
A Song to Drown Rivers
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Natalie Naudus
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By:
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Ann Liang
About this listen
Long-listed, Amazon.com Best Books of the Year, 2024
A Good Morning America Book Club Pick • An October 2024 Indie Next Pick • An October 2024 LibraryReads Pick
"Like Xishi, Naudus has an enchanting power: the ability to immerse listeners in an emotionally nuanced tale. Her talent is on full display here--and listeners will be as enthralled with it as Fuchai's royal court is with Xishi's great beauty."—AudioFile
“Exquisite and devastating. It won’t fail to move you.”—Shelley Parker-Chan, #1 bestselling author of She Who Became the Sun
Inspired by the legend of Xishi, one of the famous Four Beauties of Ancient China, A Song to Drown Rivers is an epic novel steeped in myth about womanhood, war, sacrifice, and love against all odds as the fate of two kingdoms hangs in a delicate balance.
Her beauty hides a deadly purpose.
Xishi’s beauty is seen as a blessing to the villagers of Yue—convinced that the best fate for a girl is to marry well and support her family. When Xishi draws the attention of the famous young military advisor, Fanli, he presents her with a rare opportunity: to use her beauty as a weapon. One that could topple the rival neighboring kingdom of Wu, improve the lives of her people, and avenge her sister’s murder. All she has to do is infiltrate the enemy palace as a spy, seduce their immoral king, and weaken them from within.
Trained by Fanli in everything from classical instruments to concealing emotion, Xishi hones her beauty into the perfect blade. But she knows Fanli can see through every deception she masters, the attraction between them burning away any falsehoods.
Once inside the enemy palace, Xishi finds herself under the hungry gaze of the king’s advisors while the king himself shows her great affection. Despite his gentleness, a brutality lurks and Xishi knows she can never let her guard down. But the higher Xishi climbs in the Wu court, the farther she and Fanli have to fall—and if she is unmasked as a traitor, she will bring both kingdoms down.
"Stunning and heart-rending."—Chloe Gong, #1 bestselling author of Immortal Longings
A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.
©2024 Ann Liang (P)2024 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Nobody does yearning and sacrifice better than the Chinese classics, and Liang has given us a new classic that achingly captures the will of kings, the intelligence of women, and the heartbreak of war. Exquisite and devastating. It won’t fail to move you."–Shelley Parker-Chan, #1 Sunday Times Bestselling author of She Who Became the Sun and He Who Drowned the World
“Ann Liang has fashioned an elegant historical epic, honouring the ingenuity of women in the face of impossible odds. With impeccable pacing, evocative prose, and a romance that had my heart in a vice, A Song to Drown Rivers will call you onward, page by page, until you reach its devastating end.”–Samantha Shannon, bestselling author of The Bone Season and The Priory of the Orange Tree
"A stunning, heart-rending feat of a story. A Song to Drown Rivers retells ancient legend with phenomenal voice, bringing a truly worthwhile addition to the historical fiction genre."–Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Immortal Longings
Editorial Review
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Story
On a warm March night in 2083, Judy Wallach-Stevens wakes to a warning of unknown pollutants in the Chesapeake Bay. She heads out to check what she expects to be a false alarm—and stumbles upon the first alien visitors to Earth. These aliens have crossed the galaxy to save humanity, convinced that the people of Earth must leave their ecologically-ravaged planet behind and join them among the stars. And if humanity doesn't agree, they may need to be saved by force. But the watershed networks that rose up to save the planet from corporate devastation aren't ready to give up on Earth.
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Really interesting and engaging story
- By Sebastian on 07-09-23
By: Ruthanna Emrys
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Masquerade
- By: O.O. Sangoyomi
- Narrated by: Ariel Blake
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Òdòdó's hometown of Timbuktu has been conquered by the warrior king of Yorùbáland. Already shunned as social pariahs, living conditions for Òdòdó and the other women in her blacksmith guild grow even worse under Yorùbá rule.Then Òdòdó is abducted. She is whisked across the Sahara to the capital city of Ṣàngótẹ̀, where she is shocked to discover that her kidnapper is none other than the vagrant who had visited her guild just days prior. But now that he is swathed in riches rather than rags, Òdòdó realizes he is not a vagrant at all.
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From the forge to the throne!
- By Rose Carmel Gaspard on 09-29-24
By: O.O. Sangoyomi
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A Sorceress Comes to Call
- By: T. Kingfisher
- Narrated by: Eliza Foss, Jennifer Pickens
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Cordelia knows her mother is . . . unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms—there are no secrets in this house—and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend. Unless you count Falada, her mother's beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him. But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don’t force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren’t sorcerers.
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Tangled meets Get Out-trigger warning
- By KyleStephanie on 08-16-24
By: T. Kingfisher
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Hera
- A Novel
- By: Jennifer Saint
- Narrated by: Naomi Frederick
- Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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When the immortal goddess Hera and her brother Zeus overthrow their tyrannical father, she dreams of ruling at his side. But as they establish their reign on Mount Olympus, Hera begins to see that Zeus is just as ruthless and cruel as the father they betrayed. While Zeus ascends, Hera is relegated to the role of wife and mother, a role she never wanted. She was always born to rule, but must she lose herself in perpetuating this cycle of violence and cruelty? Or can she find a way to forge a better world?
