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The Wolf and the Woodsman
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
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The Wolf and the Woodsman
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Summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
A dark, evocative and unforgettable fantasy debut steeped in Hungarian history and Jewish mythology, perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and Katherine Arden.
Stories don't have to be true to be real....
In her forest-veiled pagan village, Évike is the only woman without power, making her an outcast clearly abandoned by the gods. When soldiers arrive from the Holy Order of Woodsmen to claim a pagan girl for the king's blood sacrifice, Évike is betrayed by her fellow villagers and surrendered.
But when monsters attack the woodsmen and their captive en route, slaughtering everyone but Évike and the cold, one-eyed captain, they have no choice but to rely on each other. Except he's no ordinary woodsman - he's the disgraced prince, Gáspár Bárány, whose father needs pagan magic to consolidate his power. Gáspár fears that his cruelly zealous brother plans to seize the throne and instigate a violent reign that would damn the pagans and the Yehuli alike. As the son of a reviled foreign queen, Gáspár understands what it's like to be an outcast, and he and Évike make a tenuous pact to stop his brother.
As their mission takes them from the bitter northern tundra to the smog-choked capital, their mutual loathing slowly turns to affection, bound by a shared history of alienation and oppression. However, trust can easily turn to betrayal, and as Évike reconnects with her estranged father and discovers her own hidden magic, she and Gáspár need to decide whose side they're on, and what they're willing to give up for a nation that never cared for them at all.
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Critic reviews
"Rooted in history and myth, The Wolf and the Woodsman is a stunning debut.... It will twine like a dark forest around your heart." (Samantha Shannon, Sunday Times best-selling author of The Priory of the Orange Tree)
"Gorgeously written and grimly real, The Wolf and the Woodsman quite literally took my breath away. It has the unsettling but compelling gore of Henderson's The Year of the Witching, the folkloric lilt of The Bear and the Nightingale, and the moral complexity of Seeing Like a State. I'm obsessed." (Alex E. Harrow, Hugo-award winning author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January)
"Assured and compelling throughout, and the worldbuilding is richly imagined, densely textured and endlessly delightful." (Katherine Addison, author of The Goblin Emperor)
What listeners say about The Wolf and the Woodsman
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lauren
- 16-06-21
Beautifully written and has all the hallmarks of a classic fairytale for the modern world.
🐺🪓💫 ะ𝗕ะะ𝗟ะะ𝗢ะะ𝗚ะ ะ𝗧ะะ𝗢ะะ𝗨ะะ𝗥ะ & ะ𝗥ะะ𝗘ะVะ𝗜ะะ𝗘ะะ𝗪ะ 💫🪓🐺
Today is my honour of sharing my review for this fantastic debut:
Ͳհҽ చօӀƒ Ⱥղժ Ͳհҽ చօօժʂʍąղ by @avasreid
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5🌟
Thank you to @delreyuk and @rachelkennedy90 for my beautiful advanced readers copy and the stunning finished copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
A new fairytale that draws so many parallels with this modern and cruel world.
This book has enchanted its way into my heart ❤️
Ava has delicately woven the Jewish folklore and Hungarian history throughout this book but has somehow managed to keep the underlying parallels with the world of today fresh at the same time.
Èvika is sidelined and ridiculed because she lacks the magic her peers have. This has seriously impacted her perception of her self worth.
When the Woodsmen come and she is given to them in an act of deception to protect one of her worst tormentors, she truly believes that this was all she was to her village. Bait to save one of her magical peers.
But as her journey with the Woodsmen/Woodsman goes on, Èvike soon begins to realise her own strengths and soon, her own magic.
The book does have quite a bit of bloody/gorey scenes but these were always to express the story and never unnecessarily.
The telling of the different religions and the history of how those in power tried to drive out those who believed in something different, definitely mirrors the modern world and the events still happening today.
This book takes you along on a woman’s journey of becoming. It’s beautifully written and has all the hallmarks of a classic fairytale for the modern world.
I am finding it hard to wrap my mind around the fact that this is a debut! It truly is excellent and will be going on my list of recommendations.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 14-06-23
Amazing book
Great narration and such a beautiful written story. Ava Reid is definitely one of my favourite authors!!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Red
- 08-07-24
Fabulous
I love the unhurried pace and lyrical prose of this story.
I read this on my kindle, alternately listening on Audible when my hands were busy.
I love listening to this narrator!
Her voice is captivating and adds an additional layer to the storytelling of the book.
Thank you, author, for a lovely journey.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- April
- 02-10-24
Gripping story, a must listen to!
Loved this story and by the end couldn’t stop listening to it. There is a bit in the middle which I felt was slow as a lot of world building however it is useful information which comes back near the end. Overall I thought it was fantastic, the voice actor did an amazing job at being the book to life and the story was in the genre I hadn’t read much of before but now will be seeing what else is out there. A must read!
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- K.
- 10-02-22
Expected better
I'd heard good things about this book so I found myself to be greatly disappointed. The story is a classic enemies to lovers tale and, as such, it sadly falls for many of the tropes. I didn't understand many of the actions taken by the two main characters and I felt like I'd heard it all before. While the narrator has a pleasant voice, she also narrated another very similar book in the same genre and I found myself getting confused as to which book I was listening to as the stories followed the same lines. It had so much potential exploring Hungarian and Jewish myths as a basis for it's fantasy world. I wish it was better.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
- KerryF
- 30-01-22
Thought it would never end!
A dull, repetitive mishmash of a story with no redeeming qualities or characters. Would have given zero stars if I could.
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1 person found this helpful