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Among Others
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins
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Publisher's summary
Startling, unusual, and yet irresistably readable, Among Others is at once the compelling story of a young woman struggling to escape a troubled childhood, a brilliant diary of first encounters with the great novels of modern fantasy and SF, and a spellbinding tale of escape from ancient enchantment.
Raised by a half-mad mother who dabbled in magic, Morwenna Phelps found refuge in two worlds. As a child growing up in Wales, she played among the spirits who made their homes in industrial ruins. But her mind found freedom and promise in the science-fiction novels that were her closest companions. Then her mother tried to bend the spirits to dark ends, and Mori was forced to confront her in a magical battle that left her crippled - and her twin sister dead.
Fleeing to her father, whom she barely knew, Mori was sent to boarding school in England - a place all but devoid of true magic. There, outcast and alone, she tempted fate by doing magic herself, in an attempt to find a circle of like-minded friends. But her magic also drew the attention of her mother, bringing about a reckoning that could no longer be put off.
Combining elements of autobiography with flights of imagination in the manner of novels like Jonathan Lethem's The Fortress of Solitude, this is potentially a breakout book for an author whose genius has already been hailed by peers like Kelly Link, Sarah Weinman, and Ursula K. Le Guin.
Critic reviews
- Hugo Award, Best Novel, 2012
- Nebula Award, Best Novel, 2011
“Walton succeeds admirably. Her novel is a wonder and a joy.” (The New York Times)
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For Gideon Mack, faithless minister, unfaithful husband, and troubled soul, the existence of God, let alone the Devil, is no more credible than that of ghosts or fairies - until the day he falls into a gorge and is rescued by someone who might just be Satan.
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Fantastic
- By Christopher on 07-06-08
By: James Robertson
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I Capture the Castle
- By: Dodie Smith
- Narrated by: Jenny Agutter
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
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In this coming of age story, Dodie Smith introduces the visionary and eccentric character of seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain. The youngest daughter in a family of impoverished artists, it is her imagination and writing that takes us away from the ramshackle old English castle where they live, and towards an intriguing tale of husband-hunting and light-hearted sibling rivalry.
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Well, that was a surprise
- By Matthew on 12-16-13
By: Dodie Smith
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Mr. Fox
- A Novel
- By: Helen Oyeyemi
- Narrated by: Carol Boyd
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Fairy-tale romances end with a wedding and the fairy tales don't get complicated. In this book, celebrated writer Mr. Fox can't stop himself from killing off the heroines of his novels, and neither can his wife, Daphne. It's not until Mary, his muse, comes to life and transforms him from author into subject that his story begins to unfold differently....
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A Great Novel, just Poor for Audio
- By James A. Dittes on 08-13-16
By: Helen Oyeyemi
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The Town House
- By: Norah Lofts
- Narrated by: Juliet Prague, Martyn Read
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
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"It was in the first week of October in the year 1391 that I first came face to face with the man who owned me… the man whose lightest word was to us, his villeins, weightier than the King’s law or the edicts of our Holy Father…” So began the story of Martin Reed - a serf whose resentment of the automatic rule of his feudal lord finally flared into open defiance.
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My favorite author
- By Karie on 07-09-15
By: Norah Lofts
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A Fatal Inversion
- By: Barbara Vine
- Narrated by: William Gaminara
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
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In the long, hot summer of 1976, a group of young people is camping in Wyvis Hall. Adam, Rufus, Shiva, Vivien and Zosie hardly ask why they are there or how they are to live; they scavenge, steal and sell the family heirlooms. Ten years later, the bodies of a woman and child are discovered in the Hall’s animal cemetery. Which woman? And whose child?
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Oh my!
- By Jill on 06-15-14
By: Barbara Vine
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Talking It Over
- By: Julian Barnes
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- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Introducing Stuart, Gillian and Oliver. One by one they take their turn to speak straight out to the camera - and give their side of a contemporary love triangle. What begins as a comedy of misunderstanding slowly darkens and deepens into a compelling exploration of the quagmires of the heart.
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The Narrative Gimmick Works
- By Alan on 11-22-11
By: Julian Barnes
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The Canterbury Sisters
- By: Kim Wright
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Che Milan's life is falling apart. Not only has her longtime lover abruptly dumped her, but her eccentric, demanding mother has recently died. When an urn of ashes arrives along with a note reminding Che of a half-forgotten promise to take her mother to Canterbury, Che finds herself reluctantly undertaking a pilgrimage. Within days she joins a group of women who are walking the 60 miles from London to the shrine of Becket in Canterbury Cathedral.