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Lost potential
- By Faisal Sultan on 08-29-24
By: Jennifer Saint
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Book of Night
- By: Holly Black
- Narrated by: Sara Amini
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Charlie Hall has never found a lock she couldn’t pick, a book she couldn’t steal, or a bad decision she wouldn’t make. She's spent half her life working for gloamists, magicians who manipulate shadows to peer into locked rooms, strangle people in their beds, or worse. Gloamists guard their secrets greedily, creating an underground economy of grimoires. And to rob their fellow magicians, they need Charlie Hall.
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Just what I was expecting, but maybe not for all
- By Ollie Oxyn Free on 05-11-22
By: Holly Black
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The Book Eaters
- By: Sunyi Dean
- Narrated by: Katie Erich
- Length: 13 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Out on the Yorkshire Moors lives a secret line of people for whom books are food, and who retain all of a book's content after eating it. To them, spy novels are a peppery snack; romance novels are sweet and delicious. Eating a map can help them remember destinations, and children, when they misbehave, are forced to eat dry, musty pages from dictionaries.
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Book worth a college course on it's own.
- By SW;MDA on 10-08-22
By: Sunyi Dean
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Demon in the Wood
- A Shadow and Bone Graphic Novel
- By: Leigh Bardugo
- Narrated by: Ben Barnes, Benjamin Valic, Cassandra Morris, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Before he led Ravka’s Second Army, before he created the Fold, and long before he became the Darkling, he was just a lonely boy burdened by an extraordinary power. Eryk and his mother, Lena, have spent their lives on the run. But they will never find a safe haven. They are not only Grisha—they are the deadliest and rarest of their kind.
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Too short
- By Julie D on 12-12-22
By: Leigh Bardugo
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The Shadow Key
- A Novel
- By: Susan Stokes-Chapman
- Narrated by: Richard Harrington
- Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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On an isolated estate in late-eighteenth-century rural Wales, a young English doctor uncovers dangerous secrets that may threaten his own life in this spellbinding Gothic tale from the bestselling author of Pandora.
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So fun!
- By Lauren Brumsted on 12-08-24
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Middlegame
- By: Seanan McGuire
- Narrated by: Amber Benson
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Meet Roger. Skilled with words, languages come easily to him. He instinctively understands how the world works through the power of story. Meet Dodger, his twin. Numbers are her world, her obsession, her everything. All she understands, she does so through the power of math. Roger and Dodger aren’t exactly human, though they don’t realize it. They aren’t exactly gods, either. Not entirely. Not yet. Meet Reed, skilled in the alchemical arts like his progenitor before him. Reed created Dodger and her brother. He’s not their father. Not quite. But he has a plan.
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Couldn't Finish
- By Amy Ferrantino on 05-22-19
By: Seanan McGuire
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A Far Wilder Magic
- By: Allison Saft
- Narrated by: Jesse Vilinsky
- Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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When Margaret Welty spots the legendary hala, the last living mythical creature, she knows the Halfmoon Hunt will soon follow. Whoever is able to kill the hala will earn fame and riches, and unlock an ancient magical secret. While Margaret is the best sharpshooter in town, only teams of two can register, and she needs an alchemist. Weston Winters isn’t an alchemist—yet. He's been fired from every apprenticeship he's landed, and his last chance hinges on Master Welty taking him in. But when Wes arrives at Welty Manor, he finds only Margaret.
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Good Romance book, but fantasy? So so
- By SOLIJA on 02-17-23
By: Allison Saft
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The Stardust Grail
- A Novel
- By: Yume Kitasei
- Narrated by: Katharine Chin
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Maya Hoshimoto was once the best art thief in the galaxy. For ten years, she returned stolen artifacts to alien civilizations—until a disastrous job forced her into hiding. Now she just wants to enjoy a quiet life as a graduate student of anthropology, but she’s haunted by persistent and disturbing visions of the future. Then an old friend comes to her with a job she can’t refuse: find a powerful object that could save an alien species from extinction. Except no one has seen it in living memory, and they aren’t the only ones hunting for it.
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Pronouns are out of control
- By C P on 09-11-24
By: Yume Kitasei
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The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands
- A Novel
- By: Sarah Brooks
- Narrated by: Katie Leung, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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There is only one way to travel across the Wastelands: on the Trans-Siberian Express, a train as famous for its luxury as for its danger. The train is never short of passengers, eager to catch sight of Wastelands creatures more miraculous and terrifying than anything they could imagine. But on the train's last journey, something went horribly wrong, though no one seems to remember what exactly happened. Not even Zhang Weiwei, who has spent her life onboard and thought she knew all of the train’s secrets.
