The Drowning Guard
A Novel of the Ottoman Empire
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Narrated by:
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Suzanne Cypress
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By:
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Linda Lafferty
About this listen
Each morning in the hour before dawn, a silent boat launches on the Bosphorous, moving swiftly into the deepest part of the waters halfway between Europe and Asia, where a man will die....
In a gender reversal of Scheherazade in The Arabian Nights: Tales from a 1,001 Nights, Ottoman princess Esma Sultan seduces a different Christian lover each night, only to have him drowned in the morning. The Sultaness's true passion burns only for the Christian-born soldier charged with carrying out her brutal nightly death sentence: her drowning guard, Ivan Postivich.
The Drowning Guard explores the riddle of Esma - who is at once a murderer and a champion and liberator of women - and the man who loves her in spite of her horrifying crimes. This textured historical novel, set in the opulence and squalor of Istanbul in 1826, is woven with the complexity and consequences of love.
©2013 Linda Lafferty (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
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The future of Britain is at stake. In the turbulent times of the Dark Ages, the despotic Uther Pendragon, High King of Celtic Britain, is nearing death, and his kingdom is being torn apart by the squabbling of minor kings. But only one man can bring the Celts together as a nation and restore peace - King Arthur. Artorex (Arthur) doesn't yet seem like the great man he will grow into. We meet him as a shy, subservient twelve-year-old living in the foster home of Lord Ector, who took in Artorex as a babe to protect him from murderous kin.
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A Dry, Dull Tale, Marred in "Realism"
- By Steven on 09-21-15
By: M. K. Hume
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Cleopatra's Moon
- By: Vicky A. Shecter
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Princess of Egypt.... Cleopatra Selene is the only daughter of the brilliant Queen Cleopatra of Egypt and General Marcus Antonius of Rome. She’s grown up with jewels on her arms, servants at her feet, and all the pleasures of a palace at her command, and she wants only to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a great and powerful queen. Prisoner of Rome.... Then the Roman ruler Octavianus, who has always wanted Egypt’s wealth, launches a war that destroys all Selene has ever known.
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Great Book
- By Linda on 08-07-11
By: Vicky A. Shecter
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The Memoirs of Mary, Queen of Scots
- By: Carolly Erickson
- Narrated by: Rebekah Germain
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Born Queen of Scotland, married as a young girl to the invalid young King of France, Mary took the reins of the unruly kingdom of Scotland as a young widow and fought to keep her throne. A second marriage to her handsome but dissolute cousin Lord Darnley ended in murder and scandal, while a third marriage to the dashing, commanding Lord Bothwell, the love of her life, gave her joy but widened the scandal and surrounded her with enduring ill repute.
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Fiction being the key word
- By Bonnie-Ann B on 09-25-09
By: Carolly Erickson
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Equal of the Sun
- A Novel
- By: Anita Amirrezvani
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Iran in 1576 is a place of peace, wealth, and dazzling beauty. But when the Shah dies without having named an heir, the court is thrown into tumult. Princess Pari, the Shah's daughter and closest adviser, knows more about the inner workings of the state than almost anyone, but the princess's maneuvers to instill order after her father's sudden death incite resentment and dissent. Pari and her trusted servant, a eunuch able to navigate the harem as well as the world beyond the palace walls, are in possession of an incredible tapestry....
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A Woman in a Man's World
- By JGrace on 06-26-13
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Transformation
- Rai-Kirah, Book 1
- By: Carol Berg
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 16 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Seyonne is a man waiting to die. He has been a slave for 16 years, almost half his life, and has lost everything of meaning to him: his dignity, the people and homeland he loves, and the Warden's power he used to defend an unsuspecting world from the ravages of demons. Seyonne has made peace with his fate. With strict self-discipline he forces himself to exist only in the present moment and to avoid the pain of hope or caring about anyone.
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Seriously Excellent
- By Sharon on 09-25-13
By: Carol Berg
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Silk Road
- By: Colin Falconer
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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The Holy Land, 1260. Josseran Sarrazini is chosen to escort the Pope's emissary on an embassy to the all-conquering Mongol horde in an effort to save all Christendom from destruction. But although he serves as a Templar warrior, Josseran is not all that he appears to be. Now they have to spend nine months in each other's company on the most dangerous and most inhospitable journey on the earth - across the legendary deserts of Persia, through the horrific black hurricanes of the Taklimakan, along the entire spider's web of the Silk Road to Khubilai Khan's legendary capital at Xanadu.
