Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Wheel of the Infinite
    Wheel of the Infinite
    Wheel of the Infinite
    Audiobook13 hours

    Wheel of the Infinite

    Written by Martha Wells

    Narrated by Lisa Renee Pitts

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Over the course of three extraordinary novels, Martha Wells has established herself as a master builder of alternate worlds peopled with souls as rich and complex as any that have ever known life within book pages. Few writers can match her ability to imbue fantastic realms with such startling immediacy and reality-a feat she accomplishes more impressively than ever before in this powerful tale of the beginnings and endings and beginnings again in an unending cycle of malignity and good.

    Every year in the great Temple City of Duvalpore, the image of the Wheel of the Infinite must be painstakingly remade to ensure another year of peace and harmony for the Celestial Empire. Every hundred years the sacred rite takes on added significance. For it is then that the very fabric of the world must be rewoven. Linked by the mystic energies of the Infinite, the Wheel and world are one. Should the holy image be marred, the world will suffer a similar injury.

    But a black storm is spreading across the Wheel. Every night the Voices of the Ancestors-the Wheel's constructors and caretakers-brush the darkness away and repair the damage with brightly colored sands and potent magic. Each morning the storm reappears, bigger and darker than before, unraveling the beautiful and orderly patterns.

    With chaos in the wind, a woman with a shadowy past has returned to Duvalpore. A murderer and traitor-an exile disgraced, hated, and feared, and haunted by her own guilty conscience-Maskelle has been summoned back to help put the world right. Once she was the most revered of the Voices, until cursed by her own actions. Now, in the company of Rian-a skilled and dangerously alluring swordsman-she must confront dread enemies old and new and a cold, stalking malevolence unlike any she has ever encountered. For if Maskelle cannot unearth the cause of the Wheel's accelerating disintegration-if she cannot free herself from ghosts of the past and focus on the catastrophe to come-the world will plunge headlong into the terrifying abyss toward which it is recklessly hurting. And all that is, ever was, and will be will end.

    An intricate, tautly plotted adventure, Nebula Award finalist Martha Wells's fourth novel is her most captivating and exquisitely textured work to date. Follow the many turnings of the Wheel into a realm of danger, fear, darkness, and hope. And prepare to believe freely and fully in the inconceivable and the fantastic.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateDec 31, 2013
    ISBN9781452686349
    Wheel of the Infinite
    Author

    Martha Wells

    Martha Wells is the author of five previous novels: The Wizard Hunters, the first book of the Fall of Ile-Rien, The Element of Fire, City of Bones, Wheel of the Infinite, and The Death of the Necromancer, which was nominated for the Nebula Award. She lives in College Station, Texas, with her husband.

    More audiobooks from Martha Wells

    Related to Wheel of the Infinite

    Related audiobooks

    Science Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Raiders From The Sea

      Sep 1, 2023

      CANNY LIFTED HER head from the swirls of gold and red and put down the brush, stretching her frozen fingers. The sun fell through the scriptorium window in warm panels, but the room was still cold, and she’d been at work on the manuscript in front of

      7 min read

    • Article

      Forfeit

      Jan 1, 2021

      Forfeit
      7 min read

    • Article

      Climbing Mount Cameroon

      Nov 18, 2019

      In 1895 Mary Kingsley became the first woman to climb Mount Cameroon. Her apparel was unlikely: long black trailing skirt, tight waist, high collar, a small fur cap, lace-up shoes and a parasol. In every respect she was unusual. With no formal school

      4 min read

    • Article

      We All Live in Uncertain

      Jul 30, 2020

      “Think of Caddo as a maze of lakes within lakes,” says John Winn, proprietor of Caddo Outback Tours, as the two of us settle into a small Go-Devil boat roped to a dock in Uncertain, on the border of northern Louisiana. For two decades, Winn has given

      6 min read

    • Article

      Something Wicked This Way Comes

      Sep 3, 2019

      Something Wicked This Way Comes
      8 min read

    • Article

      Magnets: Carried through time, lovers seek their purpose.

