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The Power
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins
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Publisher's Summary
In this stunning best seller praised as "our era's Handmaid's Tale", a fierce new power has emerged - and only women have it (Washington Post).
In The Power, the world is a recognizable place: There's a rich Nigerian boy who lounges around the family pool; a foster kid whose religious parents hide their true nature; an ambitious American politician; a tough London girl from a tricky family.
But then a vital new force takes root and flourishes, causing their lives to converge with devastating effect. Teenage girls now have immense physical power: They can cause agonizing pain and even death. And, with this small twist of nature, the world drastically resets. From award-winning author Naomi Alderman, The Power is speculative fiction at its most ambitious and provocative, at once taking us on a thrilling journey to an alternate reality, and exposing our own world in bold and surprising ways.
What the critics say
"Narrator Adjoa Andoh capably portrays an international cast of characters in this thrilling novel about the reshaping of the world when women develop powerful electrical abilities. Andoh makes the most of her vocal range, tone, and pacing, as well as an extensive catalogue of accents. The audio presentation particularly shines in the development of the character Allie into Mother Eve, especially in some scenes in which the Mother Eve persona drops and Allie speaks in her own voice." (AudioFile)
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What listeners say about The Power
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Sunny
- 2018-01-17
F*ck Me @ That Last Sentence!
This was easily the best book I've read in a long time. I had such a guttural reaction to the very end that there aren't even words to describe the sounds that came out of me. I was stunned. Well worth the Audible credit.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Dan J Eickmeier
- 2018-05-25
Wow!!
I have read post-apocalyptic literature for many years and feel I have a pretty broad exposure to the canon. This is simply one of the best books of this genre I have ever read. It is really one of the best books of any genre that I have read. Read it if you are a sci-fi reader, a feminist, a reactionary male rights proponent, interested in how a Trump became president, how #metoo has changed the world, how the deep state came about or for a million other reasons. Just be sure to read it.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Christine
- 2018-09-18
So far so good
Halfway through and I am interested to see how it will finish. Wish there was stronger character development because right now I don't care about the individual characters stories but in general what will happen to the world. Fantastic performance though - the accents are really good ! #Audible1 Will finish listening but don't think I will get another book from this author.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Mo
- 2018-03-13
If you liked the handmaids tale, you’ll love this
This book is thought provoking, different, and had me completely wrapped up in the story. Wonderfully performed. I can’t say enough good things about it!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Courteous Reader
- 2018-02-05
Adjoa Andoh is a miracle
The Power is a great concept with a so-so plot. Andoh's performance is absolutely magical.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 2021-07-29
Fascinating-Original
Brilliant, fast paced, unique story. Listened in 1 day, didn't want it to end.
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- clevrgrl
- 2019-02-11
Enjoyable Listen
This book was recommended to me in such a a way that it’s path, at times, came to be quite unexpected. I enjoyed listening to the story and being surprised and different turns, and found the main characters well crafted enough to be engaging. I *really* enjoyed the narrator, who met the challenge of many characters with a variety of accents, although I found the Bessapara characters all sounded indistinguishable from each other.
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- Frybowski
- 2018-09-19
Atwood-esque
An interesting dystopian drama casting a fascinating and thought-provoking perspective on gender and the human condition #Audible1
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- Tasha
- 2018-09-15
A rival to Aldous Huxley
Sorry, but... this book is POWERFUL. Mad Max + Handmaid's Tale all mixed into one. This is about a world just like ours in a totally new crisis. Over time, the human race will either fall or rearrange itself to adapt. If you like novels about the power of women and the rearrangement of the human-imposed order of things, listen. You will be shocked emotionally, and delighted mentally.
#Audible1
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- Macie
- 2018-09-13
Excellent Thought Experiment
It's a great read, it's an interesting premise, and as a thought experiment, it's very compelling.
I'm not convinced that women would become sexually violent (or even just as regular violent) as men are, regardless of physical strengths being reversed, but I like the idea of entire generations of women growing up not being afraid of how men will hurt them.
And oh my god, that last line. *chef's kiss*
#Audible1
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- Grace
- 2017-11-22
A necessary read
This book is phenomenal.
