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  • The Death of the Necromancer

  • Ile-Rien Series, Book 2
  • By: Martha Wells
  • Narrated by: Derek Perkins
  • Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (55 ratings)

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The Death of the Necromancer

By: Martha Wells
Narrated by: Derek Perkins
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Summary

Nicholas Valiarde is a passionate, embittered nobleman with an enigmatic past. Consumed by thoughts of vengeance, he is consoled only by thoughts of the beautiful, dangerous Madeline. He is also the greatest thief in all of Ile-Rien... On the gaslight streets of the city, Nicholas assumes the guise of a master criminal, stealing jewels from wealthy nobles to finance his quest for vengeance: The murder of Count Montesq. Montesq orchestrated the wrongful execution of Nicholas's beloved godfather on false charges of necromancy - the art of divination through communion with spirits of the dead - a practice long outlawed in the kingdom of Ile-Rien.

But now Nicholas's murderous mission is being interrupted by a series of eerie, unexplainable, even fatal events. Someone with tremendous magical powers is opposing him. Children vanish, corpses assume the visage of real people, mortal spells are cast, and traces of necromantic power that hasn't been used for centuries are found. And when a spiritualist unwittingly leads Nicholas to a decrepit mansion, the monstrous nature of his peril finally emerges in harrowing detail. Nicholas and his compatriots must destroy an ancient and awesome evil. Even the help of Ile-Rien's greatest sorcerer may not be enough, for Nicholas faces a woefully mismatched battle - and unthinkable horrors await the loser.

©1998 Martha Wells (P)2013 Tantor
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Critic reviews

"Wells continues to demonstrate an impressive gift for creating finely detailed fantasy worlds rife with many-layered intrigues and immensely personable characters." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about The Death of the Necromancer

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Most enjoyable

A great listen with, as said elsewhere, lots of creatively overlapping genres and a tip of the hat to an alternative world Holmes and Watson in the mix. More satisfying than the first in the series, with an excellent narrator. Will send me in search of more Wells fantasy though her pinnacle really is the fabulous grumpy Murderbot watching his entertainment dramas and saving irritating humans

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

it's probably me...bored

I couldn't get into it at all. probably me. couldn't remember it from one day to next

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great rip roaring fantasy

Very enjoyable fantasy novel that blends genres and creates a fun, imaginative "real" feeling world.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Really great fun

A fantastic imagination, really good characterisation, lovely atmosphere and the reading style was great - wonderfully pitched.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not M Well’s best…

It’s OK, but suspect it might be better in paper rather than audio. I found it very difficult to keep my attention engaged with this one. I use audiobooks for my daily commute and found that I would just disengage from this for 20+ min at a time but very quickly realised that I had missed little and could just continue without rewinding.
Not sure if it’s the narration or the story but I found this one less good that MW’s other books which I have thoroughly enjoyed.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fun exciting fantasy

I really enjoyed this story, the characters were intelligent and the clever plot kept my attention. This is my first Martha Wells book and I'll be checking out her others. Stand alone story

Great narrator Derek Perkins was fantastic.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Great mystery investigation

From thief to investigator and lots of lies.
Not a book I would normally go for but I absolutely loved it and the narration was spot on

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Couldn't finish sorry

There's few books I don't finish once I start... but I had to give up on this one. seemed to be massive periods of just chatting about political dalliances, interspersed with 2 sentences of something interesting!

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