Discover Most Popular Audiobooks in Fiction, Historical Top Rated

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Title: Call to Juno

Subtitle: A Tale of Ancient Rome, Book 3

Author: Elisabeth Storrs

Narrator: Christina Traister

Format: Unabridged

Length: 17 hrs and 29 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-07-16

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 26 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

"An elegant, impeccably researched exploration of early Rome...Elisabeth Storrs weaves a wonderful tale!" - Kate Quinn, author of The Empress of Rome saga

Four unforgettable characters are tested during a war between Rome and Etruscan Veii.

Caecilia has long been torn between her birthplace of Rome and her adopted city of Veii. Yet faced with mounting danger to her husband, children, and Etruscan freedoms, will her call to destroy Rome succeed?

Pinna has clawed her way from prostitute to the concubine of the Roman general Camillus. Deeply in love, can she exert her own power to survive the threat of exposure by those who know her sordid past?

Semni, a servant, seeks forgiveness for a past betrayal. Will she redeem herself so she can marry the man she loves?

Marcus, a Roman tribune, is tormented by unrequited love for another soldier. Can he find strength to choose between his cousin Caecilia and his fidelity to Rome?

Who will overcome the treachery of mortals and gods?

Call to Juno is the third book in the Tales of Ancient Rome saga, which includes The Wedding Shroud and The Golden Dice.

Members Reviews:

Amazing story

I love this series. The characters really latched themselves in my heart. Cecilia is now one of my favourite heroines. You will be completely enthralled and enchanted by this story. This last book is gonna be one of those few books Ive read that have permeated my heart and mind and be hard for me to get over. You will completely fall in love with Vel Mastarna. I did. Beautiful book. Definitely a worthy read.

Tears.. real tears

I am in love with this entire series . I felt every emotion through each book right down to the very end. The narrator is superb and the story is just... great.

Ancient Rome is tragic for women

Tale of the tough role women had to endure in ancient Rome. All women had a life of sadness and fear no matter what social class they were born into.

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Title: The Attenbury Emeralds

Subtitle: A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery

Author: Jill Paton Walsh

Narrator: Edward Petherbridge

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-03-16

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

It was 1921 when Lord Peter Wimsey first encountered the Attenbury emeralds. The recovery of the magnificent gem in Lord Attenbury's most dazzling heirloom made headlines - and launched a shell-shocked young aristocrat on his career as a detective.

Now it is 1951. A happily married Lord Peter has just shared the secrets of that mystery with his wife, the detective novelist Harriet Vane. Then the new young Lord Attenbury - grandson of Lord Peter's first client - seeks his help again, this time to prove who owns the gigantic emerald that Wimsey last saw in 1921.

It will be the most intricate and challenging mystery he has ever faced....

Members Reviews:

True to characters if not to language and discretion.

I am usually wary of books/characters 'taken-on' by other writers after the author's death. However I believe this stays true to the characters Sayers created.

This is a good effort by Jill Paton Walsh but some modern language starts creeping in. More so I think than is justified even in the post war era in which it is set.

The increased use of mild bad language and more blatant talk adulterous affairs, drugs and prostitution somewhat spoils the 'safe' feel of Dorothy L Sayers' original books

But the. characters are kept to very faithfully. And do nothing that is unbelievable for what has already been written about them.

The reader is perfect and I believe he actually played Lord Peter in a number of screen adaptations of Sayer's later books.

A Jewel

This is my first audio book and the reason I took this version as well as the kindle version is the narration by Edward Petherbridge whose performance in the tv adaptations of Peter Wimsey cases I have greatly enjoyed , so it is a pleasure to hear his superb rendition of another tale , more please

Not Dorothy Sayers but Well Done Edward Petherbrid

Would you consider the audio edition of The Attenbury Emeralds to be better than the print version?

I didn't read the print version

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Reasonably appropriate end to the mystery. A few giant signs going along but a good effort

Which character as performed by Edward Petherbridge was your favourite?

Edward Petherbridge does a great Lord Peter. I think he gets the timbre correct so it feels right.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Obviously, there was a big moment.

Any additional comments?

