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The King Must Die

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About this listen

The epic of Thesus, the boy king of Eleusis, ritually preordained to die after one year of marriage to the sacred queen but who defies God's decree and claims his inheritance - the throne of Athens. This re-creation of a Greek myth is written by the author of The Last of the Wine.

©1958 Mary Renault (P)2015 Audible, Ltd Classics Fiction Historical Fiction Royalty Ancient Greece Mythology

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Critic reviews

"One of the truly fine historical novels of modern times. Not since Robert Graves's I, Claudius has there been such an exciting living image of the Ancient World on this grand scale." ( New York Times)
"Takes the raw material of myth and makes it credible - I am spellbound by Miss Renault's art." ( Observer)
"Vivid and convincing...it brims with feeling." ( Sunday Times)
All stars
Most relevant
Good and worth another listen. Very good writing, brings to life ancient myths, and very well performed. Will listen to the sequel and then revisit

Good and worth another listen

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I would recommend this book to anyone intending to visit Knossos, or anyone who has enjoyed knowing the myths and legends of ancient Greece.
Mary Renault is a scholarly writer with great imagination.
The performance of Kris Dyer enhances the text.

Myth brought to life

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Excellently written . I expected it to be dated as the book was written in 1958 but it reads true as all classics do. Excellent plot and reconstruction of the atmosphere and superstitions of those early times. Quite well read by a young voice as Theseus but some terrible pronunciations e.g. Feeb for Phoebe amongst some others but at least he was consistent, so I'm giving the 5 stars for the book itself and 3 for the reader. This has not put me off ordering the sequel however.

Vivid reconstruction of ancient times

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I couldn't get on with the narrator at all, he made Theseus sound wet. Book returned.

Didn't like the narrator

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There must have been some reason why this and The Bull from the Sea were given to Kris Dyer to record, but it wasn’t a good one. His voice is light & high & has a tentative quality. This undercuts the emerging characterisation - Theseus is anything but plaintive & indecisive - & Dyer’s range is very limited & quite repetitive.

The book itself is marvellous. I needed an audiobook & listened. But now I’ll re-read the book, because even in the most thrilling passages, I missed so much. These books are crying out to be recorded properly.

Wonderful, thrilling book, very unsuitable reader

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