
The Shadow of the Torturer
The Book of the New Sun, Book 1
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Narrated by:
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Jonathan Davis
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By:
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Gene Wolfe
About this listen
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Finally in audiobook!
- By Andy on 06-28-12
By: R. Scott Bakker
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Legacy
- A Prequel to Eon
- By: Greg Bear
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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In this prequel to Eon, Greg Bear continues to explore the possibilities presented by the asteroid Thistledown, a remnant of a lost human civilization. The Way is a tunnel through space and time that leads to other worlds, some more like planet Earth than Earth itself. It is perhaps the most formidable discovery in Thistledown and with it come disputes as to the nature of the Way and how it should be used. The Way can be reached only through Axis City, the only space station of Thistledown.
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Barely related to Eon and Eternity
- By David A. Kingston on 02-21-15
By: Greg Bear
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Dark Theory
- By: Wick Welker
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Phillips
- Length: 23 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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On the fringe of a broken civilization, a robot awakens with no memories and only one directive: find his creator. But in the village of Korthe, Beetro finds only radioactive pestilence, famine, and Miree—a tormented thief with dreams of retiring after her final score.
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Entertaining Sci-Fantasy
- By Lucia on 09-03-23
By: Wick Welker
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The Empyrean
- By: Katherine Franklin
- Narrated by: James Alper
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Palia’s emotions are in turmoil. After watching her son succumb to Empyrean fire, she barely escapes the same fate. Guilt-ridden and alone, she will not stop until his killer is brought to justice. The Protectorate forbids Ferrash to have emotions. That suits him, since he cannot avoid the people who control the Empyrean. Making this sacrifice prevents them from hijacking his feelings and using them as a weapon against him. When Ferrash spots Palia’s ship venting atmosphere, he is forced to save her.
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I'm so in love with Bek.
- By MaMcBeth on 01-27-23
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Blindsight
- By: Peter Watts
- Narrated by: T. Ryder Smith
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Set in 2082, Peter Watts' Blindsight is fast-moving, hard SF that pulls readers into a futuristic world where a mind-bending alien encounter is about to unfold. After the Firefall, all eyes are locked heavenward as a team of specialists aboard the self-piloted spaceship Theseus hurtles outbound to intercept an unknown intelligence.
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Gothic Horror Hard Science Fiction
- By Doug D. Eigsti on 06-24-15
By: Peter Watts
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Dominion
- A Coldfire Novella
- By: C. S. Friedman
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 2 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Four hundred years after mankind's arrival on Erna, the undead sorcerer Gerald Tarrant travels north in search of a legend. For it is rumored there is a forest where the fae has become so powerful that it devours all who enter it, and he means to test its power.
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It is what it is
- By MrBoobo on 06-11-12
By: C. S. Friedman
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A Canticle for Leibowitz
- By: Walter M. Miller Jr.
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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Introibo Ad Altare
- By richard on 03-20-13
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Permutation City
- By: Greg Egan
- Narrated by: Adam Epstein
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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The good news is that you have just awakened into Eternal Life. You are going to live forever. Immortality is a reality. A medical miracle? Not exactly. The bad news is that you are a scrap of electronic code. The world you see around you, the you that is seeing it, has been digitized, scanned, and downloaded into a virtual reality program. You are a Copy that knows it is a copy. The good news is that there is a way out.
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Amazing book. Amazingly bad narrator.
- By Treasure on 01-28-15
By: Greg Egan
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Titus Groan
- Volume 1 of the Gormenghast Trilogy
- By: Mervyn Peake
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 17 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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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."
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A great book ,no cliches, worth the effort
- By Zachariah on 08-17-09
By: Mervyn Peake
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The Night Land
- A Love Tale
- By: William Hope Hodgson
- Narrated by: Drew Ariana
- Length: 18 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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In the far future, an unnamed narrator, who along with what remains of the human race dwells uneasily in an underground fortress-city surrounded by brooding, chaotic, relentless Watching Things, Silent Ones, Hounds, Giants, "Ab-humans," Brutes, and enormous slugs and spiders, follows a telepathic distress signal into the unfathomable darkness. The Earth's surface is frozen....
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Tough read, but rewarding
- By Anon on 02-04-14
Original, Difficult and Well-Crafted.
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If you need constant action, hope, a quest, a hero with a purpose, and so on, this is not the book for you. There isn't even the hope of redemption for the protagonist and he really could use it. The story really is something quite dark and often times aimless.
Now, I completely enjoyed the book and found myself easily lost in the story. I don't doubt it is due a good deal to the excellent narration. The random wandering, discoveries, and encounters keep the story moving along and interesting. It is a very dream-like tale.
The only issue I had was that the author does ramble more than once, even to the point of being annoying in a few instances. Once during the book, I did sigh and think, "Can we get on with it?" However, this did not spoil my overall enjoyment.
In short, it's a great story if you can appreciate a great setting where hope isn't offered as the protagonist wanders aimlessly into exile.
Not for everyone, but I enjoyed it.
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A must for anyone interested in classic SF or simply good writing. Audible Frontiers, more Gene Wolfe, please!
Classic SF literature; excellent reading
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As other readers have stated, you really have to pay attention to this book. There's so much in the story that it's easy to miss something. For me there isn't much action to it, I personally like action. There is a small twist in it that you can figure out. IMHO, the story moves slow and it feels like it's going to be a long story.
There's a conclusion to the first part of the journey (as I'm calling it) but it left me feeling unsatisfied. I'm almost thinking the first and second book should have been put together (based on what I've listened to thus far). The writing style is good and I am curious about how Severian "completes" his journey which is why I'm continuing the series.
The narrator does a good job and based on what I'm hearing the narration seems to fit Severian's personality.
In summary, this book by itself moves very slow and save for one "duel", is not very action orientated. If your personal taste is detail and some mystery then this may very well suit your style. Don't get me wrong I'm not against detail but I need something more with it. If they had half ratings, I would probably give this a 3.5.
Interesting but not captivating
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What really helped was listening to a podcast discussing both the book/series and Gene Wolfe's work. Alzabo Soup was the podcast with Phil and Metz. They go chapter by chapter is breaking down and discussing what is happening. It's incredible. I have a huge appreciation for their work and Gene Wolfe after taking this approach.
Give It a Second Try with Podcast
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One of best sci fi/fantasy of all time
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Brilliant but difficult
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All that being said, this is an excellent and genre defining piece of fantasy that will not disappoint, and an excellent place to start your journey into the world laid out before you by Wolfe.
A Great Read For Those Ready For Fantasy
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Interesting story, bad audio quality.
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Completely unique
Great prose
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