Compared to the horrible woman who was commissioned to read the original books and who can neither pronounce any appropriately nor give any sense to the glories of the stories, Edward Petherbridge is great to listen to and does the best he can with a book which will never be as good as its progenitors. Why not just make up your own characters and start again dear author?

not Ian Carmichael and not Dorothy Sayers but

maybe I'm being unfair. Enjoyed it the more I listened. Just used to the "original".

Like the curate's egg.

As to be expected this was a very complicated plot but was well worth continuing with. Lovely to meet their children. Narration rather slow in places.

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Title: The Lancashire Witches

Author: William Harrison Ainsworth

Narrator: Stanley Green

Format: Unabridged

Length: 24 hrs and 30 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-26-16

Publisher: Audioliterature

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

"The Lancashire Witches" is a historical novel is based on the true story of the Pendle witches, who were executed in 1612 for causing harm by witchcraft. Ainsworth based his story largely on the official account of the Lancashire witch trials written by the clerk to the court, Thomas Potts, first published in 1613 under the title "The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster".

The trials took place not quite seven years after the Gunpowder Plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament in an attempt to kill King James and the Protestant aristocracy. It was alleged that the Pendle witches had hatched their own gunpowder plot to blow up Lancaster Castle, although historian Stephen Pumfrey has suggested that the "preposterous scheme" was invented by the examining magistrates.

©2016 Audioliterature (P)2016 Audioliterature

Members Reviews:

Lots of action, lots of suspense, lots of supernatural magic

The dialect is heavy but once you get into the book it feels completely natural. This tale was written by a Lancashire man not so very long after the incident and has an 'authentic retelling' aura. You really feel you know the landscape and culture of the Pendle Hill area - many of the locations and landmarks still exist. The typing is minuscule which makes it difficult to read - at least it seemed so to my poor old tired eyes - but it was so well written that once I got into the book I could hardly put it down. Lots of action, lots of suspense, lots of supernatural magic and no doubt some true history as well.

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Title: Barkskins

Author: Annie Proulx

Narrator: Robert Petkoff

Format: Unabridged

Length: 25 hrs and 57 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-16-16

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 18 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

From Annie Proulx, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Shipping News and Brokeback Mountain, comes her masterpiece, 10 years in the writing - an epic, dazzling, violent, magnificently dramatic novel about taming the wilderness and destroying the forest, set over three centuries.

In the late 17th century, two illiterate woodsmen, Rene Sel and Charles Duquet, make their way from Northern France to New France to seek a living. Bound to a feudal lord, a seigneur, for three years in exchange for land, they suffer extraordinary hardship, always in awe of the forest they are charged with clearing, sometimes brimming with dreams of its commercial potential.

Rene marries an Indian healer, and they have children, mixing the blood of two cultures. Duquet travels the globe and back, starting a logging company that will prosper for generations.

Proulx tells the stories of the children, grandchildren, and descendants of these two lineages, the Sels and the Duquets, as well as the descendants of their allies and foes, as they travel back to Europe, to China, to New England, always in quest of a livelihood or a fortune or fleeing stunningly brutal conditions - accidents, pestilence, Indian attacks, the revenge of rivals.

In this feat of astonishing imagination, Proulx's inimitable genius is her creation of characters who are so vivid - in their greed, lust, vengefulness, sorrow, compassion, and hope - that we follow them with fierce attention. Annie Proulx is one of the most formidable writers of our time, and Barkskins is the story she has been writing all her life: a magnificent American novel.

Critic Reviews:

Praise for Annie Proulx: "One of the greatest American writers." (Independent)

"A sublimely good writer." (Daily Telegraph)

"It is hard to think of any living writer who deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Dickens, with the exception of Proulx." (New Statesman)

"Proulx's prose is monumental." (Observer)

"Like a mystic seeing the transfigured universe, she recreates the beauty of ordinary things." (Independent on Sunday)

"Ms. Proulx writes with all the brutal beauty of one of her Wyoming snowstorms." (Wall Street Journal)

"Annie Proulx is a true original. She has a shrewd understanding of people, a strong feeling for landscape and a wry sense of humour rather like Mark Twain's." (Los Angeles Times)

"Artful, eloquent, wondrous." (Boston Globe)

Members Reviews:

Proulx is brilliant as always.

An absolutely stunning novel. Proulx could not do more to show us how white colonialism has stolen and then destroyed everything it touched in the name of progress.

