• The Valkyries

  • A Magical Tale About Forgiving Our Past and Believing in Our Future
  • By: Paulo Coelho
  • Narrated by: Sean Runnette
  • Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (519 ratings)

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The Valkyries  By  cover art

The Valkyries

By: Paulo Coelho
Narrated by: Sean Runnette
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Publisher's summary

The enchanting, true story of The Valkyries begins in Rio de Janeiro when author Paulo Coelho gives his mysterious master, J., the only manuscript for his book The Alchemist. Haunted by a devastating curse, Coelho confesses to J., "I've seen my dreams fall apart just when I seemed about to achieve them." In response, J. gives Coelho a daunting task: He must find and speak with his guardian angel. "The curse can be broken," he replies, "if you complete the task."

Rising to the challenge, Paulo and his wife, Cristina, drop everything, pack their bags, and take off on a 40-day adventure into the starkly beautiful and sometimes dangerous Mojave Desert - where they encounter more than they bargained for.

A masterful blend of the exotic locales, dramatic adventure, and magical storytelling, for which Coelho's fictional works are renowned, this true-life account is at once a modern-day adventure and a metaphysical odyssey.

©1992 Paulo Coelho (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Coelho's gripping tale of his adventures...reads like a suspense novel." ( San Mateo Times)

What listeners say about The Valkyries

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This Book Changed My Life - Seriously

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I have recommended this to dozens of people YES YES YES

What did you like best about this story?

When he talks about the pact he had made with defeat.

What about Sean Runnette’s performance did you like?

Not memorable for me - like Jeremy Irons' with the Alchemist, however Irons would not have fit with this story. Fact is, since this was Autobiographical I would have preferred the author to read this, or at least someone with his accent. But that is not a big deal - this is an EXCELLENT BOOK - I have listened to it several times!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Change Your Life!

Any additional comments?

If you are on a journey of changing your life, this might be your next step.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Totally Unexpected!

I was intrigued by this audiobook because I never saw it before in any bookstore. As I read the editor´s comment I found it "suitable" and decided to download it but without great expectations. So wrong... this book reflects the human face of Coelho himself, its an interesting "biography" of the man behind the magician with many intimate and personal details. If you have read some other titles from Coelho you´ll find many references in this book and will give you some insight on himself as a human looking for perfection. The message of the book is so inspiring: unconditional love in so many expressions. The plot is full of unexpected turns and very interesting and strong characters.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Very satisfying

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who enjoys Coehlo's work and anyone who is interested in personal growth. This book really gives you some things to think about.

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10 people found this helpful

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

Life as a seeker, a hunter ...

What did you like best about this story?

This is a more personal, real journey than others from Paulo ... if you want to GET the book, you need to suspend any disbelief temporarily like you do when you go to see Harry Potter and just enjoy the story ... if you can, then maybe like I did you can find so much applicability to your own journey. I found it pretty dang challenging, enlightening, difficult, enjoyable, and much more.

Have you listened to any of Sean Runnette’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Narrator does an excellent job, easy to listen to, despite the tremendous topic and story at hand.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Chris challenged Valhallla, took on her persona and in doing so saw life through Paulo's eyes just for a moment. Overall I think this book is more of a love story than the Pilgrimage or the Alchemist, both of which were more about solo journeys.

Any additional comments?

Amazing how incredible books/authors speak to your soul. This one spoke to me (a hunter), my wife (a farmer) and our journey, together at times, separate at others. Paulo was seeking, but Chris was the one to find and not until she found in her own way did Paulo find in his way. This is an excellent book but I can also understand why it might not be for everyone ... who is the intended reader? Middle age, married, open minded, seeker of MORE ... more understanding, depth, experience, truth, connection, authenticity, insight, love, and all the IMPORTANT stuff.

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4 people found this helpful

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

One of Coelho's best books.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, too much detail and information to take in during one listening. A good book to take in slowly.

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4 people found this helpful

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

A big departure from this Authors other writings..

Any additional comments?

I bought this book because I love The Alchemist. After reading that book, I wanted to get into his other works. This book was number two on my list. To be quite honest, I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this book. It is part autobiography, part allegory, and extremely spiritual. I consider myself to be spiritual, but there were a few parts where I was a bit lost. Overall, there were some amazing takeaways in this book and portions so dense with wisdom, I replayed them several times. I may give this another listen to see if I can take away a bit more. I got the major themes, but don't necessarily feel that I've grasped all I can from it. It's a very different book than The Alchemist and I suppose my expectation was more along that line.

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3 people found this helpful

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

Pretty good story. Narrator is kinda boring.

I've listened to The Alchemist and 11 minutes and both books are amazing. This one is good but the other two are much more interesting.

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2 people found this helpful

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

Book review

This is my second time reading one of Pablo Coello's works. It came into my life at a really synchronicitic time when I was beginning to feel very alone in my esoteric beliefs and my musings. I didn't know the book would offer such personal insights to one of my favorite author's life and process but I'm glad I chose this one because I really needed to feel like Im not the only person who is always thinking about these concepts. The only complaint I have is the narrator really threw me off..I would have liked the book a lot more if I used my imagination for the voices..just one white sounding man playing different ethnicities reallyyy rubs me the wrong way. But I still understood the messages and that's what's important. so I appreciate it non the less.

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1 person found this helpful

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

Ouch

I had to struggle to finish this book, just not to trow my money away (sorry); also, I did not like the voice (it made me frequently sleepy)

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

Hard to grasp, a difficult story to relate to

The narrator was too monotonous for me, and on dialogues it was hard to determine who was the speaker. The differentiation between the different characters in narration was very mild, could be better told. For this reason, or maybe the storyline itself, I struggled to carry on to the end. The story was really mesmerizing until the rendez-vous with the valkyiries. After that it became full of thoughts and empty sentences which took me and my mind no where.

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1 person found this helpful