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Could be better
- By Gary on 02-11-20
By: Colin Falconer
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Empress
- Godspeaker, Book 1
- By: Karen Miller
- Narrated by: Josephine Bailey
- Length: 20 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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In a family torn apart by poverty and violence, Hekat is no more than an unwanted mouth to feed, worth only a few coins from a passing slave trader. But Hekat was not born to be a slave. For her, a different path has been chosen. It is a path that will take her from stinking back alleys to the house of her God, from blood-drenched battlefields to the glittering palaces of Mijak. This is the story of Hekat, slave to no man.
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depressing and left me feeling empty
- By Bonnie on 09-16-09
By: Karen Miller
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The Confessions of Catherine de Medici
- A Novel
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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In this brilliantly imagined novel, acclaimed author C. W. Gortner brings Catherine to life in her own voice, allowing us to enter the intimate world of a woman whose determination to protect her family’s throne and realm plunged her into a lethal struggle for power. From the fairy-tale chateaux of the Loire Valley to the battlefields of the wars of religion to the mob-filled streets of Paris, this is the extraordinary untold journey of one of the most maligned and misunderstood women ever to be queen.
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Pretty good but historical details are terrible
- By Kindle Customer on 07-10-11
By: C. W. Gortner
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Son of Avonar
- Bridge of D'Arnath, Book 1
- By: Carol Berg
- Narrated by: Angele Masters
- Length: 19 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Magic is forbidden throughout the Four Realms. For decades, sorcerers and those associating with them were hunted to near extinction.But Seri, a Leiran noblewoman living in exile, is no stranger to defying the unjust laws of her land. She is sheltering a wanted fugitive who possesses unusual abilities-a fugitive with the fate of the realms in his hands...
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Great Series!
- By Bob-o on 08-30-16
By: Carol Berg
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The Tiger's Daughter
- By: K Arsenault Rivera
- Narrated by: Caroline McLaughlin
- Length: 14 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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The Hokkaran Empire has conquered every land within their bold reach - but failed to notice a lurking darkness festering within the people. Now their border walls begin to crumble, and villages fall to demons swarming out of the forests. Away on the silver steppes, the remaining tribes of nomadic Qorin retreat and protect their own, having bartered a treaty with the empire, exchanging inheritance through the dynasties. It is up to two young warriors, raised together across borders since their prophesied birth, to save the world from the encroaching demons.
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Writing format that didn't work for this book
- By kara-karina on 02-24-18
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Reign of Madness
- By: Lynn Cullen
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons
- Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Juana of Castile, third child of the Spanish monarchs Isabel and Fernando, grows up with no hope of inheriting her parents' crowns, but as a princess knows her duty: to further her family's ambitions through marriage. Yet stories of courtly love, and of her parents' own legendary romance, surround her. When she weds the Duke of Burgundy, a young man so beautiful that he is known as Philippe the Handsome, she dares to hope that she might have both love and crowns.
By: Lynn Cullen
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The Last Queen
- A Novel of Juana La Loca
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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One of history's most enigmatic women tells the haunting, passionate story of her tumultuous life. Juana of Castile is just thirteen when she witnesses the fall of Moorish Granada and the uniting of the fractured kingdoms of Spain under her warrior parents, Isabel and Fernando. Intelligent, beautiful, and proud of her heritage, Juana rebels when she is chosen as a bride for the Hapsburg heir.
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A NEUROTIC BIT OF PULP FICTION
- By The Louligan on 11-19-09
By: C. W. Gortner
What listeners say about The Drowning Guard
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Charlie
- 03-30-16
Culture Enlightment
Easy on the senses. Feel good novel. Great narrator. Hard to find negatives for an exotic love story from another time & place.
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- Susan 🎧Audible-a-holic🎧 Crowe
- 01-30-21
Wonderful book!!!
I read this book when it first came out but have now decided to review all of my books on Audible.
