Get 3 months for $0.99 a month

LIMITED TIME OFFER
The Wandering Fire cover art

The Wandering Fire

 Preview
Get this deal Try for $0.00
Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm PT.
Amazon Prime member exclusive: get any 2 titles with your free trial. Terms apply.
Just $0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 audiobook per month of your choice from our unparalleled catalog.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Wandering Fire

Written by: Guy Gavriel Kay
Narrated by: Simon Vance
Get this deal Try for $0.00

$14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime. Offers ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm PT.

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $28.95

Buy Now for $28.95

About this listen

Two-time Aurora Award-winning author Guy Gavriel Kay has earned three nominations for the World Fantasy Award.

In The Wandering Fire, college students Dave, Paul, Kim, Kevin, and Jennifer return to the magical land of Fionavar to battle the minions of Rakoth Maugrim. But this time, Jennifer is pregnant with a god's baby - one destined to "take the longest road" of any child ever born.

"A passionate battle between good and evil. Delights the spirit." (Star-Phoenix)

©1986 Guy Gavriel Kay (P)2009 Penguin Audio Action & Adventure Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction
All stars
Most Relevant
Loved it then, loving it now as well. And the voice performance is just great!

Rereading from childhood

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Read them all or listen together. The second book doesn’t drag if it’s just the middle. For those that don’t like the borrowed hero’s…
It a world where archetypes get archetyped.

Keep in mind these books should be just one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Lots of unexplained magical things happening, that I don't really care about. I cared less and less for each character as the story advanced.

Yawn

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Guy Gavriel Kay writes thoughtful, imaginative Fantasy - in this episode introducing the legendary Round Table figures Arthur Pendragon and Sir Lancelot into a story where U of T Law Student Jennifer Lowell assumes the role of a past-life identity as Guinevere. It's bold. Kay furthermore writes with capable vocabulary & prose [and employs notably realistic banter among his 5 (that's right - FIVE!) protagonists].. but is annoyingly verbose, obsessed with pathos, imagery & allegory, overly-enamored with using sex as a plot device, and shite at writing action (as the Brits say).
Likewise unfortunate, the twists and turns in the plot are bafflingly complicated - read the plot summary on Wikipedia to see what I mean (if you're okay with spoilers) - and the cast of characters is confusingly huge and gets bigger chapter-by-chapter.

On the positive side, the narration from Simon Vance is noticeably improved in this recording. Vance persists with some odd character voice choices [Dwarves sounding like cartoonish Balkans (ie. Romanian or Transylvanian), for example] - but his diction, timbre, cadence, and tone are unimpeachable, and his Canadian accent is much better.. as well as adhered to judiciously.

Altogether, this recording of 'The Wandering Fire' merits 5.5 stars out of 10. It's worth a download (particularly for "free" as a 'Plus' selection) - and a "decent" way to spend a couple of quiet afternoons - but be prepared to be underwhelmed.

[Note: I love Love LOVE including a summary of the first book as a Prologue to this entry in the story arc. It should be Standard Operating Procedure for writers of incredibly eventful trilogies like this one]

Average Genre Entry

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.