Grey Sister

By: Mark Lawrence

Narrated by: Heather O'Neill

Length: 15 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

The second novel in a brilliant fantasy series from the international best-selling author of Prince of Thorns.

Behind its walls, the Convent of Sweet Mercy has trained young girls to hone their skills for centuries. In Mystic Class, Novice Nona Grey has begun to learn the secrets of the universe. But so often even the deepest truths just make our choices harder. Before she leaves the convent, Nona must choose which order to dedicate herself to - and whether her path will lead to a life of prayer and service or one of the blade and the fist.

All that stands between her and these choices are the pride of a thwarted assassin, the designs of a would-be empress wielding the Inquisition like a knife, and the vengeance of the empire's richest lord.

As the world narrows around her, and her enemies attack her through the system she is sworn to, Nona must find her own path despite the competing pulls of friendship, revenge, ambition, and loyalty.

And in all this only one thing is certain: there will be blood.

©2018 Bobalinga Ltd. (P)2018 Recorded Books

A deeper dive into our characters!

I was worried after reading so many reviews saying this book wasn't as good as the first. I'm soo glad I didn't let them dissuade me. More than the first half has considerably less action/fighting compared to The Red Sister. But it dives deeper into the characters and focuses a lot on their connection to the past and each other. Personally I LOVED this, but if you wanted a lot of action you had to wait until the end. I'm about to start the third book in the series but wanted to be sure to write a review so that others don't miss out on the continuation of this great story.

Amazing, much better then the first!

Wow, this book is incredible! Best fantasy I've read in at least the last 12 months. Completely overshadows "Red Sister" in my opinion, which was just 3/5 stars for me.

I loved Abbess Glass in "Red Sister" when we got to see her, and hated when she went off-screen and seemed to change completely. I'm happy to see that the original Abbess Glass is back in "Grey Sister", with her own chapters throughout the entire book!

Nona has grown up a little and stopped making quite as bad decision (although she still has a ways to go before I'd consider her decision-making to be "good"). But at least her stupidity has stopped annoying me, and I was much happier to follow her journey.

I'm happy that Clara, who I also found annoying to read about, is absent.

All of the characters in "Grey Sister" are amazing to read about.

Heather O'Neill as the narrator was once again amazing. The editing was also better in this audiobook compared to the first. The "Red Sister" audiobook had some obvious cuts between different recording sessions which are absent in the "Grey Sister" audiobook.

Amazing work, and can't believe I have to wait a year for the already-written third book!

Good, but flawed. Book 1 is better.

This is a hard one to judge, the narration is well done on par with the previous installment. The story however is one wild ride. There is a clash between the overarching plot (escalating world events and conflicts) and the more mundane aspects of the day to day convent life. I feel like this series as a whole would have benefitted from being stretched out over more books which could dive a bit deeper into the details. In doing so, it would allow the plot to be moved at a more natural pace giving us time to see the characters change and mature while weaving in the growing conflict of the outside world. The story starts well, but suffers through the mid act due in large part to the absurd choice of "villain" for the "school" portion. The character in question is never fleshed out well enough to have any believable motivation for the things they do. There is a throwaway line early on hinting a vague connection with the Tacsis family, but other than vanity and teen angst you get nothing else that would warrant the level of vitriolic behavior exhibited towards Nona by this character. The author expects you to just understand. The way its written leaves you shaking your head at the number of coincidences that need to fall into place for this character to be so involved in the plot. That said, the last act of the book is phenomenal. It is all gas and no brakes, full of emotion and action that will for sure keep you on the edge of your seat. It's a bit of a shame that it ends on a fairly annoying cliffhanger instead of wrapping up the last of the conflict in preparation for the next part of the overall series, but I suppose that I can't blame the author for wanting to stoke the flames of hype. This is for sure worth a listen if you enjoyed the previous book, but just prepare to accept a bit of ridiculousness along the way and you'll be rewarded in the end. I look forward to seeing how this series concludes.

strong performance

solid performance, good story line, not many unexpected twists bit the story is well integrated

A wonderful tale of magic, politics, and the indomitable spirit

I was delighted to see how Nona grew in this second book in the series. The way Lawrence captures the cattiness of some adolescent girls is a perfect foil to the struggle for justice and understanding that is at the center of this tale. The Abbess and her canny way with politics is one of my favorite elements in the story. The narrator is absolutely superb! Her voice brings all the characters to life. A truly enjoyable listen!

great narrator. story moved well

worth committing to the listen if you've enjoyed book one. great narration. worth the money

Amazing!!

This has complemented Red Sister perfectly!! Everything about this just clicked and I was very disappointed when I realized I only had one hour of listening time left. LOVED IT!!!

you will love this book!!!!!!

fantastic narrator I think this is one of the best books I've ever heard from Mark Lawrence I can't wait for Holy sister I would recommend this book to everyone I could not put it down

Great book. Lawrence's best series.

This is a great series with strong characters, an interesting setting, and a unique magic system.

Get this book, NOW!

Great narrator, great story, great characters.

I’ve listened 3 times now, this ones even better than the first!