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Phoenix Rising  By  cover art

Phoenix Rising

By: Pip Ballantine,Tee Morris
Narrated by: James Langton
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Publisher's summary

Evil is most assuredly afoot - and Britain’s fate rests in the hands of an alluring renegade... and a librarian.

These are dark days indeed in Victoria’s England. Londoners are vanishing, then reappearing, washing up as corpses on the banks of the Thames, drained of blood and bone. Yet the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences - the Crown’s clandestine organization whose bailiwick is the strange and unsettling - will not allow its agents to investigate. Fearless and exceedingly lovely Eliza D. Braun, however, with her bulletproof corset and a disturbing fondness for dynamite, refuses to let the matter rest... and she’s prepared to drag her timorous new partner, Wellington Books, along with her into the perilous fray.

For a malevolent brotherhood is operating in the deepening London shadows, intent upon the enslavement of all Britons. And Books and Braun - he with his encyclopedic brain and she with her remarkable devices - must get to the twisted roots of a most nefarious plot... or see England fall to the Phoenix!

©2011 Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris (P)2011 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about Phoenix Rising

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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

Great Steampunk - worth a listen

I was very pleasantly surprised to listen to this book - great main characters, fast paced steampunk mystery. The narration is great, and James Langton does a very good job depicting the different characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this book as a funny light mystery, and am about to explore Pip Ballantine's other novels.

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27 people found this helpful

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

Enter the ministry.

What a great book! Eliza D. Braun and her partner Wellington Books are fun to listen to and entertaining to follow, you never know what’s next. The mix of mayhem and comedy make this audio book hard to turn off, so make sure you are ready to get angry at anyone who tries to disrupt you. If you've never listened to a steam punk novel I suggest that you make this one your first. I really hope that Tee Morris and Pip Ballantine will continue to write more about these two.

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22 people found this helpful

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

A fun romp if a little predictable

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. It's a great beach or vacation book. It's fun, easy, and amusing.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Phoenix Rising?

The initial meeting between the two main characters.

Which character – as performed by James Langton – was your favorite?

Wellington Books. He's calm, academic, and yet funny.

Any additional comments?

It's a typical steampunk adventure. A fun brain break worth your time but don't expect anything insightful or surprising. Eliza (the heroine) is pulled right from any feisty romance novel. The male lead, Wellington Books, is a bit more interesting. It's brain candy.

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20 people found this helpful

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

Awful

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Nothing - this is just plain bad writing - cardboard characters, plot slow to develop, etc. Independent of the genre, bad writing is never appealing.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator wasn't terrible but has one MAJOR flaw - he absolutely cannot do a New Zealand or Australian accent. When the heroine is from New Zealand, this becomes a major detraction in listening to the book. One of the other characters is Australian and James Langton makes both the New Zealand and the Australian accent sound like some weird low-class London accent. Really Irritating!

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Boredom.

Any additional comments?

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. It is badly written.

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19 people found this helpful

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

Simply Delightful

A great introduction to the steampunk genre and a wonderful first book in what I hope will be a very long series. The main characters are charismatic and have an excellent chemistry. Well written and narrated. Worth the credit.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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MUCH better than expected. Not a steampunk fan but

Any additional comments?

I'm not a fan of steam punk but this is a book that could get me interested in the genre. I'm definetly looking forward to the second book.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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So this is steampunk...

I'm not a qualified steampunk reader, so forgive me if I hit things with an obvious stick, but what fun! For those, like me, who are strangers to this universe: the science is wonky, steam powered and fantastical. History is not following the course that it did in our history books, so don't be alarmed by drastic departures. At times this seems like both an homage to and a parody of Victorian fantastic fiction, but with a thoroughly modern sensibility. I love that the male lead character is allowed to decide to be gentile and mannered and horrified by the behavior of the female lead character who is fierce and cunning, while at the same time fascinated by her. The role reversal seems natural and satisfying, both for the characters and for me, the reader.

I see this so often in the youngsters my son knows: gentle boys and fierce girls. Perhaps that is why this kind of literature is so popular with their generation. This world is turned on its head, but in a way perhaps it is truer than the world we live in.

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11 people found this helpful

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

Loved it!

The narrator was great, and although the story was a little silly it was certainly enjoyable. Action packed. It kept my attention, which is exactly what I was hoping for.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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Narration

What would have made Phoenix Rising better?

Listen to the Narration before you purchase this book. The story might have been good but I could not get over how poor the narration was.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful Tale

Phoenix Rising is an absolutely wonderful action/adventure tale through a England of Gentleman, Ladies, Bulletproof Corsets, Airships. And most importantly, a plot that could destroy Queen Victoria's nation and perhaps even the world. Enter Eliza D. Braun & Wellington Books, Esq., two agents for the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences which from the shadows keep England safe.

Starting off with the lead characters they are so well developed and you quickly fall in love with them both for different reasons. But the great care and development runs all through the novel with a wonderful world you want to explore more of. And great characters, both good and evil, that make you not want to stop reading because you want to know what happens next. Cliche sounding perhaps but it is very true here.

And the narration by James Langton was wonderful the whole way through, a challenge I am sure with so many accents and such. But he performs just wonderful as well and very much, I think, helped to bring a soul to the world and characters like the great narrators of film and stage. Top marks to him.

If you are looking for a great action tale, please join Agents Books & Braun.

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10 people found this helpful