Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Songmaster

By: Orson Scott Card
Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.90

Buy for $17.90

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Kidnapped at an early age, Ansset has been raised in isolation at a mystical retreat called the Songhouse. His life is filled with music, and having only songs for companions, he develops a voice that is unlike any other. But Ansset's voice is both a blessing and a curse, for it reflects all the hopes and fears of his audience, and, by magnifying their emotions, can be used either to heal or to destroy.

When it is discovered that his is the voice that the Emperor has waited decades for, Ansset is summoned to the Imperial Palace on Old Earth. Many fates rest in Ansset's hands, and his songs will soon be put to the test: either to salve the troubled conscience of a conqueror or drive him, and the universe, into mad chaos.

A man for all genres: don't miss our many other titles by Orson Scott Card.
©1978 Orson Scott Card
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"Orson Scott Card is a fine writer with great insight, great idealism, and love." (Science Fiction Review)
"Card understands the human condition and has things of real value to say about it. He tells the truth well, ultimately the only criterion of greatness." (Gene Wolfe)

What listeners say about Songmaster

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    393
  • 4 Stars
    193
  • 3 Stars
    71
  • 2 Stars
    35
  • 1 Stars
    12
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    384
  • 4 Stars
    108
  • 3 Stars
    25
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    319
  • 4 Stars
    130
  • 3 Stars
    36
  • 2 Stars
    28
  • 1 Stars
    13

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

It was good

The book started out slow, but it was a good book. I really liked the ending.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Unexpectedly lovely

I am a huge fan of OSC sci-fi, and while Songmaster has elements of Sci-fi, it is unique. I found this story so beautiful and haunting. I highly recommend OSC fans to try his earlier standalone and non-Ender novels.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

beautiful

Far more depth and and complexity than I could have imagined from such an abstract idea. Wonderfully narrated.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

A must listen

I've listened to more than 25 of his books and this is the deepest.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Beautiful

it is an amazingly beautiful story. it is probably one of my favorite single novel stories I have ever found.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Still amazing

I first read this book as a young woman many years ago. I was riveted. I stayed up all night, two nights in a row, to finish it. I am now an old woman, and i find the book every bit as good as when i was a girl. I laughed, i cried, i was happily entertained.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

I'm not crying, you're crying

Sweet and deep and hard, but worth it. I personally disagree with the reviews calling this story a book about pedophilia, because I think it's a little silly to believe children don't have to navigate the desires of the adults around them. The real criticism is around how the queer community is treated. I won't spoil, just try it and see. The performance was excellent. OSC always gets the emotions right, the jealousy, the heartbreak, the inadvertent ways we hurt and help each other.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

By far my favorite of Card's stories.

I first read this when it was first published. I read it again every few years, because it is so amazing. Stefan Rudnicki brings new dimension and grace to a story already filled with them, and is fast becoming one of my favorite voices...thank you so much for making it better than it was before.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

I didn't move for 5+ hours when I started the book

Rruk (pronounced 'ur ruk') proves the universe can indeed be changed by one child's kindness.

I selected this book based upon 2 things: searching for more things performed by Stefan Rudnicki and knowing Orson Scott Card can weave an incomparable tale.
I was not disappointed.

[there are potential triggers in this book as OSC does include some difficult and horrible things: c@ptivity, mutil@tion (not describing the actions of the horrific injury inflicted upon a character but alluding to it in an undeniable way), psychologic@l torm€πt (head games at their worst but NOT as something even remotely beneficial), a situation that could have been a precursor to a child being u§€d (the person with the inclination to harm the child was swiftly punished), and I'm sure I'm forgetting other important aspects alluded to or openly confronted in the course of the novel... but NONE of these things are EVER portrayed in a 'good' or 'benign' light - the evil of them is glaring]

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

my least favorite by Orson Scott Card

I love most of his books. This not so much. some of it came across as pervy. i know he is against homosexuality, but this was the first time it stood out in a book for me. hopefully he knows gay doesn't mean pedophile but you could not tell it from this book. creepy stuff aside, it seems slapped together.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!