Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Range of Ghosts
    Range of Ghosts
    Range of Ghosts
    Audiobook12 hours

    Range of Ghosts

    Written by Elizabeth Bear

    Narrated by Celeste Ciulla

    4/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    Multiple Hugo Award winner Elizabeth Bear enthralls fans with this compelling first book in the Eternal Sky series. In a world where wizards are unable to procreate, Temur, heir to his empire's throne, flees to avoid assassination. Once-Princess Samarkar, formerly heir to her own empire's throne, gives up everything to seek the wizards' magical power. Drawn together by fate, Temur and the Once-Princess must stand against a cult inciting strife and civil war in all the empires.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateMay 11, 2012
    ISBN9781464036057
    Author

    Elizabeth Bear

    Elizabeth Bear was born on the same day as Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, but in a different year. She is the Hugo, Theodore Sturgeon Memorial, Locus, and Astounding Award–winning author of dozens of novels and over a hundred short stories. She has spoken on futurism at Google, MIT, DARPA’s 100 Year Starship Project, and the White House, among others. Find her at www.elizabethbear.com.  

    More audiobooks from Elizabeth Bear

    Related to Range of Ghosts

    Titles in the series (3)

    View More
    View More

    Related audiobooks

    Fantasy For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Wild And Wicked Things

      Mar 23, 2022

      RELEASED 31 MARCH 466 pages | Hardback/ebook/audiobook Author Francesca May Publisher Orbit Books Hopes for a 21st century revival of the roaring twenties seem doomed to be dashed. But if you’re still hopefully waiting, try heading back to the origin

      1 min read

    • Article

      Also Out

      Oct 9, 2019

      As ever, there’s tons more books we couldn’t fit in. Almost-human wolves and a living ship made of bones are among the delights of Laird Hunt’s dark fairytale in THE HOUSE IN THE DARK OF THE WOODS (out now, One). Alison Littlewood’s MISTLETOE (out no

      1 min read

    • Article

      'Dread Nation' Is A Rollicking 'Gone With The Wind + Zombies' Adventure

      Apr 20, 2018

      But don't underestimate the latest YA novel by activist Justina Ireland – it's also a biting commentary on contemporary race relations in America.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Jay Kristoff

      Sep 8, 2021

      MOST NOVELISTS HAVE AT LEAST ONE book in a drawer that represents an early effort, a text that will never be offered up to a wider readership. In the case of Jay Kristoff, this book was a tale of bloodsuckers he wrote in 2008. “It was right at the ta

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Last Smile In Sunder City

      Jan 29, 2020

      RELEASED 6 FEBRUARY 352 pages | Paperback/ebook/audiobook Author Luke Arnold Publisher Orbit Fans of Black Sails will likely find the name Luke Arnold familiar. He played John Silver in the pirate series, as well as being a mainstay on numerous other

      1 min read

    • Article

      A Dragon’s Perspective

      Jun 10, 2022

      There once lived a dragon named Deathwing. Well, at least that’s what they called him. Deathwing was growing old, far too old for his liking. The joints of his claws ached and groaned under his ever-growing weight and his scales were beginning to los

      18 min read

    • Article

      Perfect Prose II

      May 15, 2020

      Perfect Prose II
      4 min read

    • Article

      Hook, Line And Sinker

      Oct 18, 2018

      Hook, Line And Sinker
      4 min read

    • Article

      Leading A Peasant Revolt In Battle Brothers Part II

      Feb 4, 2021

      The locals in Waidtal call the monstrous spiders that live in their woods ‘webknechts’. The things are horrors the size of a large dog. After a day spent wandering the woods we find a boy hiding beneath a handcart surrounded by the strewn remains of

      7 min read

    • Article

      A Sporting Life In Africa

      Jul 12, 2023

      A Sporting Life In Africa
      2 min read

    • Article

      Battle Brothers part I I

      Feb 23, 2021

      The locals in Waidtal call the monstrous spiders that live in their woods ‘webknechts’. The things are horrors the size of a large dog. After a day spent wandering the woods, we find a boy hiding beneath a handcart surrounded by the strewn remains of

      7 min read

    • Article

      Major Long Talks to His Horse

      Feb 20, 2019

      Major Long Talks to His Horse
      6 min read

    • Article

      Ten Ways to Live Forever

      Nov 20, 2019

      The conquistadors had their imaginings to impose. Theirs was never a process of discovery, but of the endless use and reuse of their own dusty legends. The post Ten Ways to Live Forever appeared first on The Millions.