      Feb 6, 2014

      Moon Colony B, 2213 Former Ponzi-schemer Mary Pillar digs through a trashcan. It smells like rotten eggs and milk. She is elderly and homeless, living in an alley between two eco-efficient skyscrapers. Dust particles dance around her. She has lost ev

      11 min read

    • Article

      Stop Hating on Adjectives!

      Jun 12, 2019

      A common admonition in creative writing pedagogy is, “Cut as many adjectives as possible.” I propose that this rule springs from mere prejudice. The post Stop Hating on Adjectives! appeared first on The Millions.

      7 min read

    • Article

      HINTERLAND & HAMLETS

      Jul 31, 2019

      HINTERLAND & HAMLETS
      6 min read

    • Article

      Emu Dreaming

      Jan 30, 2018

      Emu Dreaming
      7 min read

    • Article

      A Little Trip

      Aug 2, 2021

      As the first morning light peeked through the gap in the curtains, Alice left her new husband in bed. She wrapped her silk kimono around her; a present from Jeremy, it reminded her yet again just how generous he’d been since their wedding. Even this

      5 min read

    • Article

      Part 1 WHEN FISH FLY: The Revolt on the Slave Ship Creole

      Jan 1, 2022

      Part 1 WHEN FISH FLY: The Revolt on the Slave Ship Creole
      6 min read

    • Article

      Read A Sneak Peek of IMPOSSIBLE CREATURES

      Sep 6, 2023

      The murderer arrived by boat. He came gently, with a soft tread and beautifully clean hands. He strode past a group of men and women hauling in a catch of fire-fish, his knife out of sight in his pocket. They glanced round at him, but he only nodded

      4 min read

    • Article

      Christmas In Ushuaia

      Jun 10, 2021

      All people have had ill luck, but Jairus’s daughter and Lazarus had the worst. Mark Twain Laz pulled the parka closer to his body, ineffectually trying to ward off the gelid wind that blew from the mountains. Argentina was supposed to be warm in late

      10 min read

    • Article

      Into The Far West

      Feb 27, 2020

      Into The Far West
      9 min read

    • Article

      The Best Tonic There Is

      Oct 7, 2020

      The Best Tonic There Is
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Witch Finders

      Jul 16, 2020

      Beth pulled her cloak tightly around her. It was the very last day of October and the air was damp and chill. Dead autumn leaves lay in deep piles in the woods and smoke curled into the night air from her cottage. Not far to go now. She bent her head

      4 min read

    • Article

      Skein Is land

      Nov 6, 2019

      Skein Is land
      6 min read

    • Article

      Notes From The Isles

      Apr 14, 2023

      Yet again nemesis has smothered my hubris. Having boasted of my expertise in getting the car up our steep, icy track, I awoke to find myself snowed in, near the top of a glacier, totally cut off from all traffic. A nephew and his wife, who were comin

      4 min read

    • Article

      A Tale Of Two Christmases

      Dec 17, 2020

      A Tale Of Two Christmases
      7 min read

    • Article

      Gardens Of The Queen

      Feb 2, 2024

      Gardens Of The Queen
      9 min read

    • Article

      6 Watery Folklore Wonders

      Mar 25, 2021

      6 Watery Folklore Wonders
      5 min read

    • Article

      Where The Land Screams ‘Snipe’

      Oct 14, 2020

      Where The Land Screams ‘Snipe’
      5 min read

    • Article

      Alice And The Jabberwocky

      Apr 10, 2022

      ‘Twas brillig, and the slithy tovesDid gyre and gimble in the wabe:All mimsy were the borogoves,And the mome raths outgrabe. Once again, Alice found herself in her bedroom, feeling rather mimsy indeed. Every day now, at two o’clock, she would sit at

      18 min read

    • Article

      Lonesome Pine

      Oct 8, 2021

      Lonesome Pine
      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Wheel of the Infinite

