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Empires

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Empires

By: Nick Earls
Narrated by: Nick Earls
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About this listen

 Alaska, 2018, and Mike is a long way from home, nursing a wrecked knee and an unspoken grief, striking out into real estate and parenting his partner’s son. London, 1978, and Simon is an Australian fish out of water navigating adolescence during the Winter of Discontent, and drawn to an eccentric impresario next door. Washington, DC, 1928, and a retired US senator is interviewed about his time in Russia in 1916, and his mission to save a young heir to an empire. Vienna, 1809, and an Irish teenager on the run from the law takes refuge among composers as Napoleon besieges and shells the city. Hong Kong, 2019, and estranged brothers Mike and Simon reunite in midlife to face the secrets of the past, and reconnect in more ways than one.

Empires rise and fall, human lives play out, encounters, collisions and connections occur more than we can ever know – and yet, the unexpected can still happen.

Endlessly compelling and inventive, Empires is a masterful novel in five parts with boys and men at its heart. Spanning centuries and crossing continents, it explores the empires we build, the way we see ourselves, the narratives we construct and the interconnectedness of all things. This is Nick Earls at his finest.©2021 Nick Earls (P)2021 Penguin Random House Australia Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Heartfelt
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Maybe this would be different if I'd read it- not listened

I didn't realise at first that nick earls narrated .. i found it a bit grating sometimes . The Aussie accent was perfect of course! I think it would have been given to a professional voice actor to do. Lots of different accents and periods in history that would have been done seamlessly by a master of the craft. Sorry nick .. stick to writing and doctoring .

Re the story .. many books in 1 .. I found the usa senator story hard going .. the author trying to cover off on facts? The Viennese musician part could have had more soul. Loved the mike and Simon parts of the story and the toy soldier thread too. But lots of historical facts to wade through made it tough going.

I'm a fan so will always look forward to the next book .. just go with the story stuff, dial down the history! Or better merge the two with more story and dialogue and characters. I have 3 sons so I like reading fiction from a young mans POV. (Christine who was a minor character in a BBQ once .. to my great and eternal delight)

Too much in one

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I’m a longtime reader of Earls and this book feels like a great progression for him as a writer. There are familiar voices here but he also challenges himself with historical characters and traces the path of objects and empires. Always a treat to hear the author interpret their own work.

Great Leap Forward for Earls

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.