      28 min read

    • Article

      Four Poems

      May 1, 2022

      —after Gerrit van Honthorst’s “Samson and Delilah,” c. 1621 They’ve made a monster of me, marring my namefor eternity. I’m not Delilah,but Laila. I loved him. Each night, in bed, after our bodies became one body, he would succumb to sleep, resting hi

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Stiperstones

      Jan 26, 2024

      The Stiperstones
      3 min read

    • Article

      Notes From The Isles

      Apr 14, 2023

      Yet again nemesis has smothered my hubris. Having boasted of my expertise in getting the car up our steep, icy track, I awoke to find myself snowed in, near the top of a glacier, totally cut off from all traffic. A nephew and his wife, who were comin

      4 min read

    • Article

      Slaying Monsters in Fiction

      Jan 23, 2018

      When a monstrous beast appears in a story, then it becomes, at least in part, what that story is about.  The post Slaying Monsters in Fiction appeared first on The Millions.

      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Range of Ghosts

    4/5

    209 ratings17 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      The world building here is really great, narrator i loved, but there were so many “I have no idea what is happening right now” moments.
    • 3/5
      Ghost writer's escapades
    • 4/5
      WAR PONIES. STEPPES. TIGERWOMEN (AS IN FEMALE TIGERPEOPLE.
    • 1/5
      I'm honestly kinda surprised that the author managed to make what was such and interesting concept ultimately boring and unmemorable. I guess the characters just didn't click for me?
    • 5/5
      I first heard of Range of Ghosts on John Scalzi's blog. Like with Throne of the Crescent Moon (Crescent Moon Kingdoms) (also a discovery via Scalzi's Big Idea series), I was intrigued by the idea of an epic fantasy that eschews a Euro-centric setting and the "restore the rightful monarch" type plot.Range of Ghosts is set in a world with cultures similar to eastern Europe and Asia - from Turkey to Mongolia to China. The skies are different in each land, depending on who the ruler is and what they believe. In the country of the Eternal Sky, The Great Khagan has fallen and there was a bloody civil war for his succession between Temur's usurping uncle Qori Buqa has prevailed, which means Temur, the rightful heir now that his brother has been killed, has to flee for his life. But it's not just enough to hide outside the borders of the Khaganate - Qori Buqa is consorting with dark and dangerous powers and has his eyes set on conquering the world. Meanwhile, Samarkar, who was once a Rasan princess, has given up her title for the real power of a wizard of Tsarepheth. Together they form an unlikely alliance that just might save the world.The setting of this book makes it really come to life - from the stark and desolate steppes and mountains to the splendour of the city of Tsarepheth. Bear accomplishes the equivalent of paragraphs of description in just a few well chosen words. This also applies to her characters, she paints in broad but precise strokes and is very matter of fact about what they're thinking or how they feel, but we get to know them very well. The societies and customs are very well described - Bear takes care to mention why certain things are the case, which I love!The breadth of characters is also great; especially of women. Despite being a pretty traditional male dominated world, males are heavily outnumbered. There's the new wizard Samarkar who risked death for power, Hrahima the human tiger (Cho-Tse) adventurer (who reminded me of Pyanfar from Pride of Chanur), Tsering the wise wizard, Payma the courageous, young, and pregnant harem member, Edene the stubborn Qersnyk woman that refuses to let her spirit be broken, the nomadic "king" Tzitzik, Saadet the loyal servant and assassin, Nilufer, who won herself a small kingdom in a story that has become folklore - and even Bansh the mare. Of course there are plenty of men too, but they tend to be more stereotypical - probably because there are a lot more stereotypes in fantasy that apply to men. Despite this large cast of characters, the book never gets weighed down and most of the characters have their own unique voice.The plot seems fairly straightforward at first, but takes some delightful twists and turns along the way. People's motivations are not what they seem, and there's a fair amount of scheming. Characters make their own choices and are proud of it. (I'm usually annoyed by stories in which heroism is largely a matter of circumstance and luck - Tad Williams, I'm looking at you.)Although we get a climactic battle and an ending, it's fairly apparent that this is not a stand alone book. The ending isn't exactly a cliff hanger, but it definitely leaves you in anticipation. If that sort of thing bothers you, you should probably wait for the next two books to come out before you read it. But you should definitely read it!
    • 4/5
      It's like a mongolian world back in the times of the great khan, but with a twist. The book starts off slow, but the storyline is interesting. Unfortunately, you're going to have to wait for at least book two for the plot to be resolved.
    • 5/5
      The audio is excellent, the world is so cool and unique, the characters diverse and strong. There is just the right of romance brewing, the friendships are great, the writing is gorgeous. Why didn't I read this trilogy sooner??
    • 4/5