A real tour de force

The summary of this book did not appeal but, having just listened to 'The Shipping News' and loved it, I thought I would try my second Annie Proulx. Very glad I did. A fascinating book, beautifully written and well read. I felt it tailed off slightly at the end and became a little preachy, but that is a minor criticism of a long and enthralling novel. I think listening to the audiobook was a good move for me as I tend to struggle with difficult/unfamiliar names. I suspect the written version would be more of a challenge.

Very detailed story, but couldn't finish

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Maybe.

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Title: Lustrum (Cicero 2)

Author: Robert Harris

Narrator: Jakob Sveistrup

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 36 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-02-16

Publisher: Lindhardt og Ringhof

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Stedet er Rom og tiden er r 63 f.Kr. Syv maend kaemper om magten i republikken: Cicero er konsul, Caesar hans ubarmhjertige unge rival, Pompey er republikkens maegtigste general, Crassus dens rigeste mand, Cato er politisk fanatiker, Catilina psykopaten og Clodius en ambitis playboy.

Historierne om disse virkelige historiske figurer - deres alliancer og forraederi, deres grusomheder og forfrelser, deres storslethed og deres forbrydelser - det hele flettes sammen i denne farverige roman. Fortaelleren er Tiro, som er Ciceros betroede sekretaer, og han kender alle sin herres hemmeligheder, noget der bringer ham i en vanskelig og til tider livsfarlig position. Beskrivelser af bl.a. fundet af et lemlaestet barnelig, henrettelser, en skandals retssag og den romerske mafias haergen gr Lustrum til et fascinerende studium af magtens anatomi, dens evigt tillokkende karakter og dens enorme raedsler.

Lustrum er andet bind i en trilogi, hvor frste bind Imperium udkom i 06 (L&R). Forfatteren har ogs udgivet Pompeji og Skyggen (L&R).

©2016 Lindhardt og Ringhof. Translated by Erik Barfoed (P)2016 Lindhardt og Ringhof

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Title: L.A. Woman

Author: Eve Babitz

Narrator: Mia Barron

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-16-16

Publisher: Recorded Books

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Eve Babitz is a writer like no other - she "is to prose what Chet Baker is to jazz" (Vanity Fair) - and she has influenced a generation of writers, readers, and listeners with her sophisticated, witty, and delightful work. L.A. Woman is quintessential Babitz, the story of Sophie, a 20-something blonde Jim Morrison groupie gliding through a golden existence in L.A.; and Lola, a German immigrant who settles in Hollywood in the '20s to drive Pierce Arrows recklessly down Sunset Boulevard and who knows that Maybelline mascara cakes and that Rudolph Valentino is the essence of life. Sophie and Lola, like the many other women who move in and out of this electric saga, know that while L.A. is constantly changing, it is essentially eternal; through their eyes we see the mixture of high culture and low, the promises of youth and the fulfillment of nostalgia, the pink sunsets and the palm trees. And through this fantastic tale, Babitz shares what it is to be a woman in what she convinces us is the capital of civilization.

Members Reviews:

Fiction that is True

An ultimate free spirited girl of the 60s growing up in LA. While her books are generally unknown now, I read the article about her in Vanity Fair and was quite fascinated. Her fiction is really stories of her life and her friends. This particular book has characters of her parents relatives and friends but also a character of her. While I have no idea who the earlier characters are like the famous female movie star, I'm sure those with more knowledge can easily identify this person.

It's not earth shattering and as a Kindle reader, I doubt I will read more in regular book form. But I would like to. Great stories of LA in a fascinating time when it was the place to be in the world.

I loved the older Hollywood references and totally knew where everything ...

I lived where the character did, only in more recent times. I loved the older Hollywood references and totally knew where everything happened. Reminiscent of Valley of the Dolls if you like those books, which I do.

This isn't my favorite of Eve's work

This isn't my favorite of Eve's work, but I really enjoyed her stylings too much to notice that many of the places, people, and set pieces of the novel are familiar from the rest of her work.

