Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Black Wings Beating  By  cover art

Black Wings Beating

By: Alex London
Narrated by: Michael Crouch, Brittany Pressley
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $14.99

Buy for $14.99

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

"Epic thrills, heart-punching romance, and a marvel of a hero." (Adam Silvera, New York Times best-selling author of They Both Die at the End)

The people of Uztar have long looked to the sky with hope and wonder. Nothing in their world is more revered than the birds of prey and no one more honored than the falconers who call them to their fists.

Brysen strives to be a great falconer - while his twin sister, Kylee, rejects her ancient gifts for the sport and wishes to be free of falconry. She’s nearly made it out, too, but a war is rolling toward their home in the Six Villages, and no bird or falconer will be safe. Together, the twins must journey into the treacherous mountains to trap the Ghost Eagle, the greatest of the Uztari birds and a solitary killer.

Brysen goes for the boy he loves and the glory he's long craved, and Kylee to atone for her past and to protect her brother's future. But both are hunted by those who seek one thing: power.

In this first young-adult fantasy audiobook in a trilogy, Alex London launches a soaring saga about the memories that haunt us, the histories that hunt us, and the bonds of blood between us.

©2018 Charles London (P)2018 Macmillan Audio

What listeners say about Black Wings Beating

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    67
  • 4 Stars
    42
  • 3 Stars
    14
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    5
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    74
  • 4 Stars
    29
  • 3 Stars
    11
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    54
  • 4 Stars
    38
  • 3 Stars
    17
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting Start to a Trilogy

Excited to see where book two goes. Think I might try falconry in the upcoming months.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

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

What a thrill ride!!

I found this book to be super original and unique. I have never read a book where the world building took me someplace I wasn’t expecting go—bird land.

Basically, there are these twins, Kylee and Brysen, and they live in the land that honors individuals who can speak the language of falconers, as well as control powerful birds in certain situations like war and battle. Kylee has the power, but doesn’t want it. Brysen wants the power, but doesn’t have it. The two head-butt often and it comes to a halt when they have to set out to find a rare, dangerous bird called the Ghost Eagle. They set out to find this bird because Brysen’s crush asks him to find the bird for this gangster-type character named Gorwyn. If the bird isn’t found, than Brysen’s beau, Dymian, will die. On the other side, this group of people who believe birds carry sin, as well as the people who keep and train them (Utzari), want to get rid of all birds, so they plan to go to war with the Utzari.

This book was really good—loved the diversity, as well as the impact that trauma plays on both main characters, especially Brysen. He’s a little stubborn and childish, but he acts like this because he was abused as a child. Kylee, on the other hand, is stoic and cold—which is a defense mechanism in itself.

I really enjoyed the narration. Presley and Crouch did a phenomenal job. Alex London’s effortless and eloquent writing style is truly remarkable and I can’t wait to see what happens in Book 2.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

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

Cheap, Trashy, Predictable and Loving It

Could not stop listening and finished the book in two days. I love fantasy, historical dramas and gay boys. This book has it all.

The entire time I was listening, I was hoping Amazon would turn it into an original so I can actually see these guys make out.

The ending is painfully predictable. The story is a little cheap. The characters have some development.

Having said that, I still loved it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

Great characters Great Story Great heart

an amazing fully realized fantasy epic kicks off with a brother and sister fighting for family and to create their own fates. great gay positive characters and society as well!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

Very.... middling, for me

I'll be honest, I just didn't find this story to be terribly interesting. The premise and world are neat, and it's what made me want to check it out, but I think the overall application just kinda fell short. The story kind of meandered for a while, especially in the middle, and most of the interpersonal drama in between just wasn't really my cup of tea.

I think the narrator for Kylee did a great job overall, though her male voices tended to sound very samey. The narrator for Brycen... I kinda got annoyed listening to him. He has this sort of repetitive rhythmic cadence, where every sentence kind of goes up and down and up and down in the exact same pattern and it just makes it all start to sound droning and tedious. I actually had to take a break from the book for a while because of this.

Anyway, very average fantasy experience and I probably won't pick up the sequels.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Not for me

The story didn't have enough action, mystery, and suspense for me. I actually wish i would've replaced it, but I thought there would be an exciting ending. Unfortunately I was wrong and had a very hard time finishing the book. I don't know who I'd recommend this book to.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Better then expected!

I really enjoyed this book! Even though it’s short for an audio book, overall the story and the writing was really good! The twists are really nice as well because it didn’t feel like it came out of no where. The only complaint is that the pacing went a little fast towards the end but other then that I recommend!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

great story

very good book. awesome story of love drama and action, without bad language. I will read more like this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

This epic soars

Gorgeous novel, with prose that is precise and poetic. The combination of real-world falconry with with the fantastic makes this an inventive world I can’t wait to return to.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Ready for more

Overall I would definitely recommend this story. I struggled a little with the beginning, but then I got sucked right in and couldn't wait to listen again. I wasn't overly fond of the male voice narrator, but that could have been because the volume was so much lower for him and I always had to adjust it between readers.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!