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The Prestige Audiobook
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(3.00) - 6,657 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
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.
Their rivalry will take them to the peaks of their careers—but with terrible consequences. In the course of pursuing each other’s ruin, they will deploy all the deception their magician’s craft can command, the highest misdirection and the darkest science. Blood will be spilled, but it will not be enough. In the end, their legacy will pass on for generations to descendants who must, for their sanity’s sake, untangle their puzzle.
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"An excellent book which I read long after having seen the movie - both stand equally on their own and are different enough (in places quite different) that neither completely spoils the other. That said, I think I prefer the movie version better which is a bit of a surprise considering how seldom a movie-adaptation lives up to the source material."
— MJ (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“A brilliant conjuring act by one of the master illusionists of our time.”
— Wired -
“Extraordinary—like a dazzling magic act!”
— Entertainment Weekly -
“A dizzying magic show of a novel, chock-a-block with all the props of Victorian sensation fiction: séances, multiple narrators, a family curse, doubles, a lost notebook, wraiths, and disembodied spirits; a haunted house, awesome mad-doctor machinery, a mausoleum, and ghoulish horrors; a misunderstood scientist, impossible disappearances; the sins of the fathers visited upon their descendants…Imagine Possession rewritten by Barbara Vine, or Robertson Davies at his most smoothly diabolical. A brilliantly constructed entertainment!”
— Washington Post -
“Hypnotic…The Prestige provides the satisfaction of an ambitious and well-told entertainment.”
— San Francisco Chronicle -
“Nothing quite prepares you for the sinister complexity and imaginative flair of The Prestige…Magnificently eerie.”
— Anthony Quinn, Sunday Times (London) -
“Enthrallingly odd…This is a complex tale that must have been extremely difficult to tell in exactly the right sequence, while still maintaining a series of shocks to the very end. Priest has brought it off with great imagination and skill.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“Priest’s remarkable novel [has] been produced as an audiobook every bit as remarkable…Hearing Vance mellifluously pronounce words like ‘prestidigitator’ as if they were part of his normal speech makes the book worth the time, but there is so much more…Vance expertly portrays these two men as their lives (and their tricks) are slowly revealed.”
— AudioFile -
“Priest writes crisp, unencumbered prose. And anyone who’s ever thrilled to the arcing electricity in the ‘It’s alive!’ scene in Frankenstein will relish the ‘special effects’ by none other than Nikola Tesla.”
— Amazon.com, editorial review -
“A taut, twisting, prize-winning story…An unexpectedly compelling fusion of weird science and legerdemain.”
— Kirkus Reviews -
“Beautifully written…Priest masters the merging of SF and mainstream, and The Prestige is his finest novel to date.”
— New Scientist -
“It’s difficult to say how long it’s been since I’ve been so enthralled with an audiobook…[Vance’s] performance was stellar. Because of his subtle care, the surprises of the novel were enhanced…The result is an intricate web that is slowly unraveled throughout the book. It’s an audiobook that merits a second listen…An SFFAudio Essential.”
— SFFAudio.com -
“A marvelously scary entertainment with one of the creepiest final revelations in recent years. Don’t miss the magic show!”
