-
The Sword of the Lictor
- The Book of the New Sun, Book 3
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Litany of the Long Sun
- Book of the Long Sun, Books 1 and 2
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Litany of the Long Sun contains the full texts of Nightside the Long Sun and Lake of the Long Sun that together make up the first half of The Book of the Long Sun. This great work is set on a huge generation starship in the same future as the classic Book of the New Sun (also available in two volumes from Orb).
-
-
Utterly brilliant in it’s tedium
- By John on 04-14-22
By: Gene Wolfe
-
Anathem
- By: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman, Tavia Gilbert, William Dufris, and others
- Length: 32 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fraa Erasmus is a young avout living in the Concent of Saunt Edhar, a sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers, protected from the corrupting influences of the "Saecular" world by ancient stone, honored traditions, and complex rituals. Over the centuries, cities, and governments have risen and fallen beyond the concent's walls. Three times during history's darkest epochs, bloody violence born of superstition and ignorance has invaded and devastated the cloistered mathic community.
-
-
I love Neal, but Good lord... ugh!
- By SpiderGrrl on 10-08-19
By: Neal Stephenson
-
Elric of Melniboné
- Volume 1: Elric of Melnibone, The Fortress of the Pearl, The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, and The Weird of the White Wolf
- By: Michael Moorcock, Neil Gaiman
- Narrated by: Samuel Roukin
- Length: 24 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michael Moorcock began chronicling the adventures of the albino sorcerer Elric, last king of decadent Melniboné, and his sentient vampiric sword, Stormbringer, he set out to create a new kind of fantasy adventure, one that broke with tradition and reflected a more up-to-date sophistication of theme and style. The result was a bold and unique hero: a rock-and-roll antihero who would channel all the violent excesses of the '60s into one enduring archetype.
-
-
Skip the first chapter, it's not Moorcock.
- By Ted C. on 02-17-22
By: Michael Moorcock, and others
-
On Blue’s Waters
- Book of the Short Sun, Book 1
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On Blue's Waters is the start of a new work by Gene Wolfe which takes place in the years after Wolfe's four-volume Book of the Long Sun. Horn, the narrator of the earlier work, now tells his own story. Though life is hard on the newly settled planet of Blue, Horn and his family have made a decent life for themselves. But Horn is the only one who can locate the great leader Silk and convince him to return to Blue and lead them all to prosperity. So Horn sets sail in a small boat, on a long and difficult quest across the planet Blue in search of the now legendary Patera Silk.
-
-
Amazing!
- By Janet & Greg Carter on 12-12-22
By: Gene Wolfe
-
The Knight
- The Wizard Knight Series, Book One
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Dan Bittner
- Length: 16 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A young man in his teens is transported from our world to a magical realm that contains seven levels of reality. Very quickly transformed by magic into a grown man of heroic proportions, he takes the name Able and sets out on a quest to find the sword that has been promised to him, a sword he will get from a dragon, the one very special blade that will help him fulfill his life ambition to become a knight and a true hero. Inside, however, Able remains a boy, and he must grow in every sense to survive the dangers and delights that lie ahead in encounters with giants, elves, and wizards.
-
-
Confusing as hell.
- By Zachary on 09-26-18
By: Gene Wolfe
-
Soldier of the Mist
- Latro, Book 1
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Gregory Connors
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first volume of Gene Wolfe's powerful story of Latro, a Roman mercenary who received a head injury that deprived him of his short-term memory. In return it gave him the ability to converse with supernatural creatures, gods, and goddesses who invisibly inhabit the ancient landscape.
-
-
Read Gates of Fire first for context
- By Amazon Customer on 07-17-22
By: Gene Wolfe
-
Litany of the Long Sun
- Book of the Long Sun, Books 1 and 2
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Litany of the Long Sun contains the full texts of Nightside the Long Sun and Lake of the Long Sun that together make up the first half of The Book of the Long Sun. This great work is set on a huge generation starship in the same future as the classic Book of the New Sun (also available in two volumes from Orb).
-
-
Utterly brilliant in it’s tedium
- By John on 04-14-22
By: Gene Wolfe
-
Anathem
- By: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman, Tavia Gilbert, William Dufris, and others
- Length: 32 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fraa Erasmus is a young avout living in the Concent of Saunt Edhar, a sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers, protected from the corrupting influences of the "Saecular" world by ancient stone, honored traditions, and complex rituals. Over the centuries, cities, and governments have risen and fallen beyond the concent's walls. Three times during history's darkest epochs, bloody violence born of superstition and ignorance has invaded and devastated the cloistered mathic community.
-
-
I love Neal, but Good lord... ugh!
