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Skald: The Short Story Collection

By: Martin Edwards,Ben Okri,Sophie Hannah,Emma Dibdin,Elly Griffiths,Parker Bilal,Ellah Wakatama Allfrey editor -
Narrated by: John Banks,Jessica Dennis,Kobna Holdbrook-Smith,Damian Lynch,Colleen Prendergast,Katy Sobey
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  • Summary

  • Commissioned by Audible and written especially for audio format this collection brings together six crime stories through the themes of discovery, destination and arrival. Top narrators bring these gripping tales to life acknowledging the Scandinavian tradition of oral storytelling.

    In this collection Ben Okri and Martin Edwards explore 'discovery' in their stories; Sophie Hannah and Emma Dibdin each draw on 'destination' for their tales of painful pasts; and Elly Griffiths and Parker Bilal tackle the theme of 'arrival' in their stories.

    Skald is one of three short story collections written by our favourite best-selling novelists and emerging authors, and curated based on the themes of arrival, discovery and destination. Jali collates science fiction tales while Bard collates contemporary fiction.

    This is an Audible Original Podcast. Free for members. You can download all 6 episodes to your Library now.

    ©2018 Audible, Ltd. (P)2018 Audible, Ltd.
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Episodes
  • Ep. 1: Catch of the Day
    Apr 10 2018

    On a Hawaiian island a wealthy American woman – twice widowed, once divorced – hires a local driver to show her around. As their relationship develops we discover the secrets of narrator, Luis', past.

    Orphaned as a young boy and raised by his aunt, he knows this central truth about himself – his father was a murderer. How does this affect his life; what about the other secrets he has been keeping? And what is the real truth behind Marcia's immediate attraction to him?

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    30 mins
  • Ep. 2: The Multiverse Murder
    Apr 10 2018

    The Man Booker prize-winning novelist and poet, Ben Okri makes his Crime debut in this series with a daringly ambitious story that crosses genre. Detective Drapper feels the world is out of kilter as he investigates an alleged crime. There is a witness but no body. And then the facts begin to shift and what should be impossible seems to be happening at every turn.

    Why can no one else see the truth as it soon becomes plain to Drapper and how is he to solve a problem when the very fabric of reality is torn?

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    40 mins
  • Ep. 3: Bully the Blue Bear
    Apr 10 2018

    In a departure from the worlds of her crime novels, Sophie Hannah has created a new character especially for this series. Detective Constable Simon Waterhouse can't let a case go. It looks as if it's been solved, but he is sure that something has been missed. As he continues as investigation into the suicide of a schoolyard bully, the underbelly of village life is laid bare – as is the secret pain Waterhouse himself has carried for so long.

    Featuring deranged altercations in the churchyard and a blue bear named Bully, this story by one of our leading crime writers examines the motivations of a very human police officer.

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    1 hr and 2 mins

What listeners say about Skald: The Short Story Collection

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable listen overall

Good stories overall. However, one story seems to be somewhat incomplete I, personally would want to find out more about characters and what happened to them. I don't want to spoil the listen, but I hope you would figure out which story I am talking on about. Generally, it is worth listening, and it is free. What are you going to lose?

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

what a great freebie!

brilliant, well written short stories. I'd have paid for these! Not a weak story among them, they're all fab!

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2 people found this helpful

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

Disappointed with stories

Two stories were OK. Bully and Zephyr. The rest were poor and were not really stories at all but to me, just self-indulgent waffling. I wouldn't recommend.

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2 people found this helpful

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

Bland multiverse mumbo-jumbo

A really great narrator, unfortunately terribly bland writing, for example - "not where... but *when*"

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1 person found this helpful

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

Enjoyable way to spend a few evenings.

Some good stories here, a lovely way to spend the autumn evenings. looking forward to giving the other short story collections a listen!

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1 person found this helpful

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

Excellent

Captivating engrossing stories.
The narrators brought them to life enjoyed everyone of the stories
Thank you

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1 person found this helpful

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

Very gripping and we'll tead

A very varied and exciting bunch of stories very well narrated and very enjoyable. Good listen

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

worth a listen

some good little stories. worth a listen.
great too past a few hours . 7 out of 10

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1 person found this helpful

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

A mixture

I will not say which one I enjoyed the most but given the brevity then it is worth listening to all 6.

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

Good stories, but poorly grouped.

I thought that these were all good stories, but they were bundled together as a set crime stories in the tradition of Scandinavian crime fiction. I don't know who made that decision, or why, but it detracted from the set simply because I went in with very different expectations.

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