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

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  
I really enjoyed the main character and her development throughout the story. The weaving in of past and present throughout was cleverly done. The narrator was brilliant and faultless in her portrayal of the different characters and her use of different accents. I found I did have to speed up the narration otherwise it was as a bit slow.

Captivating main character

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I enjoyed the book, and the narrator. however I did find my mind wandering away quite frequently. I'm not sure if it's the narrator's almost soothing voice or that the narration between action happening vs what was the protagonist was thinking wasn't any different.

Great book, difficult to binge.

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I found this story an interesting one, it’s not fast paced, nor is it a thriller. Closer to the beginning of the story it often goes off on tangents which can be difficult to follow but the narrator does a fantastic job creating a captivating tale and one I do recommend even though it is quite different to my usual action packed stories.

Captivating

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This was a fantastic story. The narrator was excellent, giving clear expression to so many character voices.

Awesome!

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I hadn't read any other books by Mark Lawrence; started this on Kindle and then bought the audiobook to listen to at the gym. While Nona's story starts slow, it gains momentum and I really enjoyed the whole trilogy. The world-building is fantastic, with hints at something far greater at play. Helen Duff's narration is absolutely fantastic as well and really helped me stay in the story, as she captured Nona's voice, and those of the other characters, so clearly.

Loved it!

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one of my favourites, Helen Duff is FANTASTIC
her vpices and delivery had me sitting the the car not wanting to stop listening.

one of my favourites

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Loved learning about the many leading ladies, with the story having twists and turns to keep me interested in what happens next. So looking forward to the next one.

Draws you in..

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I most likely will get the next in the series but I found this story to go around and around. Perhaps I fell asleep too often and I did listen to a couple of chapters more than once. I'll reserve judgement until I've listened to the next one.

Not Sure About This Book

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I really liked this book and now I have to finish the series it was so different and good all in one

I loved it

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The story follows Nona, a young girl cast out by her family and village because there is something not quite right about her. Sold, then captured, she is enslaved to fight in the ring until she kills an important and brutal man and sentenced by the guild to death row. Rescued by the sisters of the Sweet Mercy convent, an order that trains fighters and mystics and develops their innate magical powers, Nona stands out from the other girls.

This book introduces a new world situated in a harsh and shrinking environment with a number of memorable and interesting characters, mostly Nona's class mates but also some of the sisters. It starts and ends with a brutal and deadly fight, one sister against a hoard of soldiers and the story in between covers Nona's first two years at the convent.

An enjoyable and engaging fantasy read but the ending seemed a little flat.

There is no mercy at the Sweet Mercy Convent

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