- By SpiderGrrl on 10-08-19
By: Neal Stephenson
-
Elric of Melniboné
- Volume 1: Elric of Melnibone, The Fortress of the Pearl, The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, and The Weird of the White Wolf
- By: Michael Moorcock, Neil Gaiman
- Narrated by: Samuel Roukin
- Length: 24 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michael Moorcock began chronicling the adventures of the albino sorcerer Elric, last king of decadent Melniboné, and his sentient vampiric sword, Stormbringer, he set out to create a new kind of fantasy adventure, one that broke with tradition and reflected a more up-to-date sophistication of theme and style. The result was a bold and unique hero: a rock-and-roll antihero who would channel all the violent excesses of the '60s into one enduring archetype.
-
-
Skip the first chapter, it's not Moorcock.
- By Ted C. on 02-17-22
By: Michael Moorcock, and others
-
On Blue’s Waters
- Book of the Short Sun, Book 1
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On Blue's Waters is the start of a new work by Gene Wolfe which takes place in the years after Wolfe's four-volume Book of the Long Sun. Horn, the narrator of the earlier work, now tells his own story. Though life is hard on the newly settled planet of Blue, Horn and his family have made a decent life for themselves. But Horn is the only one who can locate the great leader Silk and convince him to return to Blue and lead them all to prosperity. So Horn sets sail in a small boat, on a long and difficult quest across the planet Blue in search of the now legendary Patera Silk.
-
-
Amazing!
- By Janet & Greg Carter on 12-12-22
By: Gene Wolfe
-
The Knight
- The Wizard Knight Series, Book One
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Dan Bittner
- Length: 16 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A young man in his teens is transported from our world to a magical realm that contains seven levels of reality. Very quickly transformed by magic into a grown man of heroic proportions, he takes the name Able and sets out on a quest to find the sword that has been promised to him, a sword he will get from a dragon, the one very special blade that will help him fulfill his life ambition to become a knight and a true hero. Inside, however, Able remains a boy, and he must grow in every sense to survive the dangers and delights that lie ahead in encounters with giants, elves, and wizards.
-
-
Confusing as hell.
- By Zachary on 09-26-18
By: Gene Wolfe
-
Soldier of the Mist
- Latro, Book 1
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Gregory Connors
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first volume of Gene Wolfe's powerful story of Latro, a Roman mercenary who received a head injury that deprived him of his short-term memory. In return it gave him the ability to converse with supernatural creatures, gods, and goddesses who invisibly inhabit the ancient landscape.
-
-
Read Gates of Fire first for context
- By Amazon Customer on 07-17-22
By: Gene Wolfe
-
The Dying Earth
- Tales of the Dying Earth, Book 1
- By: Jack Vance
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The stories in The Dying Earth introduce dozens of seekers of wisom and beauty, lovely lost women, wizards of every shade of eccentricity with their runic amulets and spells. We meet the melancholy deodands, who feed on human flesh and the twk-men, who ride dragonflies and trade information for salt. There are monsters and demons. Each being is morally ambiguous: The evil are charming, the good are dangerous. All are at home.
-
-
A Decadent and Hopeful Dying Earth
- By Jefferson on 06-27-10
By: Jack Vance
-
The Black Company
- Chronicles of The Black Company, Book 1
- By: Glen Cook
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some feel the Lady, newly risen from centuries in thrall, stands between humankind and evil. Some feel she is evil itself. The hardbitten men of the Black Company take their pay and do what they must, burying their doubts with their dead - until the prophesy: The White Rose has been reborn, somewhere, to embody good once more. There must be a way for the Black Company to find her....
-
-
Hard Boiled Morally Ambiguous Epic Fantasy
- By Jefferson on 03-18-11
By: Glen Cook
-
A Canticle for Leibowitz
- By: Walter M. Miller Jr.
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winner of the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel and widely considered one of the most accomplished, powerful, and enduring classics of modern speculative fiction, Walter M. Miller’s A Canticle for Leibowitz is a true landmark of 20th-century literature—a chilling and still-provocative look at a postapocalyptic future.
-
-
Introibo Ad Altare
- By richard on 03-20-13
-
Empire of Silence
- By: Christopher Ruocchio
- Narrated by: Samuel Roukin
- Length: 26 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The galaxy remembers Hadrian Marlowe as a hero: the man who burned every last alien Cielcin from the sky. They remember him as a monster: the devil who destroyed a sun, casually annihilating four billion human lives - even the emperor himself - against Imperial orders. But Hadrian was not a hero. He was not a monster. He was not even a soldier. Fleeing his father and a future as a torturer, Hadrian finds himself stranded on a strange, backwater world.
-
-
A Slow start at best....then the story tapers off
- By paul nordquist on 08-21-19
-
Hyperion
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor, Allyson Johnson, Kevin Pariseau, and others
- Length: 20 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all.
-
-
The Shrike Awaits. Enter The Time Tombs...
