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Wonderblood

A Novel

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Set 500 years in the future, a mad cow-like disease called "Bent Head" has killed off most of the U.S. population. Those remaining turn to magic and sacrifice to cleanse the Earth.
Wonderblood is Julia Whicker's fascinating literary debut audiobook, set in a barren United States, an apocalyptic wasteland where warring factions compete for control of the land in strange and dangerous carnivals. A mad cow-like disease called "Bent Head" has killed off millions. Those who remain worship the ruins of NASA's space shuttles, and Cape Canaveral is their Mecca. Medicine and science have been rejected in favor of magic, prophecy, and blood sacrifice.
When traveling marauders led by the bloodthirsty Mr. Capulatio invade her camp, a young girl named Aurora is taken captive as his bride and forced to join his band on their journey to Cape Canaveral. As war nears, she must decide if she is willing to become her captor's queen. But then other queens emerge, some grotesque and others aggrieved, and not all are pleased with the girl's ascent.
Politics and survival are at the centre of this ravishing audiobook
Praise for Wonderblood:
"Julia Whicker's Wonderblood...plunges the readers into a marvelous and brutal world of pseudo-magic, religion and astronomy...The political machinations of the carnivals are thrilling, and the narration lush and wild." — Washington Post

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 13, 2017
      Strange people encounter stranger adventures while traversing a postapocalyptic America in this unsatisfying debut. In the Eon of Pain, a diseased wasteland is cleansed by the doctrine of Wonderblood, which orders the faithful to sanctify the landscape through beheadings in monstrous carnivals. Aurora, a teenage girl, is captured by Capulatio, an executioner with ambitions of becoming king. Aided by his wife, Orchid, an executionatrix and the scribe of his holy visions, Capulatio makes his way toward Cape Canaveral, Fla., seat of the king, determined to bring a new age. He also decides, despite Orchid’s objections, that Aurora will be his queen. As Capulatio begins challenging the throne, two lights appear in the sky, as if to confirm the ending of one age and the beginning of another. Told in rich, dense prose, Whicker’s fantasy feels like a blood-steeped dream: there are mummified heads and a religion based on astronauts. The story’s voice is vibrant and warm as the Florida heat; but the pacing drags under the weight of the description, and the plot meanders sluggishly, with detours that make the journey feel far longer than it should.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Julia Whicker's debut novel portrays a new Dark Ages set 500 years in the future, when a harsh religion is combined with magic and science is anathema. Narrator Caitlin Davis adopts a conversational tone that contrasts with the story's murders, beheading, and general violence. She tells the story primarily from the point of view of Aurora, a girl who is victimized by her family and later falls into the hands of self-appointed and deluded king who plots to make her his queen. Davis deftly portrays the interactions between the king's current wife, who realizes her days are numbered, and Aurora, who remains a na�ve victim. J.E.M. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

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  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

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