House of Gold

By: C. T. Rwizi

Narrated by: Susan Dalian, Jaime Lincoln Smith

Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

From visionary author C. T. Rwizi comes the epic journey of four people on a distant planet who face the ultimate test of loyalty, friendship, and duty in the rising tide of war.

A corporate aristocracy descended from Africa rules a colony on a distant planet.

Life here is easy—for the rarified and privileged few. The aristocrats enjoy a powerful cybernetic technology that extends their life spans and ensures their prosperity. Those who serve them suffer under a heavy hand.

But within this ruthless society are agents of hope and change. In a secret underwater laboratory, a separatist cult has created a threat to the aristocracy. The Primes are highly intelligent, manipulative products of genetic engineering, designed to lead a rebellion. Enabling their mission are the Proxies, the Primes’ bodyguards and lifelong companions bound to their service.

When the cult’s hideout is attacked, Proxies Nandipa and Hondo rush to the rescue. As they emerge with their Primes onto the surface, however, everything they’d been led to believe about their world is shattered.

Nandipa and Hondo will risk it all to honor their oath of absolute loyalty. But when the very people they’re tasked to protect turn on each other, the Proxies must decide between those they were built to serve and the freedom to carve out their own destinies. And the fate of their planet may rest in their choice.

©2023 C. T. Rwizi (P)2023 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“[V]ividly rendered by the vocal storytelling narrative talents of Susan Dalian and Jaime Lincoln Smith. Decidedly entertaining from start to finish.” —Midwest Book Review

“Rwizi’s exciting novel captures the political maneuvering and danger of the Hunger Games series with a universe fans of Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti books will enjoy.” —Booklist

“A remarkable new talent.” —Tor.com

I hope they make this into a movie!

I loved this from the beginning to the end. The story is engaging and moves at a great pace. The characters have depth and the author paints a cinematic landscape. The voice actors deliver it all so well!

Love the world building

But I hate the unanswered questions I’m left with. The story itself was good though. And I kind of would love to see this story played on the screen. I feel like it would be so amazing to see come to life. The narrators were great. They brought these characters to life. Made me connect with them.

I was so back and forth about who I likes and who I didn’t. And I was so worried that Adaolisa would go too far but Nandipa pulled her back. And Jamal never seemed like he work until someone he loved deeply was almost killed and Hondo was able to pull him back. So at the end I’m happy about the story. Would have loved a different ending. But if a second book is written to go along with this one then I think I could live with all the questions I have been left with.

Lastly, David is absolutely without a doubt my least favorite character and a coward, liar, punk, and fake. And I never trusted him. Not one minute. And he proved my gut feeling right.

This was great

The performance was immaculate and the story was so well written. I found myself always trying to guess what was going to happen next and was consistently surprised!

Trying to be fair

I really wanted... want to like this book. So far, after 5 hours of listening, I'm still waiting for something to happen. I'm going to keep listening, and hope I can change my mind and jump on the bandwagon.

Decent story with too many superfluous details

Well, I enjoyed the story, I think the author spent entirely too much time, describing in minute detail the clothing. each character was wearing. It really didn’t have any relevance to the story at all. I also didn’t like the forced homosexuality thrust upon us…again, added nothing to the story and was a distraction that made me wonder why it was even part of the story. The narration was good except for the character Jamal. I found the voice of that character to be amazingly irritating. It almost seemed like the narrator, pinched their nostrils off and spoke in a high, whiny voice that I found annoying. Good story, just too many things that added nothing to the story for me.

One Wonderful Read

This was an amazing ride, full of grit as well as tenderness. The voice acting was incredible and suited all the characters well. The story was exciting and I never wanted to stop listening, so much so that I bought the Kindle edition so I could keep reading whenever I couldn’t listen. The finale’s plot twist is also interesting, if not surprising. Still the overall story is so worth the time!

An intriguing cyberpunk masterpiece

if i had to give a 6 word summary: "Like Enders Game but Actually Good"

The world is fully thought out with many nuanced characters. it all felt so cinematic i could easily visualize all the action and mystery. There are so many competing sides that it's hard to tell who I was rooting for at any given time, but I always knew whatever the characters did next it would be interesting.

i cannot wait for the next book to come out

Interesting, but not too interesting

This is a well-written book. Clear storyline, relatable characters, at times drifted too much into inner dialogue, and romance, but good.

The performance of the book was good… however, the voice of Jamal’s character was - to me - very similar to Kenan Thompson’s… which added an “expectation of levity” to the book which it needed, as otherwise, it was a bit too serious. I don’t expect jokes, but…

Great and unique

This was so great - it took me a short while to get into it but I’m glad I stuck it out because the story, characters, and narration are all great.

Incredible narration!

I really enjoyed the book overall. The characters were well developed. It started dragging towards the end.