- By Michael on 10-13-12
By: Dan Simmons
-
The Darkness That Comes Before
- The Prince of Nothing, Book One
- By: R. Scott Bakker
- Narrated by: David DeVries
- Length: 20 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a world scarred by an apocalyptic past, evoking a time both 2,000 years past and 2,000 years into the future, untold thousands gather for a crusade. Among them, two men and two women are ensnared by a mysterious traveler, Anasûrimbor Kellhus - part warrior, part philosopher, part sorcerous, charismatic presence - from lands long thought dead. The Darkness That Comes Before is a history of this great holy war, and like all histories, the survivors write its conclusion.
-
-
Finally in audiobook!
- By Andy on 06-28-12
By: R. Scott Bakker
-
Piranesi
- By: Susanna Clarke
- Narrated by: Chiwetel Ejiofor
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Piranesi lives in the House. Perhaps he always has. In his notebooks, day after day, he makes a clear and careful record of its wonders: the labyrinth of halls, the thousands upon thousands of statues, the tides that thunder up staircases, the clouds that move in slow procession through the upper halls. On Tuesdays and Fridays Piranesi sees his friend, the Other. At other times he brings tributes of food to the Dead. But mostly, he is alone.
-
-
Fascinating Social Study
- By Henry V on 02-26-21
By: Susanna Clarke
-
Swords and Deviltry
- The Adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
- By: Fritz Leiber
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Neil Gaiman (introduction)
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the ancient city of Lankhmar, two men forge a friendship in battle. The red-haired barbarian Fafhrd left the snowy reaches of Nehwon looking for a new life, while the Gray Mouser, apprentice magician, fled after finding his master dead. These bawdy brothers-in-arms cement a friendship that leads them through the wilds of Nehwon facing thieves, wizards, princesses, and the depths of their desires and fears.
-
-
Fafhrd/Gray Mouser
- By melody333 on 08-21-08
By: Fritz Leiber
-
Fool's Errand
- The Tawny Man Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Robin Hobb
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 25 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For fifteen years FitzChivalry Farseer has lived in self-imposed exile, assumed to be dead by almost all who once cared about him. But now, into his isolated life, visitors begin to arrive: Fitz's mentor from his assassin days; a hedge-witch who foresees the return of a long-lost love; and the Fool, the former White Prophet, who beckons Fitz to fulfill his destiny. Then comes the summons he cannot ignore. Prince Dutiful, the young heir to the Farseer throne, has vanished.
-
-
A solid fantasy story in first person
- By Kevin Stokes on 08-31-14
By: Robin Hobb
-
Way Station
- By: Clifford D. Simak
- Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this Hugo Award-winning classic, Enoch Wallace is an ageless hermit, striding across his untended farm as he had done for over a century, still carrying the gun with which he had served in the Civil War. But what his neighbors must never know is that, inside his unchanging house, he meets with a host of unimaginable friends from the farthest stars.
-
-
A very special novel that will inspire you.
- By Noe on 08-08-10
-
The Forgetting Moon
- By: Brian Lee Durfee
- Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
- Length: 30 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Welcome to the Five Isles, where war has come in the name of the invading army of Sor Sevier, a merciless host driven by the prophetic fervor of the Angel Prince, Aeros, toward the last unconquered kingdom of Gul Kana. Yet Gault, one of the elite Knights Archaic of Sor Sevier, is growing disillusioned by the crusade he is at the vanguard of just as it embarks on his Lord Aeros' greatest triumph. While the eldest son of the fallen king of Gul Kana now reigns in ever increasing paranoid isolationism, his two sisters seek their own paths.
-
-
alright-ish
- By Matthew on 05-10-19
By: Brian Lee Durfee
-
Children of Time
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: Mel Hudson
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Adrian Tchaikovksy's critically acclaimed stand-alone novel Children of Time is the epic story of humanity's battle for survival on a terraformed planet. Who will inherit this new Earth? The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age - a world terraformed and prepared for human life. But all is not right in this new Eden.
-
-
A very pleasant surprise
- By Simon on 06-17-17
Publisher's summary
The Sword of the Lictor is the third volume in Wolfe's remarkable epic, chronicling the odyssey of the wandering pilgrim called Severian, driven by a powerful and unfathomable destiny, as he carries out a dark mission far from his home.
More from the same
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Litany of the Long Sun
- Book of the Long Sun, Books 1 and 2
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Litany of the Long Sun contains the full texts of Nightside the Long Sun and Lake of the Long Sun that together make up the first half of The Book of the Long Sun. This great work is set on a huge generation starship in the same future as the classic Book of the New Sun (also available in two volumes from Orb).
-
-
Utterly brilliant in it’s tedium
- By John on 04-14-22
By: Gene Wolfe
-
On Blue’s Waters
- Book of the Short Sun, Book 1
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On Blue's Waters is the start of a new work by Gene Wolfe which takes place in the years after Wolfe's four-volume Book of the Long Sun. Horn, the narrator of the earlier work, now tells his own story. Though life is hard on the newly settled planet of Blue, Horn and his family have made a decent life for themselves. But Horn is the only one who can locate the great leader Silk and convince him to return to Blue and lead them all to prosperity. So Horn sets sail in a small boat, on a long and difficult quest across the planet Blue in search of the now legendary Patera Silk.