      Range of Ghosts is the first entry into an epic fantasy series with a setting based around central Asia.Temur is the grandson of the Great Khan, who’s empire is being torn asunder in a civil war. As a potential heir, Temur’s sought by assassins sent by his uncle. Samarkar was once a princess of the Rasan Empire, before she gave up her position to become a wizard of the Citadel. When a secret cult sets out to topple empires, it is Temur and Samarkar who are caught in the middle.The greatest strength of Range of Ghosts is its superb world building. Bear writes of the lands around the Celadon Highway, the in world equivalent of the Silk Road. The setting she creates is a refreshing change of pace from the countless “medieval Europe” stories. Not only that, but Bear embeds her setting with a sense of magic. This is a world where the skies change with the fate of empires, where the ghosts of the dead really do howl across the steppes, and where wizards give up their potential to create new life for magical powers. The imaginative setting of Range of Ghosts constantly imparts wonder. Additionally, the characters Bear crafts feel true to their environment. Temur belongs to the steppes under the Eternal Sky, while Samarkar belongs to the cliffs and valleys of the Shattered Pillars.I loved that there were multiple capable female characters who do things! And who are even friends with each other! Both Samarkar and Temur meet courageous women, and I would get unduly excited by the many scenes with three or more female characters.It’s a minor thing, but Bear also writes horses very well. Too many fantasy authors fall into the trap which Diana Wynne Jones’s Tough Guide to Fantasyland describes as treating horses just like bicycles. Banshe, Temur’s mare, is a significant presence and treated like a living animal.Range of Ghosts does have problems with plot and pacing. There’s just no urgency. So much of the book is travel that it can feel like you’re moving from one event to the next. It doesn’t tie together well to create that thrill that makes you unable to put the book down. Maybe this is a symptom of being the first book in the series? It’s possible that it suffers from having to set things up for books farther down the road.I’d recommend Range of Ghosts for people looking for an epic fantasy book with an unique and vivid world, diverse characters, and well written female characters.Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
    • 5/5
      Welcome to a world where the sky changes based on who rules the land. A world where magic is real but requires sacrifices. A world where love, bravery and loyalty guide people's choices - and not always for the best. In a land based on the empires of the Steppes of Asia, the great Khagan had died and his relatives are yielding a bloody war for control of the empire. The Eternal Sky, their God and the sky above the lands, is keeping track of the relatives by having a moon for anyone still alive, allowing everyone to know who is still alive and fighting by just glancing at the night sky. Temur, a grandson of the Khagan has no interest in fighting but when the novel opens he had just survived a war that killed everyone else he ever knew and forced him to run. And while he runs, he need to find his destiny. On the road he will meet his companions - a Tiger-woman by the name of Hrahima (who is there to give a warning to the people but is also related in an intricate way to Temur), the wizard Samarkar (who left a court life and dreams and sorrows behind to become what she is) and the monk Hsiung (who is not talking and for whom I am still not sure what his role is but I suspect we will learn soon). This novel, a first of a trilogy, spends some time with each of our travelers before they meet, showing us how they got where they are now and building the back stories and the intricate connections between them and at the same time introducing the intricate world they live in with all its diversity. Of course we also meet the bad guys - with their own world of sacrifices and blood and the bloody ghosts that they can control. Unlike most fantasy worlds which are based on medieval Europe, Bear's uses exclusively the Eastern empires to base her tribes on - the Mongols and the Chinese, the Muslims and almost anyone else you can think from Asia. You can see the different influences but she also mixes them - the tribe where the women are veiled has the men also veiled most of the time and the main God is in fact a woman; in the world of magic, you need to give up your chance of having children for a chance in getting the gift of magic. Add to all this young love (well... let's call it that even Temur is not exactly faithful), huge birds (replacing the almost mandatory dragons in this kind of storied), an abducted woman (something need to get Temur off his aimlessness after all), battles and court games, a horse that seems to be more than just a regular horse (or is a very intelligent one). And an intricate world building which leaves a lot to the imagination but at the same time sketches the world exactly as much as it should - building the religions, myths and ways of all of the involved peoples and even succeeding at showing the same legend from more than one side - the way real worlds work. Somehow a novel that should have sounded tired and known manages to be surprising and fresh - even if the outline can be valid for most of the fantasy novels ever written. It's a very good start of the trilogy and I am looking forward to reading the next novel.
    • 3/5
      It took me a while to become fully engrossed by the story in "Range of Ghosts". I began the novel knowing nothing except that it was a Fantasy novel by an author who typically writes Sci-Fi. I was surprised to find that the novel was set in a fantasy-variant of Central Asia. Honestly, I wish that the setting had been either less derivative of the real world (with clear analogues of Mongolia, China, the Middle East, and Russia) or more connected to the real cultures and histories of the region.

