Discord's Apple

By: Carrie Vaughn

Narrated by: Angela Dawe, Luke Daniels

Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's Summary

When Evie Walker goes home to spend time with her dying father, she discovers that his creaky old house in Hope’s Fort, Colorado, is not the only legacy she will inherit. Hidden behind the basement door is a secret and magical storeroom, a place where wondrous treasures from myth and legend are kept safe until they are needed again.

Of course, this legacy is not without its costs: There are those who will give anything to find a way in.

With the help of her father, a mysterious stranger named Alex, and some unexpected heroes, Evie must guard the storeroom against ancient and malicious forces, and protect both the past and the future even as the present unravels. Old heroes and notorious villains alike rise to fight on her side or to do their best to bring about her defeat.

At stake is the fate of the world and the prevention of nothing less than the apocalypse.

©2010 Carrie Vaughn (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"Vaughn brings together mythology, fairy tales, and very human lives, immersing readers in the stories these complex characters tell themselves to make sense of their war-torn worlds." ( Publishers Weekly)

Not epic, but an entertaining story.

The author said in a description of the book that she was partly inspired by 1980s G.I. Joe comics. That was enough to make me give it a chance. I'm glad I did.

I liked how the three narratives (Evie, "Alex", and the storeroom) developed (two forward in time, one backward) and were neatly tied together near the end.

Given the premise, it could have easily mushroomed into an overwhelming epic with hundreds of characters, and conceivably may yet although the ending was such that sequels really aren't needed.

I still don't know how I feel about the ending. In a way it was cheating, but it's an interesting way to resolve the conflicting sides.

One problem though was the female narrator's portrayal of male characters. She overdid the gruffness of her voice, making them all sound like caricatures.

Excellent Storytelling

Just finished the book Discord's Apple by Carrie Vaughn. It was the story of how Post-Apocalyptic world environments could come about. It was awesome. The main character, Evie Walker is a Comic Book Writer who writes about a crack GI-Joe team that takes care of issues around the world in a high strung post 9/11 (and more) world, usually based on current events. However, we meet her as she is driving up to her childhood home because her father is dying. Except her father is the last in very long line of ancestors that have been tasked with taking care of some special items. Throughout the course of the story we meet some of those ancestors through flashbacks and other characters who had integral roles in how these items have found their way into the family's hands. Greek Myth is featured heavily, but even if you only know the basics, the story narrative explains everything pretty well.

I really liked it. It wasn't a typical Contemporary Fantasy, but also was not an Urban Fantasy (with Romance). Homosexual characters, Greek Myth, Fall of Troy, Mysterious Basement, World at the cusp of change, and a strong female trying to find her way again after being confronted with a changing role (Dying father AND Place in World)...This book has it all and then some in spades. There have been only a few books that I could not stop listening to, this was one of them. Yes, even had that stereotypical 10-15 extra minutes in the parking lot/driveway waiting for a "good" place to stop. I think having two narrators really helps books like this with a very specific female character point of view and everything else.

My favorite listen for 2011!

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

The story of the Golden Apple has always been one of my favorite. This is a very clever continuation of the story.

Satisfying alternative for this author

I've enjoyed all the Kitty Norville stories, so thought I'd try something different from this author. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it.

Entertaining story, decent narration

I liked the story. The Greek mythological tie ins added to the entertainment value and interest level. The narrators were okay, not my favorite but not bad- they took a little getting used to because their voices are not as rich sounding or diverse as my favorites. 4 stars for the book, 3 for the narrators.

Like a breath of fresh air

This is not the usual type of story that Carrie tells, but it is a fresh story type for me. I really liked it. It took some getting use to and I enjoyed it more the second time I listened, but it took me a little to get over my preconceptions of what to expect. It is definitely worth multiple listenings. It requires you to concentrate on following the story line because of it extensive use of an anacoluthonistic narrative style. The narration is well done. I like it, and in my opinion it is a definite keeper.