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The Canterbury Sisters
- By Melissa on 09-22-19
By: Kim Wright
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Hero: A Simon Serrailler Short Story
- By: Susan Hill
- Narrated by: Steven Pacey
- Length: 51 mins
- Unabridged
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When Simon Serrailler was a rookie constable with the Met, he did something reckless in the course of a night's work which caused a man's death. But his act was praised by his colleagues, and he was called a hero. Years later, now a detective chief superintendent who has been badly injured in the course of duty, he receives a medal for bravery at Buckingham Palace while recollecting that fateful night of his early career, when chance disguised itself as bravery.
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This 'story' makes no sense to me
- By Pamela Donaldson on 05-10-17
By: Susan Hill
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Sarah Morris Remembers
- By: D. E. Stevenson
- Narrated by: Patience Tomlinson
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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With the help of her old diaries, Sarah Morris recounts her life story. The daughter of an English vicar, she begins by telling of her happy childhood with her brothers and sister in their country village. As a teenager, Sarah’s brother brings home a friend - Charles, a charming Austrian to whom she quickly becomes close. Over the years they fall in love, but when war breaks out Charles must return to Austria. While she awaits his return, Sarah quietly continues working hard and caring for her family. But she can’t stop wondering if she will ever see her sweetheart again…
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Lovely story
- By Hearth on 08-08-15
By: D. E. Stevenson
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Great Listen!
- By pems-integ-tests on 03-28-08
What listeners say about Among Others
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Eoin
- 09-15-11
Subtle Character Piece
I loved this from start to end. Essentially a coming-of-age story, its diary format does not lend itself to strong plot points, and my major criticism is that the denoument is rather rushed at the end. But you can't help falling for Mori, especially for me, as she is such a SF/Fantasy nut and *devours* books.
But I adored Katherine Kellgren's performance, and was amazed to find out she's from the US. The "singsong" accent, with its "changes of inflection" was, to me being a Celt, a really great Welsh accent, along with good Southern English and west-country accents. Well done Katherine! Yes, it may be a little difficult to get used to, but on the eastern side of the pond it works really well.
Give it a go. It's a simple character piece that will make you smile.
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51 people found this helpful
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- Aser Tolentino
- 05-19-12
I Think it Deserves the Hugo
There are several different ways you could go about narrating a book. You could simply read it aloud, you might go so far as to add inflection to the spoken parts. And if you want to stand out, you try to give each notable character a distinct voice. But if you seek to be as extraordinary as Katherine Kellgren, you must bring the story to life, imbue every word with color. There are some wonderful pieces online about the lengths Ms. Kellgren goes to achieve such dynamic performances, and it truly shows. The result is that this reading is anything but stayed, the narration achieving an artistic quality all its own. Of course, this means that it is even more a separate and distinct creature from the words on a printed page than any audiobook already is, and to some that might be a bad thing, possibly a very bad thing. But with a case such as this where the experience is far more about the person telling you the story than her story per se, the end result is truly delightful.
It is understandable that for someone used to traditional narration, this performance might take some getting used to, because the emphasis on reproducing the character's voice occasionally overrides clarity, requiring you to pay closer attention than you might be used to. But this is more than worth it because if you give in to this way of relating the story, it's very much like listening to Mori speaking to you through her diary entries rather than listening to a woman read.
This approach helps the presentation of the material immensely, since this is so much about one person's journey, her thoughts, fears, ambitions, and observational asides along the way. You cannot help but love this girl who has suffered so much but still loves so dearly in her own way.
As for the end, it is rather sudden, especially given how the beginning so wonderfully takes you by the hand and leads you deeper and deeper into a world where magic is real, but always deniable, infinitely subtle and incalculably powerful. This book is a nominee for the 2012 Hugo Award for best novel. And though there are other worthy candidates this year, I would be very happy if it won.
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50 people found this helpful
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- Jeffrey
- 04-14-12
Critically overrated; bonus points for nostalgia.
I picked this up when it got a Hugo nomination, and went into it pretty excited. The results are fairly mediocre.
This is a book where nothing much happens in the sense that the plot ark is more of a modest bump. This isn't automatically a bad thing in a book because a great character driven story can still provide a fantastic read, but that doesn't happen here, The characters are mildly interesting but never really compelling. What's worse is that some of the more interesting plot threads are simply abandoned by the end without ever being resolved in an ending that is both predictable and rushed.