      Still, I enjoyed the story and characters after I had warmed up to them, and the setting is certainly fresh. The writing is intelligent and detailed, and the characters have significant depth. The old good and evil lines are clearly drawn, but many of the characters manage to push themselves a little toward realistic shades of gray.

      I was disappointed when the novel did not end very well. The primary conflict (as well as most secondary conflicts) await resolution in a sequel. This is very obviously not standalone work, but the first part in a series.
    • 4/5
      this fantasy begins a series that combines ancient peoples of arabian, oriental, and eastern steppes derivation with other races, sets varying skies above them, adds from folklore their fantastic beasts, and different magic systems, and builds out of all that a believable and engaging world, with a combination of quests, politics worthy of the Game of Thrones, and some protagonists worth meeting.
    • 5/5
      Utterly delightful epic fantasy, but with all the standard ingredients upgraded to be more awesome: Mongolian horse-bows! Badass lady wizards! Tiger-people! Ruminant rocks!
    • 5/5
      If I had not received the sequel to Range of Ghosts from the publisher, I can honestly say that Range of Ghosts would never have entered my radar. I'm fairly picky when it comes to my high-fantasy, and one of the qualifications is that the strange-name to familiar-name ratio be fairly balanced. Range of Ghosts was definitely not balanced.However, I took the leap and purchased Range of Ghosts because I am unable to just dive into the second book of the series without having read the first. To be honest, about 100 pages in, I thought I was just going to have to suck up a loss because I just couldn't get into the story. Then things started to happen.So if you are like me and struggle with strange names and terms and trying to get your imagination wrapped around an extremely detailed and exotic world, let me lay out for you a little bit of the things you might just see in this series.First, each kingdom has a different sky. You know which kingdom you are in by looking up - and the skies change according to who is in power. Cool, right? Yeah, I thought so once I figured it out.Second, fluid sexuality is alive and thriving in this book. Characters can switch from male to female and back due to special circumstances.Third, horses named Dumpling are fantastic characters. I won't spoil the surprise.Fourth, females (barren and fertile) have immense power. I loved this aspect of the book and, frankly, it's a strong reason for why it's receiving this review. I am fascinated by Edene, awed by Once-Princess Samarkar, and a little bit in animal love with a certain tiger. I would recommend ignoring the summary of this book, as it just doesn't do the complex nature of the story justice. Take your time, get to know the characters, and rest assured by the end of this first book, you will be rewarded
    • 4/5
      At my age, I should know better than to pick up the first book in a just-begun fantasy trilogy. That only ever ends in tears.