-
-
Amazing!
- By Janet & Greg Carter on 12-12-22
By: Gene Wolfe
-
Soldier of the Mist
- Latro, Book 1
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Gregory Connors
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first volume of Gene Wolfe's powerful story of Latro, a Roman mercenary who received a head injury that deprived him of his short-term memory. In return it gave him the ability to converse with supernatural creatures, gods, and goddesses who invisibly inhabit the ancient landscape.
-
-
Read Gates of Fire first for context
- By Amazon Customer on 07-17-22
By: Gene Wolfe
-
The Knight
- The Wizard Knight Series, Book One
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Dan Bittner
- Length: 16 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A young man in his teens is transported from our world to a magical realm that contains seven levels of reality. Very quickly transformed by magic into a grown man of heroic proportions, he takes the name Able and sets out on a quest to find the sword that has been promised to him, a sword he will get from a dragon, the one very special blade that will help him fulfill his life ambition to become a knight and a true hero. Inside, however, Able remains a boy, and he must grow in every sense to survive the dangers and delights that lie ahead in encounters with giants, elves, and wizards.
-
-
Confusing as hell.
- By Zachary on 09-26-18
By: Gene Wolfe
-
A Canticle for Leibowitz
- By: Walter M. Miller Jr.
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winner of the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel and widely considered one of the most accomplished, powerful, and enduring classics of modern speculative fiction, Walter M. Miller’s A Canticle for Leibowitz is a true landmark of 20th-century literature—a chilling and still-provocative look at a postapocalyptic future.
-
-
Introibo Ad Altare
- By richard on 03-20-13
-
Suldrun’s Garden
- Lyonesse: Book 1
- By: Jack Vance
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 18 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Elder Isles, located in what is now the Bay of Biscay off the coast of Old Gaul, are made up of 10 contending kingdoms, all vying with each other for control. At the centre of much of the intrigue is Casmir, the ruthless and ambitious king of Lyonnesse. His beautiful but otherworldly daughter, Suldrun, is part of his plans. He intends to cement an alliance or two by marrying her well. But Suldrun is as determined as he and defies him.
-
-
Not my cup of tea
- By Ann on 01-10-11
By: Jack Vance
-
Litany of the Long Sun
- Book of the Long Sun, Books 1 and 2
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 22 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Litany of the Long Sun contains the full texts of Nightside the Long Sun and Lake of the Long Sun that together make up the first half of The Book of the Long Sun. This great work is set on a huge generation starship in the same future as the classic Book of the New Sun (also available in two volumes from Orb).
-
-
Utterly brilliant in it’s tedium
- By John on 04-14-22
By: Gene Wolfe
-
On Blue’s Waters
- Book of the Short Sun, Book 1
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On Blue's Waters is the start of a new work by Gene Wolfe which takes place in the years after Wolfe's four-volume Book of the Long Sun. Horn, the narrator of the earlier work, now tells his own story. Though life is hard on the newly settled planet of Blue, Horn and his family have made a decent life for themselves. But Horn is the only one who can locate the great leader Silk and convince him to return to Blue and lead them all to prosperity. So Horn sets sail in a small boat, on a long and difficult quest across the planet Blue in search of the now legendary Patera Silk.
-
-
Amazing!
- By Janet & Greg Carter on 12-12-22
By: Gene Wolfe
-
Soldier of the Mist
- Latro, Book 1
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Gregory Connors
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first volume of Gene Wolfe's powerful story of Latro, a Roman mercenary who received a head injury that deprived him of his short-term memory. In return it gave him the ability to converse with supernatural creatures, gods, and goddesses who invisibly inhabit the ancient landscape.
-
-
Read Gates of Fire first for context
- By Amazon Customer on 07-17-22
By: Gene Wolfe
-
The Knight
- The Wizard Knight Series, Book One
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Dan Bittner
- Length: 16 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A young man in his teens is transported from our world to a magical realm that contains seven levels of reality. Very quickly transformed by magic into a grown man of heroic proportions, he takes the name Able and sets out on a quest to find the sword that has been promised to him, a sword he will get from a dragon, the one very special blade that will help him fulfill his life ambition to become a knight and a true hero. Inside, however, Able remains a boy, and he must grow in every sense to survive the dangers and delights that lie ahead in encounters with giants, elves, and wizards.
-
-
Confusing as hell.
- By Zachary on 09-26-18
By: Gene Wolfe
-
A Canticle for Leibowitz
- By: Walter M. Miller Jr.
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winner of the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel and widely considered one of the most accomplished, powerful, and enduring classics of modern speculative fiction, Walter M. Miller’s A Canticle for Leibowitz is a true landmark of 20th-century literature—a chilling and still-provocative look at a postapocalyptic future.