So why the Hugo nomination? That's easy: nostalgia. Mori, our protagonist, finds direction and solace in science fiction and reads incessantly offering a whose-who of pre-80s name and title dropping and an accompanying analysis of SF writers and stories of the era. I think many critics are willing to overlook a mediocre story because of the nostalgia and fondness they feel at listening to Mori discuss her relentless reading list. While these certainly provide the most interesting parts of the novel for a big SF fan like myself, it's not enough to carry the entire story. This was a great premise suffering from mediocre execution, and in the end fondness for listening to other people talk about classical science fiction shouldn't be enough to make us ignore the mundane story in which that discussion is embedded in.
This is a perfectly acceptable story but not a remarkable one, and it certainly did not deserve a Hugo nomination. It will be most interesting to those who have read a lot of classic pre-1980 science fiction, and far less interesting to anyone without such a reading background.
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48 people found this helpful
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- Here-and-faraway
- 01-25-12
Great Start, Weak Finish
I like a lot about this book: the vivid characters, the strong narration, and enchanted settings. Jo Walton does a fantastic job creating a captivating world that's filled with characters who seem alive. She deftly builds up the plot, but the book's climax felt rushed and flat - like the author didn't know how to end it.
Among Others was an easy listen and I looked forward to hearing it everyday. I'm not a science fiction fan, but even though there are multiple references to scifi titles it didn't hinder my enjoyment of the story. I'm guessing fans of the science fiction genre would appreciate the extra layer, but the book is enjoyable enough if you aren't.
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26 people found this helpful
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- bubbaben
- 06-26-14
kept waiting for a plot then the book was over
What would have made Among Others better?
There was no real plot. Just like reading an interesting journal with a weird fight at the end.
Would you ever listen to anything by Jo Walton again?
Only if recommended by someone I trust.
What about Katherine Kellgren’s performance did you like?
She was actually amazing.
What character would you cut from Among Others?
Characters were fine; they just needed to do something.
Any additional comments?
I bought this book because of the award but was very disappointed. I wish someone would have told me there was no real plot and a weak story to this book.
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24 people found this helpful
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- Liz
- 11-03-11
Excellent book, beautiful narration.
This book is a beautifully written account of what it can be like to grow up with different interests from everyone around you. It's not over-the-top on melodrama, as some "geek anthems" can be, but it's by no means boring. It's thoughtful and feels, above all, honest. As a reader, I felt less like I identified with Mor, and more like she and I might have been friends had we met in school; or maybe we'd have been in the same book club.
Katherine Kellgren was excellent. She has really crisp diction and clear delivery, imbuing the words with emotion and emphasis without overdoing it. I really enjoyed her Welsh accent - I have family in Wales and I've always loved the musical quality of the language, and Ms Kellgren did not disappoint. It also fits the story, naturally enough.
All around, a personal favourite.
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- Jessica
- 01-16-12
Enjoyable
What did you like best about Among Others? What did you like least?
I liked the conflict the narrator feels with her coming adulthood best. I liked the neat and tidy ending least.
Would you be willing to try another book from Jo Walton? Why or why not?
Yes. I do think she is a fair writer with a talent for writing novels literature fans can latch onto.
What does Katherine Kellgren bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
I loved the Welsh accent. She makes the narrator come alive and injects personality and character. She made the people in the book real.
Was Among Others worth the listening time?
Yes.
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15 people found this helpful
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- Brian
- 01-13-12
Simply fantastic
What more can be said about this audio book than, "simply fantastic"? The narrator is in perfect tune with the story. The story itself is a fantastic coming of age tale celebrating the discovery of life and magic through a passion for sci-fi novels. This was one of the best audiobooks I have had the pleasure to listen to ever.
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- Jim
- 09-10-12
Not SF and not deserving of the 2012 HUGO
Coming of age story with an excellent reader. A reflective walk though of the SF genre pre-1980 by way of the characters reading habits and book club. In no way SF and only a marginal fantasy.
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- Kindle Customer
- 08-13-12
This SF book is Brill! Hated the end!
I don't mean that I hated THE ending, I mean that I hated the fact that it did end! What an interesting, exasperating, quirky, loveable, frustrating character. Just like a teenager, and probably like me when I was a teenager! The accent was a little bit of a challenge for me, but I am in no way an expert on what a person from Wales would have spoken like in 1979, so my difficulty was just the strangeness of it. And that ended up working congruently with the story for me. I also got not only used to it, but kind of attached to it. I can hear Mori's voice in my head right now. I think I will look for a book club.... and will also add more SF books to my "to read" list, Mori's enthusiasm is powerfull!
I absolutely loved this story, I loved how the story was told to me, and I loved the characters. I can't say enough about this book, I really enjoyed it!
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10 people found this helpful