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Narration cadence too clipped
- By ulan25 on 08-03-24
By: Sarah Brooks
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Ariadne
- A Novel
- By: Jennifer Saint
- Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Ariadne, Princess of Crete, grows up greeting the dawn from her beautiful dancing floor and listening to her nursemaid’s stories of gods and heroes. But beneath her golden palace echo the ever-present hoofbeats of her brother, the Minotaur, a monster who demands blood sacrifice. When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives to vanquish the beast, Ariadne sees in his green eyes not a threat but an escape. Defying the gods, betraying her family and country, and risking everything for love, Ariadne helps Theseus kill the Minotaur.
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We've been spoiled for choice
- By Stefan Filipovits on 05-04-21
By: Jennifer Saint
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A Song to Drown Rivers (German Edition)
- Ihre Liebe entscheidet das Schicksal zweier Königreiche
- By: Ann Liang, Michelle Gyo - Übersetzer
- Narrated by: Viola Müller
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Episch, dramatisch und wunderschön – eine große, zeitlose Liebesgeschichte vor dem Hintergrund einer chinesischen Legende. Ihre Schönheit hat die Macht, ein Königreich zu stürzen – doch ihr Herz kann sie nicht beschützen. A Song to Drown Rivers ist ein epischer und dramatischer historischer Liebesroman um eine große Liebe, die zwei Königreiche zerstören könnte. China um das Jahr 500. Für die Menschen in Xishis Dorf ist die bezaubernde Schönheit der jungen Frau ein Segen, der ihrer Familie Wohlstand bringen wird.
By: Ann Liang, and others
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Starless
- By: Jacqueline Carey
- Narrated by: Caitlin Davies
- Length: 21 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Destined from birth to serve as protector of the princess Zariya, Khai is trained in the arts of killing and stealth by a warrior sect in the deep desert; yet there is one profound truth that has been withheld from him. In the court of the Sun-Blessed, Khai must learn to navigate deadly intrigue and his own conflicted identity…but in the far reaches of the western seas, the dark god Miasmus is rising, intent on nothing less than wholesale destruction.
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The most beautiful thing I've enjoyed this year!
- By DabOfDarkness on 08-06-18
By: Jacqueline Carey
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The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel
- A Story of Sleepy Hollow
- By: Alyssa Palombo
- Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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When Ichabod Crane arrives in the spooky little village of Sleepy Hollow as the new schoolmaster, Katrina Van Tassel is instantly drawn to him. Through their shared love of books and music, they form a friendship that quickly develops into romance. When romance gives way to passion, Ichabod and Katrina embark on a secret love affair, sneaking away into the woods after dark to be together - all while praying they do not catch sight of Sleepy Hollow’s legendary Headless Horseman. That is until Ichabod suddenly disappears, leaving Katrina alone and in a perilous position.
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boring, terrible bodice-ripping drivel
- By BooksAndTrouble on 10-04-18
By: Alyssa Palombo
What listeners say about A Song to Drown Rivers
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- Kate
- 11-14-24
This needs to be made into a movie
This book is awesome. The story was so attention grabbing. I would love to have a movie based on this. The imagery in the pages are so vivid. i could imagine the sounds of the water rushing in the river and I could see the characters while I read. A great read!!!
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- Nicki
- 04-19-25
Loved the myth retelling but could have written better
I felt like this was ACoTaR copy in writing style but with a different story
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- Saritza Hernandez
- 01-07-25
Devastatingly beautiful
There are not enough words to express how beautiful this book is. If the gorgeous book design is any indicator, the devastatingly beautiful prose within is sure to take your breath away.
I’m not sure that I’ll ever fully recover from this book hangover but I’ll gladly remain drunk in this gorgeous tale.
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- Jane A. Shapiro
- 11-07-24
Interesting depiction of surreptitious plans to undermine an enemy
A little heavy on the romance. Less is more and the Chinese are known for subtlety in these matters.
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- Mary Guttieri
- 11-23-24
Epic Story Richly Told
The language and the story are stunningly beautiful. This would be a great listen for a road trip. The narration is wonderful and honors the text.
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- Lindsay
- 12-22-24
lesson for modern times, beautifully told
really enjoyed the story, it grabbed me from the start. beautiful writing and storytelling. greater life lessons woven throughout and the mother's perspective on kings and kingdoms/national leaders/governments at the end is good schooling for modern times as well. agree with others who suggest this would be a great adaptation onscreen too!
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- Diane
- 01-06-25
Good pace and keeps you wanting to read more.
Great narration and engaging plot. Enjoyed that it was a bit shorter than other books - no needless narration. Fun listen.
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- Anonymous User
- 02-11-25
I recommend listening to this wounderful story
I enjoyed this heartfelt story so much. The narration of each character was excellent so much I had to sit and listen to the story clear to the end all in one night !
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- Eugenia
- 03-31-25
BRILLIANT!
I simply adored everything about this fascinating novel. The wonderful characters, the exciting plot and especially the romance.
Written so beautifully, I was enthralled every minute.
And the narrator, Natalie Naurus, is so perfect.
I would give this 10 stars!
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- Survivor T
- 10-26-24
Impactful story
Very impactful themes. Great story about revenge not being all that it cracked up to be, circle of violence, and blindly following leaders. The voice acting was amazing as well highly recommended.
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1 person found this helpful