-
-
Introibo Ad Altare
- By richard on 03-20-13
-
Suldrun’s Garden
- Lyonesse: Book 1
- By: Jack Vance
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 18 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Elder Isles, located in what is now the Bay of Biscay off the coast of Old Gaul, are made up of 10 contending kingdoms, all vying with each other for control. At the centre of much of the intrigue is Casmir, the ruthless and ambitious king of Lyonnesse. His beautiful but otherworldly daughter, Suldrun, is part of his plans. He intends to cement an alliance or two by marrying her well. But Suldrun is as determined as he and defies him.
-
-
Not my cup of tea
- By Ann on 01-10-11
By: Jack Vance
-
The Dying Earth
- Tales of the Dying Earth, Book 1
- By: Jack Vance
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The stories in The Dying Earth introduce dozens of seekers of wisom and beauty, lovely lost women, wizards of every shade of eccentricity with their runic amulets and spells. We meet the melancholy deodands, who feed on human flesh and the twk-men, who ride dragonflies and trade information for salt. There are monsters and demons. Each being is morally ambiguous: The evil are charming, the good are dangerous. All are at home.
-
-
A Decadent and Hopeful Dying Earth
- By Jefferson on 06-27-10
By: Jack Vance
-
Swords and Deviltry
- The Adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
- By: Fritz Leiber
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Neil Gaiman (introduction)
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the ancient city of Lankhmar, two men forge a friendship in battle. The red-haired barbarian Fafhrd left the snowy reaches of Nehwon looking for a new life, while the Gray Mouser, apprentice magician, fled after finding his master dead. These bawdy brothers-in-arms cement a friendship that leads them through the wilds of Nehwon facing thieves, wizards, princesses, and the depths of their desires and fears.
-
-
Fafhrd/Gray Mouser
- By melody333 on 08-21-08
By: Fritz Leiber
-
The Wolfe at the Door
- By: Gene Wolfe
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The circus comes to town . . . and a man gets to go to the stars. A young girl on a vacation at the sea meets the man of her dreams. Who just happens to be dead. And an immortal pirate. A swordfighter pens his memoirs . . . and finds his pen is in fact mightier than the sword. Welcome to Gene Wolfe's playground, a place where genres blend, and a genius's imagination straps you in for the ride of your life. The Wolfe at the Door is a brand-new collection from one of America's premiere literary giants, showcasing some material been seen before
By: Gene Wolfe
-
The Riddle-Master of Hed
- Riddle-Master Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Patricia A. McKillip
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Long ago, the wizards had vanished from the world, and all knowledge was left hidden in riddles. Morgon, prince of the simple farmers of Hed, proved himself a master of such riddles when he staked his life to win a crown from the dead Lord of Aum.But now ancient, evil forces were threatening him. Shape changers began replacing friends until no man could be trusted. So Morgon was forced to flee to hostile kingdoms, seeking the High One who ruled from mysterious Erlenstar Mountain.Beside him went Deth, the High One's Harper. Ahead lay strange encounters and terrifying adventures.
-
-
Book 3 is better, but do start here
- By Skipper on 10-27-15
-
The Darkness That Comes Before
- The Prince of Nothing, Book One
- By: R. Scott Bakker
- Narrated by: David DeVries
- Length: 20 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a world scarred by an apocalyptic past, evoking a time both 2,000 years past and 2,000 years into the future, untold thousands gather for a crusade. Among them, two men and two women are ensnared by a mysterious traveler, Anasûrimbor Kellhus - part warrior, part philosopher, part sorcerous, charismatic presence - from lands long thought dead. The Darkness That Comes Before is a history of this great holy war, and like all histories, the survivors write its conclusion.
-
-
Finally in audiobook!
- By Andy on 06-28-12
By: R. Scott Bakker
-
Homeland
- Legend of Drizzt: Dark Elf Trilogy, Book 1
- By: R. A. Salvatore
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This stunning new release of the classic R.A. Salvatore novel recounts the origins of Salvatore's signature dark elf character, Drizzt Do'Urden. This title kicks off The Legend of Drizzt series, which will showcase the classic dark elf novels in these new audiobook editions.
-
-
Among the drow, all trust is foolish.
- By Pi on 04-26-13
By: R. A. Salvatore
-
Gateway
- By: Frederik Pohl
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman, Robert J. Sawyer
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When prospector Bob Broadhead went out to Gateway on the Heechee spacecraft, he decided he would know which was the right mission to make him his fortune. Three missions later, now famous and permanently rich, Robinette Broadhead has to face what happened to him and what he is...in a journey into himself as perilous and even more horrifying than the nightmare trip through the interstellar void that he drove himself to take!
-
-
A human-focused SF classic
- By Ryan on 12-05-13
By: Frederik Pohl
-
Titus Groan
- Volume 1 of the Gormenghast Trilogy
- By: Mervyn Peake
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 17 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Enter the fantastical world of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast Trilogy, one of the undisputed fantasy classics of all time. Novelist C.S. Lewis called Peake's books "actual additions to life; they give, like certain rare dreams, sensations we never had before, and enlarge our conception of the range of possible experience."
