Gabrielle de Cuir has narrated 133 audiobooks on Listento.it by 136 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.5★ across 1,192 ratings. The most-rated is Ender's Game.
The Shadow Ryana
Summary
Ryana, a worthless girl-child, is sold to a mysterious woman who takes her to the home of the Shadow Sisters who are prized for their abilities as spies and assassins. She survives years of training in spite of being unconventional: adopting poisonous bats as familiars - something no one else would dare to do; choosing the blow dart as her weapon of choice - a weapon the Sisters don't teach; and relying on intuition rather than logic. As she completes her training, the Shadow Sisters are under attack. The senior Sister selects Ryana to find out who is killing Sisters and why - because her intuitive approach has proved effective, even though her youth and inexperience makes it unlikely she will survive. As she travels through the kingdom as a member of a gypsy clan, she finds the only way she can protect the Sisters and hope to discover the underlying plot is through ever more violence and killing. As she proceeds through the provinces, her secret enemies come to call her the Sister of Death and become desperate to find and kill her. But in her desperate fight to protect the Sisterhood and the kingdom, Ryana fears that she has destroyed herself and the only life she ever wanted.
©2012 C. R. Daems (P)2018 Skyboat Media
The Gospel of Mary Magdalene
Summary
Perhaps no figure in biblical scholarship has been the subject of more controversy and debate than Mary Magdalene. Although she is discussed in the gospels of Philip, Thomas, Peter, and Bartholomew in the collection of writings known as the Gnostic gospels that were rejected by the early Christian church, there is no better insight into this mysterious and influential woman than Mary's own gospel. The gospel text and the spiritual interpretation of Leloup together reveal unique teachings that emphasize the eminence of the divine feminine and an abiding love of nature over the dualistic and ascetic interpretations of Christianity presented elsewhere. What emerges from this important source text and commentary is a renewal of the sacred feminine in the Western spiritual tradition and a new vision for Christian thought and faith throughout the world.
©2002 Jean-Yves Leloup (P)2004 Phoenix
Furious Gulf
Summary
Few writers have successful blended hard science and speculation with fully realized characters as Gregory Benford has in his critically acclaimed novels. Now he draws us into a vortex of mystery and danger at the heart of the galaxy in his dazzling epic drama, Furious Gulf.Containing the remnants of humanity from the planet Snowglade, the spaceship Argo hurtles toward its uncertain destiny, the bold and brilliant Captain Killeen at its helm. But he has grown increasingly isolated and anguished in command. The ship’s gardens are failing, its voyagers face starvation, and there are dark whispers within, talk of mutiny. Killeen’s will, however, remains as strong as ever, his determination to reach the True Center of the galaxy bordering on obsession.Amid a mad swirl of incandescent suns and ghostly blue clouds of galactic dust, beset by hostile worlds controlled by the mechs – a vast and violent artificial intelligence whose only meaning, only mission, is the complete extermination of the human race - Killeen pursues his desperate search, convinced his people’s one hope of survival lies in the True Center. The crew has followed him this far on faith, a faith now being tested to the limit. Even his own son Toby, groomed for leadership, is beginning to question his father’s command.As the Argo undertakes a perilous quest into the unknown, Toby faces his own journey into the mysteries of adulthood. Like the others in this Family of voyagers, Toby’s spine contains microchip implants holding the memories – the legacy – of his race. But just as the technology designed to save his people may tear Toby himself apart, so his father’s desperate gamble to save the Argo may plunge the ship and its inhabitants into a cosmic pit of all-consuming fire. In this extraordinary novel, part of an interconnected series of novels that began with In the Ocean of Night and continued in Across the Sea of Suns, Great Sky River, and Tides of Light, Gregory Benford explores the fundamental nature of human development and discovery. Across the gulf that stretches between fear and faith, past and future, we watch in wonder as an age-old question continues…the quest for the fulfillment of an individual, for the evolution of a species, for the immortality of the soul.
©1994 Abbenford Associates (P)2012 Audible, Inc.
