beginning, I expected more to happen in the climax of the novel concerning Florian's plan, the fate of Elendhaven, and the relationship between the main characters.

It might be because it's a novella and isn't as long as a full-length novel, but I felt like I rushed to the end too soon and like I was still waiting for more of a conclusion. Overall, even if the ending was a bit of a disappointment, I can definitely say I had fun reading this story and will probably buy a physical copy to reread over again in the fall!

When There Are No Good Guys

Beautifully written story of a town where everyone is horrible. The attention to detail makes a vivid portrait of small-town life where crime and decadence rule the streets and the minds of the residents.
I was slightly thrown off by the modern-sounding speech of only one character, which must be lower class banter contrasting the more refined, high class talk of the others, which better matches the setting. I imagine it must be historically correct, but it sounds to me like speech from two different times in the same place. Great job on making villains more human and even likeable.
Astounding changes in pitch and tone in the performance to bring different characters to life.