Red Sister cover art

Red Sister

Book of the Ancestor, Book 1

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Red Sister

By: Mark Lawrence
Narrated by: Helen Duff
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About this listen

It's not until you're broken that you find your sharpest edge.

"I was born for killing – the gods made me to ruin."

At the Convent of Sweet Mercy young girls are raised to be killers. In a few the old bloods show, gifting talents rarely seen since the tribes beached their ships on Abeth. Sweet Mercy hones its novices’ skills to deadly effect: it takes ten years to educate a Red Sister in the ways of blade and fist.

But even the mistresses of sword and shadow don’t truly understand what they have purchased when Nona Grey is brought to their halls as a bloodstained child of eight, falsely accused of murder: guilty of worse.

©2017 Mark Lawrence (P)2017 HarperCollins Publisher Limited Dark Fantasy Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Historical Fiction

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Critic reviews

"Dark, passionate, tense, with a female hero anyone could relate to - I was utterly fascinated! This is no pretty, flowery tale, but one of vastly different people struggling to survive when a hostile government comes to power." ( New York Times best-selling author Tamora Pierce)
"This is a book very distinct from everything that came before; what it has in common though is a narrative that pulls no punches, and characters that are beautifully, brokenly, repellently, cleverly human." ( Sci-Fi and Fantasy Reviews)
"I had never thought it was possible to find a greater character than the Emperor Jorg Ancrath. I had never even slightly considered that there might be a fantasy world out there toppling that of Τhe Final Empire, and most definitely, I had never thought that I could love a book more than The Night Angel. But here we are." ( BookNest)
"Any other author is going to have to smack the ball way, way out of the park to top this read." ( Parmenion Books)
All stars
Most relevant  
in a crowded field, this book stands out for originality, quality of writing and for complex but believable world building. it is superbly read, quite an accomplishment with so many characters to voice. my only criticism is that the book is long, and I didn't always manage to keep all the complicated strands of plot in memory over such an extended listening period. No matter, this is a great story, and I will certainly move on to the next episode.

super saga.

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The wedding between the spectacular writing and narration is among the best I've heard. i wholeheartedly recommended this to any fantasy fan and wider.

Great book and narrator.

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Enjoyed listening to this, the narrator did a grand job, especially giving different accents and tones to various characters. The book itself is entertaining, Lawrence has a skill at creating interesting world then letting the story flow, while slowly throwing you hints and clues about the wider world and the mysteries it contains.
Looking forward to starting book 2.

Entertaining

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A bit of a slow burn but had plenty of action and some interesting ideas. The narrator's voice was a good fit for the story.

overall enjoyable to listen to

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Great read - a very enjoyable book - I have read reviews of this book likening it to Harry Potter + others of a similar ilk - it is set in a school environment apart from that they are poles apart. I enjoyed the complexities of the story, the narration and the book moved along a quite a pace. Recommend to all - Mark Lawrence is a brilliant story teller - I think this stands up nicely with his other two series. Looking forward to book 2.

Excellent book

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What a brilliant story line with some amazingly put together characters. I can't waitfor the next book!

Lawrence does it again!

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This was fantastic. Love Mark Lawrence! Couldn't stop listening. Enjoyed the voice recording.

Can't believe I have to wait for the next book. Nuns who train in blade and patience. It takes more than an army to kill a nun. Nona Grey makes a big protagonist change from Jorg.

Fantastic!

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Ouch! What a book, story, the beginnings of something special. Snapping up the next book within seconds of writing this…

The word epic is here true

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The story itself is very well structured, maintains a good pace throughout and keeps you in suspense. For those who find it difficult to keep up with the names of fictional geographical locations, different societal groups as well as character names - this book can become a little confusing. I will admit that I often found myself struggling to place each Abbess through the chapters and it is not see easy to simply flick back and refresh your memory with an audiobook.
The narration was very good. Helen Duff reads this beautifully and does an exceptional job with varying the accents to give the full experience of multiple characters.
I would definitely recommend giving this a listen.

Gripping story, fantastic narration.

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The book starts off slow but soon catches your attention with little aim for release. Read the first 10 chapters in 3 months, finished the other 30 in 3 days. Looking forward to Grey Sister. High hopes.

Alongside Prince of Thorns as Best Bk 1 of Trilogy

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