      But if I had to do it, this one was a good one to pick. Bear is very deliberately writing in a fantastic universe based on Russia and Asia rather than Europe, and the difference in archetypes, assumptions, and customs is really very refreshing. This book involved rather a lot of scene-setting and not all that much real action, but I am totally prepared to sit back and let the world unspool at its own pace.
    • 4/5
      The premise: ganked from BN.com: A powerful new fantasy from Hugo award–winning author Elizabeth Bear, Range of Ghosts creates a world both deep and broad, where a sorcerer-prince seeks world domination to the glory of his God.Temur, grandson of the Great Khan, is walking from a battlefield where he was left for dead. All around lie the fallen armies of his cousin and his brother who made war to rule the Khaganate. Temur is now the legitimate heir by blood to his grandfather’s throne, but he is not the strongest. Going into exile is the only way to survive his ruthless cousin.Once-Princess Samarkar is climbing the thousand steps of the Citadel of the Wizards of Tsarepheth. She was heir to the Rasan Empire until her father got a son on a new wife. Then she was sent to be the wife of a Prince in Song, but that marriage ended in battle and blood. Now she has renounced her worldly power to seek the magical power of the wizards.These two will come together to stand against the hidden cult that has so carefully brought all the empires of the Celadon Highway to strife and civil war through guile and deceit and sorcerous power.My Rating: Good ReadWhile I wasn't emotionally engaged, once the story picked up and I got a feel for the characters and the world, it's a pretty compelling read. The world-building and magic feels unique for an epic fantasy (or at least unique to me), and it's not often you get epic fantasy influenced by the East, so that made it doubly fascinating. Elizabeth Bear is always a solid writer, and I managed to finish this book in three days, which is pretty impressive, considering that Bear tends to be one of those writers I have to take a wee bit longer with. Yay for extra time! But in all seriousness, I'm glad I got to read this now, so that I can give this fair consideration for the Hugo nominations. Anyone who'll be nominating needs to give this book a whirl. I'm looking forward to next year's sequel, Shattered Pillars.Spoilers, yay or nay?: Nay. The full review may be found at my blog, and as always, comments and discussion are most welcome. If you're interested in the full review, just click the link below!REVIEW: Elizabeth Bear's RANGE OF GHOSTSHappy Reading!
    • 5/5
      The always-impressive Bear enchants with this new fantasy set in an Asian-inspired land. Young Temur wakes up on the battlefield having been left for dead. He is the grandson of the Great Khagan and has been supporting his half-brother’s bid for rulership—but they were defeated in a series of terrible battles against the usurper Qori Buqa. He joins a caravan of refugees fleeing toward the mountains known as the Range of Ghosts and finds himself adopted into another tribe and paired off with the lovely young woman Edene. But his enemies are still hunting him because he has a valid claim to leadership of the empire and when Edene is stolen by an army of undead ghosts sent against him, Temur must rescue her. Along the way, he crosses paths with Samarkar, a former princess of the Rasan people and now a newly-minted wizard; and Hrahima, a tiger-woman at odds with her god and her people. The three have similar goals—and similar enemies. Qori Buqa has joined forces with al-Sepehr, a necromantic sorcerer from the Uthman Caliphate seeking to restore his sect’s prominence—and al-Sepehr’s blood magic threatens to bring back the dark days of the Carrion King.The vivid world-building and unusual, multi-cultural setting and sympathetic, realistic characters are a delight. The parallels to the real-world cultures of the Mongols, Tatars, Chinese, and others are obvious, but each imagined culture nevertheless has a richness that never feels derivative. A great fantasy for those who may be tired of the same old Medieval Europe-inspired fantasies so prevalent on the shelves.
    • 4/5
      This was sitting on the library shelf, just waiting for me. How could I resist?Once again, the author lovingly embraces, and then subverts, every trope of the quest fantasy. Bear has created a world - no, worlds - where nations have their own sky, and magic serves both villains and heros. The protagonists, Temur and Samarkar, are royalty (another departure for the author, who excels at everyday folk) - and survivors of warfare overt and covert in their respective lands. Their journey takes them from nation to nation, gathering unlikely allies. The comrades are flawed but not - quite - broken, something Bear does particularly well. Uncharacteristically, she stumbles in the first few chapters. While searching for a voice, she goes for profound but only reaches pompous. She hits her stride a few chapters in, though; and leaves the ponderous pronouncements behind.While the wellspring of this tale is not necessarily as unique as some would have it (I can think of at least three writers, including Mary Gentle, who have plumbed similar folklore and geography), it's excellent work. Go forth and read it!