EVE BABITZ AGAIN TELLS IT LIKE IT IS

Eve Babitz is a wonderfully fresh writer who can only be compared to Charles Bukowski Both of them describe Los Angeles, and particularly

Hollywood (where she and I grew up blocks from each other though I never met her). As far as I am concerned, the best view of Hollywood

is the rear view mirror of your car, as I discovered escaping to San Francisco. But no one, including me, has written such good descriptions

of my home town as Babitz and Bukowski.

Lee Hopkins

Five Stars

like her writing a lot.

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Title: Genesis

Subtitle: Idolatry, Book 1

Author: Quent Cordair

Narrator: Robin Field

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 11 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-12-16

Publisher: Cordair Inc.

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 17 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

In the twilight of the Roman Empire, a sculptor struggles to keep an 800-year dream alive while honoring the love of his life and raising his adopted son. Part I of the epic five-part Idolatry series, the story of a wealthy young heir and a devout Christian girl who find themselves at the heart of a 2,400-year struggle for the soul of Western Civilization.

©2014 Quent Cordair (P)2016 Quent Cordair

Critic Reviews:

"Beautifully written, on the order of Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth, with the historical insight of James Michener, it brings to life a time of great thought, great art, and its clash with religious fanaticism. Cordair writes with a poet's sense of scene and nuance and gives us a great deal of insight into the mind of a sculptor." (Alan Nitikman)

Members Reviews:

I listened to it twice in a row

Would you consider the audio edition of Genesis to be better than the print version?

Yes, the narrator was very clear and used good voices for different characters.

What other book might you compare Genesis to and why?

I like how his characters seem like real people who we get to listen to think through events and care about things. Other books like this include Harry Potter and Les Miserables.

What does Robin Field bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book?

He has a clear, good voice, and the way he pronounces all the words when describing physical settings helps me get more out of the writing than if I skimmed it with my eyes because I can let my mind draw up the settings.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes! It was short enough that I even listened to it twice in a row.

Any additional comments?

Another great story by Quent Cordair! He's one modern author it's worth reading everything by. Idolatry has relatable yet heroic characters driving an interesting plot in a well-researched and well-drawn historical setting, and it dramatizes the competing ideologies of Aristotelianism, Platonism, and Christianity. I love his descriptions of the characters' observations and thought processes. Quent Cordair's characters are individuals who think and care about the world, not just pawns necessary to enact events. I look forward to Books 2-5.

Food for the soul

Love this book, can't wait for the next book. Great characters, delightful heroism and story telling.

Great book, great narration

What made the experience of listening to Genesis the most enjoyable?

Mr. Field's voice is a pleasure to listen to. He changed his voice for a few characters, in appropriate spots, for clarity and they weren't overdone. (This can be a problem with some narrators.)

The story was excellent and had me eager for Book 2 to be done!

Excellent Audiobook

I had previously read the book, which I throughly enjoyed. This review is focused on the audiobook version. I loved the narration. Knowing the story did not spoil the experience one bit.

Think about sitting next to a fire-pit in the night and being told a story by an elder about a time in the past, but a story with an underlying philosophy that permeates time and place. The story is placed in Ancient Rome, but it might as well be Syria today.

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Title: The Wreck of the Ten Sail

Subtitle: Tides of Fortune, Book 2

Author: Steven Becker

Narrator: Richard Rosser

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-06-16

Publisher: The White Marlin Press

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Blown off course by a storm, Nick and the handful of men remaining from Gasparilla's crew find themselves and their fortune in dire straights in the Cayman Islands. Double crossed by the island's governor, Nick must find a way to keep the crew together, rescue Rory, and recover the confiscated treasure. When a local reveals a clue to a fortune hidden in one of the ships lost in The Wreck of the Ten Sails, Nick and the crew fight the dangers of primitive diving to salvage the treasure, save Rory, and cast off the pirate mantle.

Members Reviews:

Start it early as you will not want to put it down till the end!

I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, and I found it to be an excellent installment on the adventures of young Nick and his motley crew. I felt that this installment was a little tighter than the previous ones, in that the continuing character development never intruded on the plot, and the action was much smoother. Ten Sail has it all. Love, Betrayal, Treasure, and Revenge, and as in the previous installments, the ending leaves the reader wondering which available path Steven will lead us down next with young Nick. Thoroughly enjoyable read and as you can see by the - Verified Purchase - I like Steven's books well enough to buy a copy in support of his writing after receiving my free advance copy.