— Gahan Wilson, Realms of Fantasy
Awards
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Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
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Winner of the 1996 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel
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A 2007 Audie Award Finalist
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Winner of the 1995 James Tait Black Memorial Prize
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A 1996 Arthur C. Clarke Award Finalist
The Prestige Listener Reviews
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" This was such an interesting book. The mystery of the magical world is such a compelling read. I think this book was so informative and also descriptive. I felt like I was there the whole time. The movie also translated pretty well. "
— Ruddy, 2/20/2014 -
" Fun book -- very compelling read, even when the point of view isn't your favorite one, because you are driven to know what is going on. As a fantasy novel, the part you have to suspend disbelief for comes a little late for it to go down easy, but you do it anyway and have a great time learning about magic. "
— Annaliese, 2/18/2014 -
" Interesting book. Good movie with Hugh Jackman. "
— Jeffrey, 2/4/2014 -
" I preferred the movie which was phenomenal. Still a solid book and worth checking out if you loved the movie. "
— Joshua, 1/27/2014 -
" Better than the adapted screenplay and motion picture (and I do find that unfortunate since I'm a Nolan-Bale fan). Priest delivers a riveting rivalry that will keep you reading into the wee hours. "
— Tamara, 1/21/2014 -
" Loved getting inside the minds of two rival magicians. Ending was a bit bizarre to digest, rather unfinished and left me thinking *wait a minute. What?* "
— Nicol, 1/17/2014 -
" I thought the book was just as good as the movie. I favored the movie more simply because I saw it first before reading the book. I think they both did a great job in developing the characters. "
— Levy, 12/31/2013 -
" None of the books I want to read are ever in the store. The movie was fun of this book. "
— Artifice, 12/14/2013 -
" One of the best novel-length works of fiction told in an epistolary form that I can recall. Outstanding. Don't bother with the film, unless of course you enjoyed Batman Begins, since it sports the same creative team--in which case you are a hopeless cultural coprophage. "
— Justin, 11/23/2013 -
" I loved the film, so I decided to read the book, which is (as usual) superior. I especially liked how expansive it was - a mystery over generations. "
— Ken, 11/21/2013 -
" Absolutely brilliant. I found this from a list of narrator's favorite books and this is well worth reading "
— Sarah, 8/10/2013 -
" Loved this book! Different than the movie, and better than the movie. "
— Rebking, 3/29/2013 -
" This is one of the rare cases where the movie was alot better than the book. "
— James, 2/27/2013 -
" Ahhhh - so good. Didn't even matter that I'd seen the movie a couple dozen times. I have to say though, the end creeped me out. I also still have a couple of unanswered questions . . . "
— Ronni, 11/4/2012 -
" Book was better than the movie. "
— Suzanne, 7/3/2012 -
" Second time through is even better! Dang, I love this book.... "
— Lindsay, 6/21/2012 -
" Great book about magic..great story...enjoyed the movie as well...so many twists..magic...perfect read. "
— Ed, 4/15/2012 -
" My brother gave me this book for christmas. It is a good story and not too challenging. A good, fantasy-esque read. "
— Marisa, 2/15/2012 -
" If you like the movie, I definitely don't recommend reading this. It was far too strange for my tastes - I think the movie takes the best pieces of the book and adapts them to the screen brilliantly. "
— Courtney, 6/11/2011 -
" Really good, though I'm sure I would have liked it better if I hadn't already seen the movie. The narrator's American accents drove me batty, though. "
— Becca, 6/9/2011 -
" I love to find a book so different! The unique writing is refreshing and fun, the story interesting with it's changing points of view and surprising twists - definitely worth it :) "
— Tonya, 4/16/2011 -
" Buku ini memiliki cerita yang cukup rumit. Dan sampai akhir pun aku tetap terpesona akan kerumitan jalan ceritanya. compliccated (?) Sampai akhirnya aku menonton filmnya, The Illusionist yang diperankan oleh Christian Bale, aku baru bisa meluruskan benang yang kusut :) Selamat Membaca! "
— Azizah, 4/15/2011 -
" Two stage magicians engaged in lifelong competition. A very good listen, a good solid read. "
— Ellen, 4/5/2011 -
" I'd say that this was one book where I liked the movie version a bit better! However, I still enjoyed the book, and liked how it was written from the perspective of several different characters. "
— Amanda, 3/29/2011
About Christopher Priest
Christopher Priest has won the World Fantasy Award and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and in 2001 was awarded the Prix Utopia for lifetime achievement in fantastic literature. He is married to the writer Leigh Kennedy. They live in Hastings, England, with their two children.
About Simon Vance
Simon Vance (a.k.a. Robert Whitfield) is an award-winning actor and narrator. He has earned more than fifty Earphones Awards and won the prestigious Audie Award for best narration thirteen times. He was named Booklist’s very first Voice of Choice in 2008 and has been named an AudioFile Golden Voice as well as an AudioFile Best Voice of 2009. He has narrated more than eight hundred audiobooks over almost thirty years, beginning when he was a radio newsreader for the BBC in London. He is also an actor who has appeared on both stage and television.