Stars
Summary
Janis Ian and 30 top science fiction writers team up to create an astonishing book of original short fiction. Stars is a huge anthology in both volume and talent. Each story, available only here, is based on a Janis Ian song that meant something special to the author, who then wrote the story expressly for Stars, creating a meld of jazz, prose, and science fiction found nowhere else - a treasure trove for fans of both SF and Janis Ian! Ian, who won the Grammy Award for spoken-word entertainment for Society's Child, joins the cast of this intimate and unique audiobook to narrate portions of Stars and also to perform the music that inspired each story. This edition of Stars also features an original new story by Michael Swanwick, "For I Have Lain Me Down on the Stone of Loneliness and I'll Not Be Back Again", based on "Mary's Eyes", a Janis Ian song that has always moved him to tears. Stars was compiled and edited by Mike Resnick and Janis Ian and includes stories by Nebula winners and such science fiction greats as Joe Haldeman, Jane Yolen, Gregory Benford, Orson Scott Card, and more. It also includes Ian's first original story, "Prayerville". As Janis herself says, "The stories have heart. They have life. They have truth. They move me. As an artist, I can ask for nothing more."
©2003 Janis Ian and Mike Resnick (P)2013 Audible, Inc.
The Shadow Gypsy
Summary
The Shadow Sister Ryana, the very Shadow of Death, is marrying her beloved and joining his gypsy clan. War took her innocence, and now she's determined to rebuild her life. But religious cults are springing up, and the gypsies come under attack. Ryana's best friend in the Sisters, Jelena, has fled to join one of the cults, and the senior Sister asks Ryana to find out why. Too late, Ryana discovers their enemies have a sweet and seductive weapon, one that has turned Jelena into her enemy. Ryana is betrayed, kidnapped, and her will stolen. She must regain it if she is to defend her clan and the Shadow Sisters. If she fails, it means the end of both her families - her new gypsy clan and the Sisters she swore to defend.
©2013 C. R. Daems (P)2018 Skyboat Media, Inc.
The Breakthrough in Two Acts
Summary
In The Breakthrough in Two Acts, Dr. Fredric C. Hartman paints a vivid picture of emotional pain and its context within the human mind and brain. Set in the dramatic backdrop of a therapy session as a stage play, featuring Dr. Hartman as the psychologist and Human Consciousness itself as “the patient”, this is a practical guide for anyone who struggles with negative or painful emotions. In his play, Dr. Hartman tells the story about our vulnerability to painful emotions, which flare up from the depths of our brains, casting distressing and destructive spells over us. As the play unfolds, he develops two new experiences to help strengthen our consciousness: one, by actively breaking the spell of the two thoughts that lie at the heart - and generate the distress - in each of our negative emotions, and two, by embracing the strange, fleeting collection of conditions that come along with the present moments of our lives as they each flash by. The Breakthrough in Two Acts is an appeal to humanity and a plan for how to use one “part” of our brain - consciousness - to quiet down another chronically overheated “part” - the limbic system - that has ravaged our species with troubles ranging from emotional illness to war. Here is a way of thinking for hard times to help overcome emotional distress and embrace a calmer and more fulfilling way to experience life.
©2007, 2020 Fredric C. Hartman, PhD (P)2020 Skyboat Media, Inc.
Vengeance
Summary
The enemy of her enemy is...still her enemy. All Cyn wants is justice. Kolya Kurev murdered her family in cold blood and got away with it. Single-minded in her determination, Cyn becomes the killer she needs to be. Until she meets Lee, a man also deeply wronged by Kurev. Cyn's new problem? Lee. Lee is stealing her revenge and screwing with the carefully carved life she’s made for herself. As if his mere presence and counter-productive ambitions weren’t enough, he’s going to get her caught. The FBI has been on her tail for several years now, but they haven’t even come close to finding her. Cyn has been leaving fake evidence at her crime scenes and counting on the one thing the FBI hasn’t figured out yet: Their most-wanted criminal is just a girl. Vengeance is the first book in the Vendetta Trifecta. While it can be listened to as a stand-alone, be prepared to reach for book two as you finish this one.
©2010 A.J. Scudiere (P)2019 A.J. Scudiere
The Red Admiral
Summary
Anna's success as the Eastar NIA station chief has catapulted her into the position of Director of NIA Stations. Anna is uncomfortable with the promotion and bored. She has a master chief secretary, a lieutenant aide-de-camp, and 15 commanders and their staff to do the work. But she suspects not all of her commanders are happy with their new, very young admiral or are doing their jobs. But she has no way to observe those commanders as their stations reside on distant systems. A personal request from Admiral Webb to look into a friend's missing daughter solves the bored problem and provides Anna an excuse to tour her NIA stations. While dealing with resentful station chiefs, she discovers women who meet a very specific profile are being kidnapped across the UAS. Anna manages to unravel the mystery, but because of the profile, she finds stopping the criminal organization and freeing the kidnapped women will take years, during which time more women will be kidnapped and fewer will survive to be saved. Unless...Anna is willing to disregard the laws that safeguard the innocent and that are protecting the criminals and very influential people the criminals' activities support. Actions that will open her to prosecution and life imprisonment if plots to retire her early and permanently don't succeed first.
