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  • Goldenhand

  • The Old Kingdom, Book 5
  • By: Garth Nix
  • Narrated by: Heather Wilds
  • Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (479 ratings)
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Goldenhand cover art

Goldenhand

By: Garth Nix
Narrated by: Heather Wilds
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Summary

The long-awaited fifth installment in Garth Nix's New York Times best-selling Old Kingdom series, for listeners who enjoy series by Rae Carson, Kristin Cashore, Scott Westerfeld, and Cassandra Clare.

Goldenhand takes place six months after the events of Abhorsen and follows the novella Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case, which is featured in Across the Wall.

Lirael lost one of her hands in the binding of Orannis, but now she has a new hand, one of gilded steel and Charter Magic. On a dangerous journey, Lirael returns to her childhood home, the Clayr's Glacier, where she was once a Second Assistant Librarian. There a young woman from the distant North brings her a message from her long-dead mother, Arielle. It is a warning about the Witch with No Face. But who is the Witch, and what is she planning? Lirael must use her new powers to save the Old Kingdom from this great danger - and it must be forestalled not only in the living world but also in the cold, remorseless river of Death.

©2016 Garth Nix (P)2016 Listening Library

What listeners say about Goldenhand

Average customer ratings
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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Love the Old Kingdom but can't go on

I love this storyine by Garth Nix, and Tim Curry's performance of the original trilogy is stupendous. But Heather Wilds, I'm afraid, was not having a good day. If you're not interested in or even following what you're reading aloud it all sounds the same, with monotonously repeated patterns of intonation that drive the colour out of the story and drive the listener up the wall. Within 5 minutes I'd had enough, I wasn't listening anymore, because she wasn't paying enough attention. Listen to Sabriel - that's how to read these books. Sorry, sounds harsh, but I actually wondered if Siri would be better. I'm off to buy the book. Might as well read it myself.

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40 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Another great story from Nix but let down by Wilds

Love this entire series, and although Goldenhand isn't the strongest book, it is still a great experience. Developing Lirael further as she progresses as the Abhorsen in waiting, Goldenhand introduces some new characters whilst drawing on the key previous names from the past books in the series.

However, Heather Wilds narration is nothing but bland and awkward and really takes away from the enjoyment. My advice, buy the physical book and read it.

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29 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
  • P
  • 29-11-16

An amazing addition to the series ruined by an awful reader

The narrater of the book (Heather Wilds) is not at all good completely ruins the excitement and tension in the book as it is all read in a monotone so the most exciting scenes seem mundane!
I highly recommend this book but suggest you either read it or find a different narrator if you really want to be able to enjoy this wonderful book!

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20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Terrible narration

The story was enjoyable, not as full as the others in this series.
However it was so difficult to listen to. The narration is completely monotone with words randomly stressed all over the place in paragraphs so it was very easy to get distracted or totally miss important parts. I turned the recording off 3 minutes in and attempted to buy the kindle version to not ruin the book for myself. But I have listened to it all now. The narration is bad throughout

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18 people found this helpful

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

Worst narrator I have ever heard

This narrator was painful to listen to. It was like listening to a robots impression of what an interesting sentence sounded like and then repeated every sentence. So much so that I missed a lot of the story through sheer irritation at the narrator. Do yourself a favour and skip this. Seriously. The books okay, but read it. If you do feel the need to buy it, listen at 1.8 speed and the algorithms take away her hideous intonation.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Awful Narration !!

I really struggled with this book. Having listened to the first three Old Kingdom books read beautifully by Tim Curry. He really engaged with the characters and the plot. Therefore engaging me. He was always going to be a hard act to follow. Then with the fourth book Clariel the narrator changed to Graeme Malcolm. Whilst he was not in Curry's league he still did an admirable job once I'd gotton used to the changed accents of the well established characters. I can not say the same about Heather Wilds Narration. It was sooooo monotone. I couldn't tell when one sentence began or ended. let alone characters or chapter. I found myself repeating chapter after chapter because I kept zoning out. It was beyond tedious. I gave up after repeating chapter 17 for the umpteenth time and returned the book. Which is a shame. Garth Nix is a great writer and this was a great series for young and old alike. However for me the finale was completely ruined by the narrator. I have very poor eyesight, so my chances of reading the physical book are slim.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story, abysmal reader!

Really enjoyed the book but the reader is terrible, putting stress on all the wrong words!

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • R
  • 12-11-16

Poor narration

The story is great but the narrator is really awful. She doesn't read ahead to the end of a sentence before saying it out loud so all the emphasis ends up on the wrong words which makes it quite hard to understand what is going on.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • A
  • 16-10-16

A robot could read it better, story excellent.

The story was excellent and brought together many threads and opens the door for further development, PLEASE lets have more.
However the narration was like a trainer for voice dictation, crisp, perfect diction, without expression or emotion. If I had not wanted to follow the story I would have ducked out in the first ten minutes, run the text through a text to speech processor and you would get more feeling, warmth, heart or whatever it is that is the mark of an excellent narrator.
I would happily have Heather Wilds on my satnav, crisp and clear, but never again on an audio book unless she goes and follows the Tin Man in Oz. Less robot more heart. Perfect diction can kill a story.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

the worst reading of a great story imaginable

such a great story wonderfully written given the worst flat and uninspired reading ever. it's monotonous uninspiring and dreadful which is laughable as there is no dread at all in her reading as there should be upon entering death etc. Nix gets lucky as this is so bad I had to buy the paperback and read it myself.

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7 people found this helpful