Keep them coming

I received this book for agreeing to write an objective review. I found this to be an excellent continuation of a very good story of the period in history when pirates roamed the islands of the Caribbean. The characters are well developed and interesting. I read the series from the beginning and somewhere I must have missed a book. Having done considerable diving in the Caymans it was intriguing to read about primitive dive efforts. The details of this were decent and not too technical for the average reader. It would have been tempting to upgrade the knowledge base and the author resisted. I look forward to future installments in the series.

Four Stars

easy read. buzzed through it. enjoyable book

Four Stars

Good read

Another Great Adventure!

Another fantastic pirate adventure by Steven Decker. Provides for a brief escape from the real world. Well written and hard to put down. Well developed characters and a very well researched plot. Cliffhanger ending exists. Highly recommended book and author.

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. Also purchased a copy to support the author's future writing.

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Title: Julian Fellowes's Belgravia, Episode 3

Subtitle: Family Ties

Author: Julian Fellowes

Narrator: Juliet Stevenson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 8 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-21-16

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 65 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

On the eve of the Battle of Waterloo, two families meet at the duchess of Richmond's ball. From this moment on, their stories will be linked by a secret.

Julian Fellowes's Belgravia is a story in 11 episodes published week by week in the tradition of Charles Dickens.

Belgravia is the story of a secret. A secret that unravels behind the porticoed doors of London's grandest postcode. The story behind the secret will be revealed in weekly bite-sized installments complete with twists and turns and cliff-hanger endings.

Set in the 1840s, when the upper echelons of society began to rub shoulders with the emerging industrial nouveau riche, Belgravia is peopled by a rich cast of characters. But the story begins on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. At the duchess of Richmond's now legendary ball, one family's life will change forever....

Members Reviews:

O.M.G. I did not - yet again - expect this twist..

Would you consider the audio edition of Julian Fellowes's Belgravia, Episode 3 to be better than the print version?

Yes! Juliet Stevenson does such a great job at creating befitting voices for each of the characters.Had I read it on my own I don't think I could have enjoyed it as much as I have the audiobook.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Still Anne--she is strong and levelheaded.

What about Juliet Stevensons performance did you like?

Everything! She is so gifted at carrying the story in a fluid and entertaining manner--so talented!

Who was the most memorable character of Julian Fellowes's Belgravia, Episode 3 and why?

Ann. She is truly a rock.

Any additional comments?

I have not watched Downtown Abby, but I do enjoy a good period piece and pieces exploring social situations This series definitely satisfying on both accounts.

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Title: Precious Things

Author: Kelly Doust

Narrator: Mel Hudson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-25-16

Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

In the tradition of gloriously absorbing, lush and moving women's fiction by authors such as Kate Morton, Lucinda Riley and Joanne Harris comes Precious Things.

Normandy, France, 1891: a young woman painstakingly sews an intricate beaded collar to her wedding dress, the night before her marriage to someone she barely knows. Yet Aimee longs for so much more....

Shanghai, 1926: dancing sensation and wild child Zephyr spies what looks like a beaded headpiece lying carelessly discarded on a ballroom floor. She takes it with her to Malaya where she sets her sights on a prize so out of reach that, in striving for it, she will jeopardise everything she holds dear....

Precious Things tells the story of a collar - a wonderful, glittering beaded piece - and its journey through the decades. It's also the story of Maggie, an auctioneer living in modern-day London, who comes across the crumpled, neglected collar in a box of old junk, and sets out on an unexpected mission to discover more about its secret and elusive past.

Maggie has a journey of her own too. Juggling a demanding job, a clingy young child and a rebellious stepdaughter, and with her once-solid marriage foundering under the pressure of a busy life, Maggie has to find out the hard way that you can't always get what you want...but sometimes, you're lucky enough to get precisely what you need.

This is a wonderful, absorbing and moving novel about desire, marriage and family, telling the story about how we so often reach out for the sparkly, shiny things (and people) we desire, only to realise - in the nick of time - that the most precious things are the ones we've had with us all along.

Members Reviews:

A lovely read

I really enjoyed this story. I could relate to the main character Maggie and loved listening to the stories of the women who had owned the coronet in the past and how it had affected them.