At times, it addresses social issues as tongue in cheek. In other instances, the commentary is presented in as all too real and difficult to swallow.
I do not want to give anything away, but this novel really makes you think about our current social climate, politics, "human nature," power dynamics, and the like.
If you enjoyed The Handmaid's Tale, 1984, or any other sci-fi novel focused more on social commentary, then this is the book for you.
On top of that, Adjoa Andoh's narration is wonderful. Her accents are great, her character voices varied, and her delivery is exceptional. She creates suspense through pregnant pauses (pauses that are not as grammatically clear in the printed copy of the book) and appropriately quickened sentences. That description may seem generic, but I struggle to find narrators who truly pay attention to the story and deliver with appropriate conviction.
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224 people found this helpful
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- Kelli
- 2017-11-13
Amazing Audio Performance
Super weird science fiction set in the near future that seemed oh so real to me. Some parts bordered on horror and language was edgy so this might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it was a very satisfying read at this moment in history. What woman would not want the power to shock the daylights out of someone (read: a man) with just her thoughts! Kudos to Naomi Alderman for her creative twists and turns and for making me see the world we live in now from a new angle. Would love to discuss this one with a friend over coffee or a glass of wine. Audible 20 Review Sweepstakes Entry
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109 people found this helpful
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- Scott
- 2018-01-23
Top Book of 2017? I Couldn't Get Halfway Through
Any additional comments?
I'm honestly surprised that this book was on the NY Times' and NPR's "Best Books of 2017" lists. I have to assume that it is due to the timeliness of the concept, and the possible conversations around it. However, I got about 4.5 hours into the book, and it had not yet meaningfully engaged with those ideas. On top of that, the book is written in such a bland, predictable, unchallenging manner, that I went back to double check I hadn't picked a book from the Young Adult section of these lists.
Unfortunately, Adjoa Andoh's performance detracted from the story rather than elevating it. Her accents are over the top and cartoonish. We get heavy handed treatments of a southern belle, a hispanic nun in the US (who is voiced as Catalan rather than South American), middle eastern prisoners, and a Slavic head of state. Her British street urchin and African teenager are a little better, but still laid on quite thick.
All in all, I don't see (hear?) what any of the fuss is about. There has to be a book out there that does a better job with the interesting questions The Power attempts to pose.
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81 people found this helpful
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- Maren M.
- 2018-08-06
Beginning pulls you in, but end doesn't hold up
The set-up to this book was one of the best I've listened to in a while. The premise of this new power and how it takes hold around the world makes for a gripping story. Unfortunately, without giving away too many spoilers, it feels like the author takes the easy way out at the end. The narrator handles all the various accents well, though over plays some at times.
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80 people found this helpful
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- SuZieCoyote
- 2017-12-03
Faulty Premise
It was (or could have been) a good story, but what it devolved to was channeling the worst fears of the whiny MRA set, who believe that women, if empowered, will turn around and do to them what they've been doing to us for all of recorded history. I don't buy it. Some women would be jerks if they had physical power over men, and there would be some retaliation in play, but not to the degree it has been happening to us all these centuries. Honestly, women roaming around in packs, gang-raping men? Nah. It isn't just a case of they'd do it "because they can" as the author assumes. There are examples of women in power who are tyrants and there are examples of women in power who are not - mostly, they are not. Women, when empowered, make excellent and fair executives, bosses, and professionals. Empowered women actually create the best societies. The author believes that women, empowered, would simply devolve into packs of wolves. I don't buy it. That said, the story and characters were interesting and the reading was well-done.
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78 people found this helpful
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- Bryan
- 2018-05-07
Wanted to enjoy it more
So much potential for this premise, so woefully squandered. I really wanted to love this book, but between characters I didn't like, story that refused to go anywhere for the first 2/3 of the book, and painfully flat writing, I found myself just trudging through this one. by the time it finally caught my interest in the last few chapters, I was just ready for it to be over.
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73 people found this helpful
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- HILLIARY M SMITH
- 2018-03-10
I hated the voices the narrator used
The narrator used different voices for different people, as is customary, but it felt like she made silly voices for women and very silly voices for teenage girls. I did NOT like that, to the point that I will go get this book to read instead of listening to it.