-
-
A great book ,no cliches, worth the effort
- By Zachariah on 08-17-09
By: Mervyn Peake
-
The Black Company
- Chronicles of The Black Company, Book 1
- By: Glen Cook
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Some feel the Lady, newly risen from centuries in thrall, stands between humankind and evil. Some feel she is evil itself. The hardbitten men of the Black Company take their pay and do what they must, burying their doubts with their dead - until the prophesy: The White Rose has been reborn, somewhere, to embody good once more. There must be a way for the Black Company to find her....
-
-
Hard Boiled Morally Ambiguous Epic Fantasy
- By Jefferson on 03-18-11
By: Glen Cook
-
The Stars My Destination
- By: Alfred Bester
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marooned in outer space after an attack on his ship, Nomad, Gulliver Foyle lives to obsessively pursue the crew of a rescue vessel that had intended to leave him to die.
-
-
STILL AMAZINGLY GOOD AFTER 62 YEARS
- By charles watkins on 02-19-18
By: Alfred Bester
-
Red Mars
- By: Kim Stanley Robinson
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 23 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel, Red Mars is the first book in Kim Stanley Robinson's best-selling trilogy. Red Mars is praised by scientists for its detailed visions of future technology. It is also hailed by authors and critics for its vivid characters and dramatic conflicts.
For centuries, the red planet has enticed the people of Earth. Now an international group of scientists has colonized Mars. Leaving Earth forever, these 100 people have traveled nine months to reach their new home. This is the remarkable story of the world they create - and the hidden power struggles of those who want to control it.
-
-
very long
- By Dana on 07-17-08
-
The Forgetting Moon
- By: Brian Lee Durfee
- Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
- Length: 30 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Welcome to the Five Isles, where war has come in the name of the invading army of Sor Sevier, a merciless host driven by the prophetic fervor of the Angel Prince, Aeros, toward the last unconquered kingdom of Gul Kana. Yet Gault, one of the elite Knights Archaic of Sor Sevier, is growing disillusioned by the crusade he is at the vanguard of just as it embarks on his Lord Aeros' greatest triumph. While the eldest son of the fallen king of Gul Kana now reigns in ever increasing paranoid isolationism, his two sisters seek their own paths.
-
-
alright-ish
- By Matthew on 05-10-19
By: Brian Lee Durfee
What listeners say about The Sword of the Lictor
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Darwin8u
- 01-13-13
Shone brilliant @ times, but muted in the middle
Not a usual Science Fantasy reader, I approached this The Book of the New Sun tetralogy with no slight hesitation, but it came highly recommended from a friend whose judgement I trust. I loved the first half (Shadow of the Torturer and the Claw of the Conciliator). The third book however just didn't do it for me. It was brilliant at times, but more muted in certain middle sections and occasionally it almost seemed phoned-in. I have enough faith in Wolfe and the reputation of this work to finish, but if I had started with book three, I might have given the rest of the series a pass.
Still, I think Wolfe brings more to genre writing than most SF/fantasy authors, so I probably need to cut him a little slack. My expectations after the first two novels was pretty high and I'm almost certainly judging him against über-high standards which he set with his earlier New Sun novels.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
18 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Katherine
- 09-28-10
Best plotless book ever.
Gene Wolfe???s The Sword of the Lictor essentially contains no plot, but it???s the best plotless book I???ve ever read. It???s one of the best books I???ve ever read, period. I loved every moment of it! This third installment of The Book of the New Sun continues Severian???s journey from apprentice in the torturers??? guild to Autarch. He doesn???t seem to be getting any closer to his exalted position (if anything, I???d say farther) and we???re no closer to understanding how he???s going to get there. But that???s totally fine. Unburdened by a need to be anywhere or to achieve any goals or deadlines, Severian wanders the earth almost aimlessly, and it???s this wandering that???s so fascinating. For a reader who???s only anxious for action and story progression, The Sword of the Lictor is not likely to work and, indeed, I usually get annoyed with authors who take too long to tell their stories. However, when I???m reading Gene Wolfe, it not only works ??? it is pure delight. For Wolfe???s old earth, set in a far future when the sun is dying (similar to Jack Vance???s Dying Earth), is full of wonder and amazement and he tells us all about it in his simple but elegant style... I wish I could be there with Severian as he climbs down the steep cliff overhung with a waterfall and embedded with the fossils of earth???s lost architecture, and explores the round metal building that we recognize (but he doesn???t) as a spaceship??? I???d love to tell you more and to discuss what it all means (there???s so much symbolism here), but then you???d miss the jaw-dropping, eye-widening, brain-expanding experience for yourself. I???ll just say that what Severian experiences on his journey perfectly captures the essence of excellent speculative fiction ??? it???s the reason I love SFF.