This book was magnificent!!
I absolutely LOVE this author and have read and / or listened to every single book she has published!
While this is my second favorite of hers, The Bloodletter's Daughter will always be my favorite. I have listened to that one more times than i'd care to admit!
I highly recommend this book and all others by this author. You won't be sorry!!
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1 person found this helpful
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- JaNea
- 01-18-18
It Got Better
I’ve been looking for works on the Ottoman Empire and this was my first piece of fiction. When I started this audio book however, it took longer to adjust to than normal. I would say perhaps like with a normal read, I needed that cushion of 40-50 pages to truly start to care about this place and these characters. There were definitely certain things I felt were left unresolved for no apparent reason, but did enjoy the back drop. My only major issue were there were several constant repeated words that become annoying to hear. The repetition was unneeded after a certain point in the book and seemed as though the author had no other way to describe nouns. However, I will conceded that part of my issue may lie with the narrator. Overall, enjoyed the story and the ending notes kept my interest piqued for more Ottoman knowledge.
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- Cam
- 09-21-14
Quite a surprise
I purchased this book on sale and have had it in my library for a while until a few days ago when I finally decided to listen to it. I found the story fascinating. I'm not sure why the two reviews on Audible were poor but the Amazon reviewers seemed to really enjoy the book. Historically accurate to it's time and well developed characters were two strong points about this book. The love story also was very believable and I absolutely loved the giant hero's good and evil sides. He was far from perfect but that is what made him so real especially for his time. The only weak point to the story was, in my opinion, it's ending. Without giving it away, I was hoping for an even better ending. The entire story got built to the end and then I felt a bit let down. I guess I wanted more. More of the happily ever after and not a short two minute clean up session. Other than that I truly enjoyed this book.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Amazon Customer
- 09-28-15
loved it!
I felt I was right there with the characters. it makes me want to check into more of the works by this author.
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- Thomas Le Min
- 12-14-22
Historic Storytelling At Its Best!
The authoress has woven an intricate and lush tapestry of fully fledged competing characters that maintains the reader/listener’s attention from the first line to the last.
The audiobook is so well performed that I can’t imagine “merely” reading it. Likewise I can’t imagine anyone performing it better. I highly recommend this audiobook to anyone who enjoys historic fiction or simply a ripping good yarn.
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- treehunter
- 07-14-16
enjoyed listening
narrator was easy to hear and listen to. entertaining story. love and violence what more could you ask for.
#exciting, #romance, #violence, #tagsgiving, #sweepstakes
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- kisa
- 11-05-15
Good story
Hated the narrator, I will never listen to anything from her again! The story was good, with a lot of potential, but other then the harem stories it was hard to get into and I was not emotionally invested in any of the characters.
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- Alison
- 11-09-14
Terrible
I forced myself to finish this book all the way to the very end, in the sad hope that at some point the plot/characters would be explained and everything would make sense and come together. It didn't. Even given the low low expectations that I set for 'romance' books this one was bad. I'd say that the plot was lacking, but that implies there was something resembling a plot. It seemed early on that the book was going to be about how Ivan falls in love with Esma as she tells him how she came to murder all her lovers. Nope. Not to spoil things, but nothing is every explained. Why does the sultan murder all Esma's lovers? Why, if she feels as bad as she seems to, does she continue to take lovers knowing they are going to be murdered? The whole premise makes no sense. There is zero chemistry between the two main characters, mostly because they aren't realistic characters in any way shape or form.
Rather than filling up the ten hours with plot, the author has fallen into the historical fiction writing trap of describing irrelevant things that may or may not be interesting but have nothing really to do with the plot that she learned while doing research. Pointless descriptions and odd tangents fill up most of the time in this book.
The only good thing about this book was the narrator, who did as good a job as she could with the material she was given.
Bottom line: don't waste your money, not even if its on sale.
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3 people found this helpful
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- laura
- 07-11-14
Not for me
I know, it is a poor review, but it is my opinion. I cannot continue listening. I wouldn't waste my money on this one. The narrator is good, though. She has a pleasant voice. I just got carried away by the sale, but now I know why it was on sale. It is hard to follow and does not hold my attention.
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3 people found this helpful