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Sea of Poppies
- Narrated by: Kish Sharma
- Series: Ibis Trilogy, Book 1
- Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins
- Categories: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Fantasy
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Summary
At the heart of this epic saga, set just before the Opium Wars, is an old slaving-ship, The Ibis. Its destiny is a tumultuous voyage across the Indian Ocean, its crew a motley array of sailors and stowaways, coolies and convicts.
In a time of colonial upheaval, fate has thrown together a truly diverse cast of Indians and Westerners, from a bankrupt Raja to a widowed villager, from an evangelical English opium trader to a mulatto American freedman. As their old family ties are washed away they, like their historical counterparts, come to view themselves as jahaj-bhais or ship-brothers. An unlikely dynasty is born, which will span continents, races and generations.
The vast sweep of this historical adventure spans the lush poppy fields of the Ganges, the rolling high seas, and the exotic backstreets of China. But it is the panorama of characters, whose diaspora encapsulates the vexed colonial history of the East itself, which makes Sea of Poppies so breathtakingly alive - a masterpiece from one of the world's finest novelists.
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What listeners say about Sea of Poppies
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- alli
- 26-08-15
wonderful!
I'm really enjoying this book. In the beginning I wasn't sure about Kish Sharma's narration, but as I kept listening, I started to appreciate him more and more. His renditions of the characters voices are perfect, and sometimes hysterically funny. The only (constructive) criticism I would have is that sometimes he goes too fast. The story itself is rich, evocative and fascinating. I highly recommend this.
7 people found this helpful
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- Joanne Maginn
- 08-08-19
Use the replay speed facility
I was wondering if I could make it through this book. The narrator was galloping and I wasn’t catching names etc. I saw others had mentioned this in reviews. But then I found the speed setting for the replay. Set at 0.75 it slowed down sufficiently to not slur, and give me the detail and time to absorb comfortably. Huge difference. Great book....
3 people found this helpful
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- Doriana B.
- 30-03-15
Excellent!
I really enjoyed this book! The reader is amazing! Pity the quality of the sound of the recording was muffled at times!
3 people found this helpful
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- B. Cashin
- 18-06-14
Loved the book
Would you listen to Sea of Poppies again? Why?
I never listen to a book twice.
How did the narrator detract from the book?
I loved this book, but I wonder if the narrator got a bonus for reading at twice the normal rate. I am glad to see that the second part of the trilogy is narrated by a different narrator.
3 people found this helpful
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- J. Schutrups
- 10-08-18
Didn't Finish
This is the first audio book I have not been able to finish. The narrator spoke much to quickly and words just mearged one into the other. I persevered for several chapters then gave up as I was having to rewind and listen to so many bits again to understand any of the story.
2 people found this helpful
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- James S.
- 30-01-20
Excellent performance.
Kish is reads it so well, and makes it so visceral and real. Listening to the follow up, and it's awfully read. Going to buy the book and read it instead, because the performance is crap.
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- jeni
- 17-09-19
Hard to follow
It was a ok story but the language used at times was very hard to follow
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- Mrs S.M. Bowen
- 05-09-18
Great story, exotic location
This is a really original and different story, about a time and a place that most of us know little of. It is outstandingly well narrated by Kish Sharma, who gives each character a unique and entirely convincing voice.
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- Neharika
- 20-08-18
Beautiful story beautifully told
Excellent narrative that had me gripped till the very end. Looking forward to the next one by the author
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- sheena
- 04-08-18
Loved this book
I really liked the background and history to the poppy trade. I also enjoyed the way the story unfolded, the connections were made and characters were brought together. It seemed to end a bit abruptly but from the threads throughout the story we know it all comes together. Great book!
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- Susan Myers
- 30-11-17
Overly melodramatic
I never really got into this book and was just impatient for it to finish. Not sure I’ll bother with the next two - if it was not so long winded, I feel this would be just another sickly sweet romance novel. The narration was interesting - excellent voices but the delivery of the narration was flat and dull. There were no pauses between many of the different sections, making it confusing to follow at times.
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- Shyam
- 06-02-17
Excellent story, gripping narration
Amitav Ghosh recreates the colonial world with its conflicting ethos and turbulent commerce in a clash of destinies which converge on a schooner. Narrated with excellent voice modulations at a tight pace.
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- Avid reader
- 02-12-12
Wonderful listen 4 a fast ear
Would you consider the audio edition of Sea of Poppies to be better than the print version?
Haven't read the print
What did you like best about this story?
The flow and the life-like description of the characters
What about Kish Sharma’s performance did you like?
The characters' accents
Any additional comments?
Kish at times read too fast to follow.
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- T
- 10-05-12
good beginning gradually decays to nonsense
What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?
Well it's not clear if the recording process was faulty or whether the story actually concludes with the lifeboat leaving in a storm with several main characters on board while several other main characters remain on the ship in various states of unresolved dubious action, but it could have got to maybe 2.5 stars if all this was concluded in some way.
What could Amitav Ghosh have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
Make the author sit down and do a serious self critique of his work, modify his objectives in favour of producing a cohesive plausible narrative with consistent characterization, and give it more time, more thought and much hard work rewriting and condensing.
Would you listen to another book narrated by Kish Sharma?
Yes the narration was very good considering the overblown nonsense that the book gradually decended to, and the narrator probably can't be blamed for overdoing it somewhat.
You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?
The commencement of the book was excellent The early development of the characters and their origins and the narrative was fine up to maybe one third of the way through. The ingredients were there for a great novel, if only it had continued in that way. Unfortunately the author became overwhelmed by his own characters and quite literally lost the plot.
Any additional comments?
Please convey my comments for what they are worth to the author because in my opinion the author does have talent - currently wasting it.