Nobody creates such a sense of wonder and amazement, such truly unique and bizarre ideas, and relates them in such a beautiful way as Gene Wolfe does. I want to spend a lot more time exploring his world.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Doug D. Eigsti
- 01-10-13
Become a Seeker for Truth and Penitence
This is a review of the four volume THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN (TBNS) by Gene Wolfe; which traces the coming of age of Severian, once a member of The Order of the Seekers for Truth and Penitence.
In printed form the earlier works of Gene Wolfe can be quite challenging and this is the quintessential Wolfe novel. The esoteric language employed forces your eyes to slow down and read with great care. So many of the words, while supposedly all authentic English words, are unfamiliar that looking up at least a handful of them is necessary to understand the text. As a result, the reader’s mind has time to explore Severian’s world as the protagonist himself is doing. The printed books are heavy in the hand and the weight of the pages fore and aft serve as constant reminders of what has come before, and what is yet to be.
The most telling observation I can give about the audio book is that it transforms a massive tome into a much more personal narrative. As an audio book TBNS takes on a less intimidating, much more intimate and even more friendly character. The inexorable pacing of the narrator, Jonathan Davis, does not permit pauses for reflection, or speculation, the story plows on, without pausing to try to pronounce a word, without going back to regain the flow of the plot after a difficult flashback. And it is just fine.
Jonathan Davis is a most excellent narrator for TBNS. His voice has a deep calming quality that is well suited to recounting Severian’s story. He gives each character their own individual voice. He gives a fine performance ranking this among my favorite audio books. I can recommend all four of the volumes of TBNS here on Audible without reservation.
Note: The short afterwards that are part of each of the four volumes are not included in the audio versions. They should be read to get the full effect intended by the author Gene Wolfe.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ryan
- 10-08-13
Severian on the road
This is the third book in Gene Wolfe's fantastical, literary-aspiring Book of the New Sun tetralogy, and I won't say much about the cycle in its entirety here (see my reviews of the others for that). While the first book had Severian getting acquainted with Urth and its ways, and the second involved him in various intrigues near the city of Nessus, this is the one where he finally makes it to his posting as jailer/executioner in the provincial city of Thrax. Not surprisingly, circumstances eventually compel him to move on to points further.
Compared to Shadow and Claw, this one is more of a road-tripping book, and thus is more episodic in structure. There’s not much going on that really advances the plot, unless you want to read it at an allegorical level, but I enjoyed getting a wider glimpse of the world, which, as you've no doubt figured out by now, is South America in the distant future. There's a cliffside city, an encounter with an old evil high in the mountains, and a strange fortress on a lakeside. Severian battles an Alzabo, one of the creepiest monsters I've come across in fiction in a while. And Wolfe does shed more light on the nature of characters and objects we've met already, such as Dorcas, the Claw, Agia, the Pelerines, the offworlders, and Doctor Talos and Baldanders. The science fiction elements of the story, always in the background, come more to the fore.
As before, most significant events are occasions for some philosophical musings from Wolfe, which might get to be tedious for some readers, though I found them interesting. There are thoughts on the meaning of justice, being human versus being animal, and the impossibility of finding utopia without surrendering what drives us to seek it. Wolfe even seems to comment on his own goals as an author.
“I fell to thinking about the worlds that circled [other] suns... At first I thought of green skies, blue grass, and all the rest of the childish exotica apt to inflict the mind that conceives of other than Urthly worlds. But, in time, I tired of those puerile ideas and began in their place to think of societies and ways of thought wholly different from our own... worlds where there was no currency but honor... worlds in which the long war between mankind and the beasts was pursued no more...”
Sometimes a third book in a fantasy series will derail my interest in continuing it, but I'm pleased to say that that wasn't the case here. Something about the writing feels less fragmentary and more self-assured, too. I've mentioned before that Jonathan Davis is a great audiobook narrator, but I'll say it again.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jefferson
- 10-29-12
The Sublime Failure to Grasp the Ungraspable
By the beginning of The Sword of the Lictor (1982), the third novel in Gene Wolfe's unique science fiction masterpiece, Dorcas and Severian have finally reached Thrax, City of Windowless Rooms, where Severian has become the "master of chains," the lictor of the Vincula, the prison shaft bored into the side of the mountain, along both sides of which the shackled prisoners await torture or death. By closing off unnecessary tunnels and diligently attending court sessions, Severian is doing his best to restore the honor he believes that his torturers' guild deserves, but Dorcas is unhappy. On their way to Thrax, they were equal lovers and friends, but now she is the paramour of the lictor. And Severian's tour with Dorcas of the Vincula has so traumatized her with the stench and misery of the prisoners that, despite her hydrophobia, she has repeatedly stood beneath the waterfall in the public baths in an attempt to cleanse her hair of the smell. Worse still, she has begun to remember who and how she was before she met Severian. Dorcas' depression and Severian's apparent helplessness to assuage it are devastating. There is more pain in The Sword of the Lictor, as in the sweet relationship between Severian and little Severian, a boy he later meets in the mountains.
