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  • Library at Mount Char

  • Written by: Scott Hawkins
  • Narrated by: Hillary Huber
  • Length: 16 hrs and 47 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (92 ratings)

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Library at Mount Char cover art

Library at Mount Char

Written by: Scott Hawkins
Narrated by: Hillary Huber
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Publisher's Summary

Carolyn's not so different from the other human beings around her. She's sure of it. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. She even remembers what clothes are for. After all, she was a normal American herself once. That was a long time ago, of course - before the time she calls "adoption day", when she and a dozen other children found themselves being raised by a man they learned to call Father.

Father could do strange things. He could call light from darkness. Sometimes he raised the dead. And when he was disobeyed, the consequences were terrible. In the years since Father took her in, Carolyn hasn't gotten out much. Instead she and her adopted siblings have been raised according to Father's ancient Pelapi customs. They've studied the books in his library and learned some of the secrets behind his equally ancient power. Sometimes they've wondered if their cruel tutor might secretly be God. Now Father is missing. And if God truly is dead, the only thing that matters is who will inherit his library - and with it power over all of creation.

As Carolyn gathers the tools she needs for the battle to come, fierce competitors for this prize align against her. But can Carolyn win? She's sure of it. What she doesn't realize is that her victory may come at an unacceptable price - because in becoming a god, she's forgotten a great deal about being human.

©2015 Scott Hawkins. Recorded by arrangement with Crown, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. (P)2015 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

What listeners say about Library at Mount Char

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    5 out of 5 stars

Mystic Arts Gets A Little Cosmic

I had this recommended as a Lovecraftian horror... and though it wasn't entirely in that style (in my opinion), it was very entertaining to listen to. And the narrator initially seemed like they'd have a distinct and distracting voice, but I found I quickly warmed up to it, and she did an exceptional job with the various character voices--especially the more sinister ones. Clearly the apprehension was a "me" thing. It's a dark and twisted story... and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

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

Excellent story

Excellent depth, imagination, and writing in this unique story. Give it a try! worth it.

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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

Compelling fantasy novel

I love the suspension of disbelief this story asks of the reader. The world the author built is presented as is, which left me puzzling out my own theories.

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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

Excellent Book!

I really enjoyed this story. It was weird and original and the narration performance was great!
I’ll be looking for more from this author.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

no action To much story

after 4 chapters decided to stop listening. completely disappointed. story goes on and on with our much action. too much details about stories and character background

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

Horrible

The reading is fine but the story itself is horrible. Take a great big pass on this one. I couldn’t even finish the first chapter.

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

An uneven origin story

I had to stop after I finished this and post a review, because this is one of the more frustrating listens I've had in awhile.

The narration was decent, not an unpleasant voice, but the dialogue and narration, together, sometimes lead to characters coming off as incredibly dense. The biggest issue being that the material is uneven, so when the story hits a huge down turn, involving co-protagonist and cookie cutter "everyman" Steve and his mission to do... whatever, you have literal hours of absolute nonsense, where even the narrator sounds like she's going through the motions just to be done with it.

The world and characters of the universe are also hard to believe, mostly because you're kept in the dark about so much, for so long, that you stop caring about what any of it means. The listener/readers view into this world, the afore mentioned Steve, is constantly so willfully obtuse, unquestioning and downright idiotic, that you'll want to strangle him. The fact that he's surrounded by purposefully cryptic characters and situations makes it all nearly unbearable at a certain point.

Like I mention in the title, this story is clearly meant to be an origin, a beginning to something much bigger, and while I'm tempted to call this book a "slow burn" that would imply it eventually leads somewhere, but it doesn't. The payoffs are weak, non-existent, or clearly sign posting further developments in subsequent novels. This would be fine, if the story told HERE was satisfying in and of itself, but that simply isn't the case. That's not to say that there aren't interesting ideas here, because there are. In fact, there are quite a few moments where you'll think the book is about to turn a corner, but it will suddenly shift away to something far less interesting to focus on something mundane, like Steve. God damn Steve.

Somebody recommended this book to me on the basis that it had a very Lovecraftian tone, which...is simply not the case. I love weird, mind-bending fiction and this book constantly feels like it's on the verge of doing something interesting, but stumbles every time. In fact, it sweeps a bunch of the most interesting bits, those involving ancient gods, arcane arts and world ending cataclysm, under the rug, or gives them bland explanations that would have been better off without an answer. Instead it gives you Steve.

I'm usually one to stick through a subsequent book or two in a series, even if it has a rocky start, but I have so little interest in any of the unexplained mysteries here, and zero affinity for the characters, that this is probably going to be one I won't head back to in the future.

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

Interesting but painful.

This book is an origin story that may be interesting to some, but was ultimately boring to me. The story was s very methodical and not entirely unpleasant. However, the narration was painful. The way the narrator spoke in Caroline’s voice grated on my nerves and made me anxious. The only reason I finished the book was because I was hoping for a more interesting conclusion and a more complete story line to develop. Neither of these came to fruition. I sincerely hope others enjoy this more than I did. I dislike writing bad reviews, but felt I had no choice in this case. I simply can’t recommend it.

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3 people found this helpful