©2019 C. R. Daems (P)2019 Skyboat Media, Inc.
Once Upon a Time, There Was You
Summary
From the beloved New York Times best-selling author of Home Safe and The Last Time I Saw You comes a beautiful and moving novel about a man and woman, long divorced, who rediscover the power of love and family in the midst of an unthinkable crisis. Even on their wedding day, John and Irene sensed that they were about to make a mistake. Years later, divorced, dating other people, and living in different parts of the country, they seem to have nothing in common - nothing except the most important person in each of their lives: Sadie, their spirited 18-year-old daughter. Feeling smothered by Irene and distanced from John, Sadie is growing more and more attached to her new boyfriend, Ron. When tragedy strikes, Irene and John come together to support the daughter they love so dearly. What takes longer is to remember how they really feel about each other. Elizabeth Berg has once again created characters who embody the many shades of the human spirit. Hearing Berg’s fiction allows us to reflect on our deepest emotions, and her gifts as a writer make Once Upon a Time, There Was You a wonderful novel about the power of love, the unshakeable bonds of family, and the beauty of second chances.
©2011 Elizabeth Berg (P)2011 Random House Audio
The Best of Bova, Vol. 3
Summary
The third and final volume of the very best of Ben Bova, creator of the New York Times best-selling Grand Tour science fiction series, six-time Hugo award winner, and past president of the National Space Society - a grand master of science fiction storytelling. These stories span the five decades of Bova's incandescent career. Here are tales of star-faring adventure, peril, and drama. Here are journeys into the mind-bending landscapes of virtual worlds and alternate realities. Here you'll also find stories of humanity's astounding future on Earth, on Mars, and in the Solar System beyond - stories that always get the science right. And Bova's gathering of deeply realized, totally human characters are the heroic, brave, tricky, sometimes dastardly engineers, astronauts, corporate magnates, politicians, and scientists who will make these futures possible - and those who often find that the problems of tomorrow are always linked to human values, and human failings, that are as timeless as the stars. Full cast of narrators includes Arthur Morey, Margy Moore, and Stefan Rudnicki.
©2017 Ben Bova (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Great Sky River
Summary
Nearly 100,000 years after first contact with the machines that dominate the universe, only a few hundred humans survive. Trapped on Snowglade, a barren world near the center of the galaxy, Killeen and his child, Toby, of the Bishop Trib,e are primitive scavengers, homeless and hunted by the ruling “mechs”. Then suddenly, a strange cosmic entity – neither organic nor cybernetic or living matter – reaches out from a black hole to speak with Killeen. But can the fallen descendent of starfarers understand this being in time - and seize his only chance to save his family and mankind from final annihilation?
©1987 Abbenford Associates (P)2012 Audible, Inc.
My Favorites
Summary
In this new collection, Ben Bova has compiled 14 of his favorite short stories. Each story includes an all-new introduction with compelling insight into the narrative. Exploring the boundaries of the genre, Bova not only writes of spaceships, aliens, and time travel in most of his titles, but also speculates on the beginnings of science fiction in “Scheherazade and the Storytellers,” as well as the morality of man in “The Angel’s Gift.” Stories such as “The Café Coup” and “We’ll Always Have Paris” dip into speculative historical fiction, asking questions about what would happen if someone could change history for the better. This expansive collection is a key addition for Bova fans and sci-fi lovers alike! Stories included in this collection: “Monster Slayer,” “Muzhestvo,” “We’ll Always Have Paris,” “The Great Moon Hoax, or A Princess of Mars,” “Inspiration,” “Scheherazade and the Storytellers,” “The Supersonic Zeppelin,” “Mars Farts,” “The Man Who Hated Gravity,” “Sepulcher,” “The Café Coup,” “The Angel’s Gift,” “Waterbot,” and “Sam and the Flying Dutchman.”
©2020 Ben Bova (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing
Paddington Takes the Test
Summary
'All this could be yours!' Paddington read on the glossy leaflet showing a large, sleek silver-grey car. It took him a long time to eat 15 packets of currants in order to enter the competition. And the Rolls-Royce he'd expected to win turned out to be one of 10,000 consolation prizes - a bookmark! Then Paddington finds himself taking a driving test and, much to his amazement, is presented with a license allowing him to drive a rather unusual vehicle.
©2016 Michael Bond (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers Limited