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The Night Land: A Story Retold

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The Night Land: A Story Retold

By: James Stoddard, William Hope Hodgson
Narrated by: Jason Mills
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About this listen

An adventure of both science-fiction and fantasy - one of the great love stories - this is William Hope Hodgson's masterpiece, rewritten for the modern listener.

Penned in 1912, The Night Land is considered by many to be a work of genius, but one written in a difficult, archaic style that listeners often find impenetrable. As a labor of love, James Stoddard has rewritten Hodgson's book to bring it to a wider audience.

The story opens in the 19th century but quickly moves to the far future, where the sun has gone out, leaving the world in a darkness broken only by strange lights and mysterious fires. Over the ages, monsters and evil forces have descended to the Earth, compelling the surviving humans to take refuge in a great pyramid of imperishable metal built in a miles-deep chasm. The monsters surround the pyramid in a perpetual siege lasting for eons, waiting for the moment when its defenses will fail.

But one man, born out of his time, must leave the pyramid to seek his long-lost love though all the perils of the Night Land.

©2005 James Stoddard (P)2012 James Stoddard Fantasy Fiction Paranormal Paranormal Romance Romance Science Fiction

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All stars
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I was skeptical of a 'retelling' but I'm a big fan of Dying Earth so thought I'd give it a go. Was surprised by the imaginative story and ended up listening almost in one sitting! Best audio book I've heard so far this year.

Captivating!

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W.H. Hodgson's strange and quirky book has been made more readable in this re-written effort. This takes nothing away from the original story, which is a tremendous work of fantasy.
The reader is taken along on a quest through a dark and horror strewn world, where, against all the odds, a lone man ventures into the night land, guided only by premonition and hope, in search of his re-born former wife of an earlier time. No other work of fiction or fantasy is even close to this one, and whether you read this re-told version, or the original, you will be taken along on a journey through a nightmare land which will surprise and delight you.

A master work improved.

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I really enjoyed the reader, and the author's retelling to make this work more accessible is a triumph. It is a very simple story (only a few named characters) with an interesting framing device. My only reservation is that the hero's interactions' with the beings and monsters of the night land always take the form of physical violence or wordless spiritual conflict, which can get a bit boring. I started to yearn for more satisfying encounters... Definitely worth a listen though.

fascinating period piece

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I'm a big fan of the works of William hope Hodgson, I remember plowjng through Hodgson's verbose and difficult original text, so it's with some relief that James Stoddard's excellent retelling exits at all. He's managed to make an unfortunately extremely unreadable book palatable for the masses, which is a good thing as hidden in the originals meandering script in a truly fantastic story. I did initially have reservations regarding Jason's narration however, I eventually warmed to his "accent " Well done all.

Into the night land

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The narrator's voice is totally inappropriate. I couldn't get through 5 minutes before I had to give up.

terrible narrrator

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