I tried to like it. I really did.

Depressing - really depressing. I'm half way through and about to give up. Cancer, World wide war, Greek mythology full of slavery, arrogance, punishment.

If we would have spent more time on the things in the basement and less time on how sad she was about her father dying of cancer...maybe.

I like Carrie Vaughn - I read the Kitty Norville novels because they are funny and full of interesting mysteries.

This book - well grab the anti-depressants. Part of the issue is the morose tone of the narrator Angela Dawe. Perhaps that's how it should be read but it is really sad sad sad. I wonder how it would have been if the voice over was more matter of fact or even determined rather than hopeless sounding. I might get the kindle book if it's inexpensive enough and try reading the rest on my own.

sorry but I just can't give this more than 2 stars. As I said, I tried to like it. I really did.

Absolutly deligtful

Easy to listen to, riveting and a most interesting but easy to follow almost triple story line; although the central line of the stroy never get's lost. Expecially well incorporated greek Mythology and usage f some of the Characters to creat a worls where some Gods still walk the earth.

Narrator/Reader was superb and easy to listen to.

Sorry line was great except the ending which sort of made the whole story and the tribulation of the characters seem unessasery. But make your own mind up to that.

Awesome!

I really enjoyed this story line. I hope there is a followup or a series.

great book

Loved this book, my first from thos author. All the characters were believable and three dimensional.

Discord's Apple

I was intrigued by the title of this book, not having a clue what it meant. Having read it, I'm pleased to say it all makes sense. If you're someone who has both an interest in Arthurian legend and Greek mythology and have always wished for a book that combines all your favourite heros, this is perfect. Discord's Apple tells the story of Evie, the keeper of a store room in which all the magical objects from myth and legend are kept, and Alex, a Trogian Warrier living under a curse of imortality. Naturally there are unsavery characters after the store room's contents and it falls to a select band of heros to try and stop them. This book was well written; Alex's story is especially moving. The characters are believable, and the story is unpredictable right up to the end. However, there is a part of the story which isn't sattisfactorally explained, at least not for me. Also, the ending feels incomplete, as if there's more to come, and I can't find any evidence that there will be a book two. Definitely worth a listen though.

Unsatisfactory

I was intrigued by the books’s premise, so stuck with it, despite the first couple of hours being confusing rather than interesting. It then started to get interesting so I continued to stick with it - then it stopped being interesting again. I should’ve quit there, but having invested so much time thus far, decided I should - you guessed it - stick with it, in the hope of a satisfactory conclusion. Didn’t happen. Some good ideas, yes, but the narrative never seemed to bring them together cohesively. I’m sorry, but for me this was a waste of good reading time. The female narrator was excellent, however, the saving grace.

Very enjoyable!

There have been many works of fiction built around the concept of a repository of magical artefacts. In this novel, Ms Vaughn combines this idea with a refreshingly new and irreverent take on Greek mythology. Her characters live and breathe, and the plot holds together at every joint. I found the story-within-a-story, the comic that the protagonist is trying to write as the world collapses around her, almost as interesting as the main story, and I would have liked to know how it ended (in the sense in which stories in a comic can ever end). But it was the ending that most endeared me to the book. Most stories in this vein end with the world being reset to its previous state; order is restored, the villains defeated, good triumphs. Ms Vaughn's conclusion is nowhere near so morally clear-cut; the villains, in fact, achieve their intention. But are they truly all villains? Some of them are quite definitely of evil intent, and they do terrible things to achieve their ends; but then, so do many heroes, including the ones in Evie Walker's comic. The book closes with Evie and her companion Alex alone in a world remade, no longer collapsing, true, but different--for better and for worse--from the world they have known. I do not know whether Ms Vaughn plans a sequel, but I would be very interested to see more of that new world through Evie's eyes. I enjoyed this book very much and would recommend it strongly, and will look forward to other work by Ms Vaughn.