    4/5

    171 ratings8 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Great storey, loved the 2 main character and how they were built up. The narrator was brilliant and really added to the storey, I especially liked her poetic sounding voice which made the book more enjoyable to listen to and matched the storey very well.
    • 3/5
      An exiled nun (of a religion very like Buddhism) travels with her mysterious sword-wielding bodyguard to discover how and why the Wheel of the Infinite (a model of the world done in sand that recreates the world every year) is being destroyed. Along the way she must battle a demon-puppet, court intrigues, the Celestial Throne itself, and her past mistakes. Wells sidesteps clichéd plots and melodramatic moments neatly.
    • 4/5
      Intermittently interfering gods and a 100year ritual really complicate life, as disgraced Voice of the Adversary makes her way back to the center of worship only to find the problems aren't just hers but threaten the entire reality. But she picks up a sarcastic hunk who has her back, so that's cool. A rare middleaged protagonist with attitude and angst who just keeps dealing with what's in front of her. Also a wicked puppet.
    • 4/5
      The Wheel of the Infinite is a round image of the world that represents reality; a change to the wheel will change the world.Maskelle, a middle-aged high religious functionary of the Infinite, is called back to the capital for the rite that remakes the wheel each year; this time, something keeps going wrong. Maskelle has been traveling with a group of itinerant actors, and in the course of their journey she meets Rian, a swordsman who, albeit younger, becomes both Maskelle’s protector and lover.The world-building is complicated as is the plot, but both are impressively rich if not always readily understandable. But there is enough mystery and danger to keep readers turning the pages.
    • 3/5
      That was a whirlwind of an ending. Very strange pacing: The first 50% go by very slowly, with lots of time in the protagonists' heads, and then the pace accelerates and keeps accelerating until the very end. It's like all the plot happens then, and all the character work happens in the front. I don't often say this, but I think I would have liked it better as a trilogy with more time to unpack all the relationships and ideas.
    • 4/5
      The protagonist hooked me right away. Maskelle is a powerful middle-aged woman who gets respect the moment she steps into a room and never hesitates to use her authority. This made me so happy. The setting sucked me in, too. I kept wanting to know more about Maskelle's religion and her place in it.The ending wasn't at all what I expected, and yet it made perfect sense considering everything that came earlier.
    • 4/5
      Wheel of the Infinite is a stand alone fantasy novel. Every year the Wheel of the Infinite is created. The Wheel of the Infinite is one with the world – it represents the world but it also is the world. A change to the Wheel will change the world. And this year, a black storm of destruction has appeared on the surface of the Wheel, and nothing the priests do can remove it. To find the answer before the final ceremony must take place and the changes made permanent, the exiled priestess Maskelle is summoned back to the city of her birth.Soon into the book, Maskelle meets Rian, a barbarian swordsman, and the story switches between their POVs. In a lot of ways, The Wheel of the Infinite is a mystery story. While the book may alternate POVs, Maskelle is undeniably the main character. If this were a straight up mystery novel, Rian would be the Watson to her Holmes. The two of them get together fairly quickly, and there’s pretty much no angst to their romance.As I’ve come to expect from Wells, the setting is vivid and imaginative. There’s a distinctly non-European cast to it, and something about it reminds me of Southeast Asia. There’s carved stone buildings, canals, and towering, mountain like temples.Something I really liked about The Wheel of the Infinite was the heroine, Maskelle. She’s older than your typical fantasy heroines, at least in her forties. She’s got a history, and not all of it’s good. She’s powerful, strong willed and intelligent.While Maskelle was the most stand out character for me, I appreciated the others as well. I wonder about Rian’s life in his home country, which doesn’t sound pleasant. I also loved the humor provided by the presence of a group of entertainers that Maskelle’s traveling with.If you are interested in The Wheel of the Infinite, the first chapter is available for free on the author’s website. I found it a solid, well written fantasy novel that I would recommend, particularly if you’re looking for a powerful and older female lead.Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
    • 4/5
      Sword-and-Sorcery of a superior ilk. Wells is widely praised for her original world-building and that is skill is on display here. The central plot concerns a highly detailed religion with vague hints of eastern spirituality which anchors the magic into the nature of this world. The well-developed (as a character, not like at the gym), middle-aged female protagonist is refreshing in a fantasy work. The plot gets a little more convoluted than might be necessary. And there's a bit of back-story that, when it's finally explained, doesn't quiet live up to the buildup. But those are not major flaws. A definite cut above the usual mark for the genre.