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58 people found this helpful
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- OJA
- 2018-02-07
Interesting premise, clever elements
The premise was fascinating and there were many clever elements. The central characters were fairly well developed, but the story rests more on navigating the central plot more so than conflict or twists, save for a few minor ones. I thought it was ingenious to use unsympathetic characters to illustrate human beings’ capacity for inhumane behavior even when stereotypical gender roles are reversed. It was sobering though to see how damaging patriarchal societies can be, by shining a light on societal norms through a matriarchal lens.
With regard to the voice actor, the “American” accents were terrible - to the point of distraction. I had previously listened to another book voiced by Ms. Andoh and she did a fine job. Further, Brits - even non actors - can usually do a passable American accent, so this was disappointing. No one speaks like this! It was beyond caricature. That said, it was probably a bridge too far to require a single actor to accomplish the wide range of US regional accents, genders, and ages, in addition to all the international accents. The Nigerian, Middle Eastern, and East European accents weren’t horrible, although far from accurate. The East Indian and presumably Latin American accents weren’t great either. It would perhaps have been more believable to just use her English accent throughout. She did, of course, do a good job with the nuances of regional English accents - Cockney-like for the gangsters, Queen’s English otherwise.
Overall, a decent read.
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21 people found this helpful
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- Rya Laurel
- 2018-02-14
Cheap and tropey
Thought this would be a creative study of power dynamics and how physical strength is an overlooked factor. Instead it was just a piece of tropey dystopian lit. Gender swapping a patriarchy isn't innovative or challenging. Overall, it was like Hunger Games, a movie pitch in book form. Cheap.
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19 people found this helpful
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- Nathaniel C.
- 2017-10-27
Thought provoking concepts poorly executed
With all of the accusations against powerful men coming to light in the recent weeks/months there couldn’t be a better time for a book like ‘The Power’ to be released. This book asks audiences to imagine a world where women have the ability to flip the power dynamic. What would happen in that world? How would it change society as a whole? Now is a perfect time for these questions and having men in particular see how many of the tropes used to define women/feminity are a complete construct of the power inherent in a patriarchal society.
As these questions are raised and dealt with in ‘The Power’ they end up being more thought provoking than the narrative that accompanies them. I really wanted to like this book, and the POV characters chosen by Alderman were brilliant (a cult/religious leader, a senator, a journalist on the frontlines etc). These characters should have been able to capture in a comprehensive way the effects of the power on the world/society. However, I felt each character arch was lacking in the rich detail needed to fully engross the reader and bring to life this new world. This lack of detail ends up leaving the reader with a general sense of watching all of the events unfold from far above instead of being immersed in them.
With a ten year timeline leading up to ‘something’ (don’t want to spoil anything) there was more than enough space to cover the events leading up it and how the power changed society. Yet, most of the time these changes were told not shown: “Now they will know that they are the ones who should not walk out of their houses along at night” or “boys dressing as girls to seem more powerful. Girls dressing as boys…to leap on the unsuspecting”. These are two examples of where it would have been far richer to experience this fear through the eyes of the characters than to be told about it. There is one male character who experiences a rape in a bar, but it’s told later on and this removes the poignancy of how this act has changed how this character sees the world. Due to the lack of a fully realized world the character development suffers leaving most of the characters flat.
Alderman did include technology well into the story, adding emails, texts, online conspiracy forums, but because these elements were not incorporated in a fully realized world, they left me feeling that they were nice touches that lacked the depth to enhance the narrative context. Really this book either needed to be much longer to explore the many facets of this newly created world and all of the characters that it brings up or needed to go more micro and focus on say two characters and really dig into their narrative perspectives.
In the end I am left thinking more about the questions this books raises then thinking of anything that happened in it or any of its characters.
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As for the narrator, I was less than thrilled with her accent choices and the producer of this audio book needed to work on the levels. There is quite a bit of yelling in this performance and often I had to adjust the volume as it would be too loud in my headphones. In general, I am not a fan of narrators who choose to yell frequently in there recordings as it dampens the effectiveness of its use. Overall I would prefer not to listen to this narrator again if I had a choice.
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14 people found this helpful