Try free for 30 days

A 30-day trial plus your first audiobook free.
1 credit/month after trial—to buy any title you like, yours to keep.
Listen all you want to a selection of thousands of Audible Originals, audiobooks and podcasts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
The Prestige cover art

The Prestige

By: Christopher Priest
Narrated by: Simon Vance
Free with 30-day trial

$16.45/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $27.99

Buy Now for $27.99

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

Publisher's Summary

In 1878, two young stage magicians clash in the dark during the course of a fraudulent séance. From this moment on, their lives become webs of deceit and revelation as they vie to outwit and expose each other. In the course of pursuing each other's ruin, they will deploy all the deception their magician's craft can command. Their rivalry will take them to the peaks of their careers, but with terrible consequences. In the end, their legacy will be passed on for generations to descendants who must, for their sanity's sake, untangle the puzzle left to them.
©1995 Christopher Priest (P)2006 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic Reviews

  • Winner of the World Fantasy Award, 1996
  • Audie Award Finalist, Fiction, Unabridged, 2007

"Extraordinary, like a dazzling magic act!" (Entertainment Weekly)
"A brilliant conjuring act by one of the master illusionists of our time." (Wired)
"A taut, twisting, prize-winning story of two magicians and their fierce fin-de-siècle rivalry that taints successive generations of their respective families....An unexpectedly compelling fusion of weird science and legerdemain." (Kirkus Reviews)

What listeners say about The Prestige

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    42
  • 4 Stars
    16
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    47
  • 4 Stars
    11
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    39
  • 4 Stars
    14
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

One of the best.

This was very , very, good. I haven’t seen the movie based on this novel and actually I think that was a good thing. Simon Vance is a real treasure to the audiobook world. If you haven’t heard this I heartily recommend.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

So many questions!

I enjoyed this audiobook version of Christopher Priest's novel far more than the film version. Simon Vance's narration probably has a great deal to do with that preference: Vance is a skillful, creative and accomplished voice artist, never more evident than here, in this dark and complicated story.
This novel demands a lot from the listener/reader, who must pay attention and retain and reflect over the complex threads running throughout the novel. But, the rewards of this effort are great.
There is such pathos in certain passages and I still have many questions - what exactly were the Angier-Borden families arguing over in 1970? How, why could Lord C throw Nicky into that pit and how did the alternative Nicky come to be abandoned to adoption? Where was the Prestige Angier heading, at the end of the novel?
So many questions. But, highly recommended to dedicated listeners.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

So much better than the movie!

This was one of my favourite movies, so was keen to listen to the audiobook. The story is so much better than the film, such a clever plot and really well read. The start is a bit slow, but then it will hook you in. Thoroughly recommend it!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Exceptional

Fantasy without magic, dragons, the fey, time travel, war, eroticism or the multiverse (all of which have gotten boring) but lots of illusionism! I'm enjoying a second reading. It's one of those books where the beginning takes on a different meaning when you have read the end.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Unexpectedly drawn in

Downloaded this title in a whim and found myself quickly drawn in. I listened to this book faster than many others I’ve downloaded

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

As good as the movie

The books as good as the movie bit tells a slightly different story. Worth your time .

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful story.

I loved the movie. And now the book is a richer, more complex version of the same. The audiobook was beautifully performed.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

I prefer the movie

well performed! the movie's story was better imo . the book had a couple of loose ends

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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.