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The Prestige

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The Prestige

By: Christopher Priest
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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About this listen

 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. Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Literary Fiction Movie, TV & Video Game Tie-Ins Science Fiction Magic Users

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Critic reviews

Winner of the World Fantasy Award

"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)
All stars
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Really enjoyed the film which is why I purchased this book. Story peers into the minds of both magicians but focused in particular on one of them. Fasinating introduction which lead me to consider if I bought the correct book, but ties it up near the end with me wanting more and wondering about certain aspects

Brillant

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Really enjoyed listening to this book, the story is multilleyered and very interesting. The narrator makes it extra enjoyable

Very good read, highly recommended

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I have seen the movie many times as it is a favourite of mine, and I have now finished the book as well.

Without comparison, the book is thoroughly entertaining and kept me guessing a lot. The characters are all well developed and Simon Vance provides excellent narration. 100% worth a listen.

In comparison to the Movie the story is quite different, meaning I still couldn't guess key points in the book until they happened. The movie probably held me back in this respect. I think overall the movie has a better storyline and is perhaps a bit less confusing but I loved and would recommend both.

Worth a listen

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A rather complex though fantastically brilliant story, so beautifully narrated with flawless and impeccable finesse.

A Fantastically Brilliant Story, Beautifully Narrated with Flawless Finesse

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I didn’t know anything about the story when I started it. My goodness, that ending was intense!

A great read

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This is the first unabridged audio book I have managed to get all the way through. The story is excellent (much better than the film version) and the quality of the narration is first class.

Excellent Narration

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I really enjoyed this audio book & would have bought it had I known about it. As it is, I enjoyed it as part of Audible plus. Refreshingly well written, unlike many of the books that Audible suggests I might like!
Some of the things at the beginning seemed hard to make sense of, but all became clear as the story progressed. I was soon gripped by this imaginative Gothic tale. Four stars for the story, only because I would have liked a bit more at the end.

Why hadn’t I come across this before?

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This is an excellent book, cleverly written, in and of itself, but I personally feel that having watched the movie adaptation a number of times before reading this ruined some of the twists for me. I had the faces of the characters fixed in my head the way they were portrayed by Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman (to name but two) and so this is how they looked in my minds eye, but I was nevertheless captivated by the writing style, which was lovely and precise. This book is a marvel in and of itself and deserves to be read.

Brilliant

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Loved the different perspectives from the cast. Great story original would really recommend giving it a listen

Really enjoyed this

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It is a goof story well told but I found myself having to go back a bit to follow the plot.

Clever (but you have to keep up!)

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