But the novel is not all grief, being primarily his experience with the sublime. In writing his history, Severian recounts his encounters with various sublime phenomena, involving space, time, nature, artifacts, alien Others, or the divine. Numerous awe-inspiring, perception-changing, identity-threatening things impress Severian with beauty and scale: mountain peaks, oceans of air, mountain-sized statues, ancient cities buried in mountains, limitless depths of starry space. Severian also finds the sublime in small things, as when his contemplation of a black, luminous "claw" erases his mind into a higher state. And he meets beings and creatures from other worlds that appear terrifyingly monstrous or beautiful to human eyes.
In addition to dizzying Severian and opening him to beauty, the sublime orients him towards the ineffable: "the beauty of the sky and the mountainside were such that it seemed they colored all my musings, so that I felt I nearly grasped ungraspable things." And the wonderful and reassuring point is that even when he fails to gain "insight into immense realities," as he knows he must, he accepts his failure with "happy obedience" to something beyond his comprehension.
Severian also engages in plenty of stimulating philosophical speculations, as when he imagines different ways of living on different worlds or wonders whether the human-eating alzabo is moved by its own predatory instincts or by those of the people it has already consumed when it tries to eat their surviving family members, and whence comes instinct at all. And the novel has at least as many interesting characters, dramatic situations, and exciting or poignant scenes as Severian's first two books. And unlike them, it even ends with a comprehensible climax with a satisfying resolution.
As always, Jonathan Davis reads the audiobook version of the novel with great wit, sensitivity, and skill.
As Severian says, "the greatest adventures are those that act most strongly upon our minds" (even to the point of maddening us), and because his life-history is a great adventure, it is rewards working hard to read and understand and enjoy it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Radford
- 08-09-11
The best of the series
I just finished the 4th book and I would have to say that this one by far is the best of the series. There is plenty of action and if examined closely enough, you can see things starting to form. It's hard to go into detail without spoiling anything. However if you recall, in the first book it was a lot of history (yes I know this story is a history in itself but the book kind of dragged a little). In the second book, there was more meat to it and the second half of the second book moved things along quite readily. This book, while some make think it's a pointless wandering reunites some characters while setting the preface for the fourth book. If you've decided to continue this story, I don't think you will be disappointed with this book.
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
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nicole
- 10-28-16
Mundane
Would you try another book from Gene Wolfe and/or Jonathan Davis?
The story seems to have little plot structure from beginning to end and is not as griping as earlier and later books in the series.
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
-
Performance
-
Story
- daren
- 01-02-13
thick and powerful
Would you consider the audio edition of The Sword of the Lictor to be better than the print version?
absolutely better than print...gene wolffe is a master of imagery and depth...listening ensure nothing is missed and everything makes sense.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Sword of the Lictor?
the sheer convoluted poetry and descriptive abundance
What about Jonathan Davis’s performance did you like?
a beautiful and long range voice
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
if only i had the time
Any additional comments?
get it now
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
-
Performance
-
Story
- Steve L
- 08-07-12
If you've made it this far, keep reading
What did you love best about The Sword of the Lictor?
Wolfe's use of symbolism and language are among the best I have ever read. His books are not for the faint of heart. Although his main character is a headsman, the content is not why I caution casual readers to think twice. Wolfe is a master, and he doesn't slow down to let you in on any of his secrets. You HAVE to pay attention to each word.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Severian is a richly-penned antagonist. His idetic memory makes for some fun times and deeply philosophical rants. I think he would be a difficult character to put on the big screen because of it, but he shines in book form because we get to hear every word of his (and others') thoughts.
What does Jonathan Davis bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
The easy answer here is that he gives life to the words that the author has chosen. That could be meaningless drivel, except that Wolfe provides eloquent use of vocabulary that few others would dare to use. Each sentence is a finely crafted work of art. Davis has a mild, calm delivery which fits well with Severian's demeanor. I have always considered myself an "audio learner" and this is the first book which I absolutely had to hear to absorb.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I was too busy thinking to have much of an emotional reaction. His strength is in building a world and making the reader question his or her concept of memory, religion, violence, honor, etc., rather than invoking an emotional response.
Any additional comments?
Again--do not tread lightly. If you choose to read this book, you must listen closely to every word. I expect to re-read the whole series just to re-build the timeline in my head.
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
-
Performance
-
Story
- James M. Sklenar
- 10-08-17
Wandering about the countryside...& Stopping Here
The wordsmithing is most excellent. Also, the narrator does a stellar job. However, I felt that outside of the main character Severian, there is almost no depth of the characters. There was no one I really gave a damn about.... The plot just seemed to drone on aimlessly. Three books in I still have no idea if there was supposed to be a goal or purpose to Severian's journey. Ugh. This series reminds me of an Erickson epic without characters that are interesting or a plot you can get into.... Awards and kudos not withstanding, I couldn't get engaged with this book. I'm not wasting another Audible credit on the next one!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful