The Waking Land
Kindle
$11.99
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$26.68
Paperback
$11.45
Audible Logo Your audiobook is waiting!
Enjoy a free trial on us
$0.00
  • Click above for unlimited listening to select audiobooks, Audible Originals, and podcasts.
  • One credit a month to pick any title from our entire premium selection — yours to keep (you'll use your first credit now).
  • You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
  • $14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel online anytime.
Learn more about membership
Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company
List Price: $22.50
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible’s Conditions Of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice.
Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company

The Waking Land Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Callie Bates (Author), Erin Spencer (Narrator), Random House Audio (Publisher)
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 337 ratings
Editors' pick Best Science Fiction & Fantasy
See all formats and editions

In the lush and magical tradition of Naomi Novik's award-winning Uprooted comes this riveting debut from brilliant young writer Callie Bates - whose boundless imagination places her among the finest authors of fantasy fiction, including Sarah J. Maas and Sabaa Tahir.

Lady Elanna is fiercely devoted to the king who raised her like a daughter. But when he dies under mysterious circumstances, Elanna is accused of his murder - and must flee for her life.

Returning to the homeland of magical legends she has forsaken, Elanna is forced to reckon with her despised, estranged father, branded a traitor long ago. Feeling a strange, deep connection to the natural world, she also must face the truth about the forces she has always denied or disdained as superstition - powers that suddenly stir within her.

But an all-too-human threat is drawing near, determined to exact vengeance. Now Elanna has no choice but to lead a rebellion against the kingdom to which she once gave her allegiance. Trapped between divided loyalties, she must summon the courage to confront a destiny that could tear her apart.

Don’t miss any of Callie Bates’s magical Waking Land trilogy:

  • The Waking Land
  • The Memory of Fire
  • The Soul of Power

Praise for The Waking Land:

“Callie Bates has written an exciting and involving first book, and she is clearly a writer of real talent.” (Terry Brooks)

“A heartbreaking, enchanting, edge-of-the-seat read that held me captive from start to finish!” (Tamora Pierce)

“The Waking Land is all about rising to challenges, and it succeeds wonderfully.” (Charlaine Harris)

“A simmering tale of magic that builds to a raging inferno, and hits like a cross between Brandon Sanderson and Pierce Brown.” (Scott Sigler)

“This superior novel blends passionate romance and sweeping magic.... Bates has a delicate, precise touch with human and superhuman relationships.” (Publishers Weekly)

“A wonderfully stunning debut.... Bates’ clear, captivating, imaginative storytelling and vivid, distinctive characters will cause readers to soak up every word.” (RT Book Reviews)

Previous page
  1. Listening Length
    15 hours and 20 minutes
  2. Author
    Callie Bates
  3. Narrator
    Erin Spencer
  4. Audible release date
    June 27, 2017
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Random House Audio
  7. ASIN
    B072MK7QVG
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
Next page

Read & Listen

Switch between reading the Kindle book & listening to the Audible audiobook with Whispersync for Voice.
Get the Audible audiobook for the reduced price of $9.99 after you buy the Kindle book.

Product details

Listening Length 15 hours and 20 minutes
Author Callie Bates
Narrator Erin Spencer
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date June 27, 2017
Publisher Random House Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B072MK7QVG
Best Sellers Rank #34,443 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#329 in Coming of Age Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)
#1,298 in Action & Adventure Fantasy (Audible Books & Originals)
#1,337 in Coming of Age Fantasy (Books)

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
337 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great!!
Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2017
Verified Purchase
I received an early copy from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

I saw this cover and just sat there looking at it stunned. It is absolutely gorgeous and I knew I had to get my hands on a copy of this book. Now the description also hooked me as well. I fell in love as soon as I began reading. It is set in a fantasy world that I believe that I would love. I can imagine myself running around the forest of Ereni and being just as happy as a clam. This book was similar to peeling back an onion because it was full of layers. Every character that you come across has to experience their journey to the end. Some have longer journeys of self development while others are a little shorter but all of them are interesting. It was well written and I found myself hanging on every word. I had a hard devouring this book because I just wasn't ready for it end. I wanted more and more and more so I found myself limiting my reading time. The story kept a steady pace and really will draw you in.
6 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Lillith
4.0 out of 5 stars Mostly Well Done, but With a Few Pitfalls
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2018
Verified Purchase
For the most part, I enjoyed this novel. The writing was well done, and the plot was believable, but I couldn't help but feel that the characters in this book repeatedly made some really poor decisions. Also, I felt like the last portion of the book was a bit rushed and not nearly as well thought out as the beginning, which probably contributed to the feeling that the characters were making poor decisions.

Of course, characters are going to make poor decisions and have oversights every now and then, but I was often left feeling like the characters overlooked a really simple solution to a problem and chose the path of greatest resistance. Or, that it took way to long for a character to come to a decision. Sometimes flips in thought processes were a bit jarring.

Other than that, I did find the book to be an interesting, vivid read. It's written in first person present tense, which is not a style I particularly enjoy, personally, but I think it worked well enough with this story.
9 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Foals, Fiction & Filigree
3.0 out of 5 stars The premise of the story was so enticing, but it just didn't meet my expectations.
Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2017
I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

"All plants are ordinary, until I touch them. All my life, I've had to hid what happens when I touch anything that comes from the earth--plants, stones, trees, soil, orchids."

Elanna Valtai, the daughter of a wealthy Caerisian family, doesn't know much of her homeland. She hasn't lived there for many years. Taken from her home and family at a young age, she was raised in the enemy's courts as "insurance" that her father wouldn't head up an uprising again.

Contrary to what she wants to believe, Elanna has an uncanny connection to the land. She feels the soil beneath her feet, the whispers of growth around her. When she touches a flower, it thrives in health. But magic is forbidden in the realm in which she is prisoner---but has also come to love as her rightful home. She was treated well, cared for, and allowed to study botany.

Nothing was amiss until the king, her surrogate father, suddenly falls ill and dies. Come to find out, he had been poisoned. Because of her association to botany, she suddenly finds herself being blamed for the King's murder, and sets to escape her impending punishment.

Fleeing back to her homeland, she realizes that she must face the truth, along with the magic connecting her to the land.

-----------------------------

The plot pacing resembled a valley between two hills.

(Did you like the metaphor? I thought it was rather clever.)

The beginning was so enticingly gorgeous, but then it just fell off from there and plateaued for the entire bulk of the body. The end ramped up again so fast, that I wanted for it to last for much longer than it had! I feel like if the end was paced out over the rest of the book, it would have been a full star's worth (or more) of an improvement.

This world has a lot of history. One also can't deny that this world was well deeply considered and thought out. However, as stated before, it needed more time to be processed and divulged.

Elanna, frankly, drove me nuts. She was so back and forth with wanting, or not wanting her magic, meeting her parents again, and just about everything else.

"I'm supposed to be safe here, safe to taunt myself with a magic I am not supposed to possess. A magic I still don't understand."

In a way, if she didn't want to become the Steward of the Land, then I might sympathize because she didn't really have a choice. However, she needed to just deal with her lot in life because she clearly desired to use her magic.

Speaking of being the Steward (which was basically taking the title of "queen") and "wedding the land" was odd. Basically, she made love with a guy in the dirt and became attached to it. I just really didn't care for that entire portrayal. It reminded me a lot of Tamlin's Spring "mating" in A Court of Thorns and Roses. No thank you. It was almost like the author was trying include fornication into the book somewhere and landed on that.

In regards to characters; there were many of them. I kept getting a few of them mixed up, and never really understood their roles because of this happening.

Bates is clearly a talented author. The book is beautifully written, and was unique in it's ideas. The premise of the story was so enticing, but it just didn't meet my expectations. I think if the text had somehow been rearranged, it would have been a more engaging read throughout its entirety.

Vulgarity: I believe there is some, but it is minute.
Sexual content: Yes - the odd "wedding the land" scene.
Violence: Some. There is a war between nations, and lots of palm slashing for ritualistic behaviors and summonings.

3 stars.

A big thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!
Helpful
 Report
Corliss M. Tischer
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2019
Verified Purchase
A good storyline with interesting characters. I found the story enjoyable and was continuing looking forward to what was going to happen next.
Helpful
 Report
Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Very Good
Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2023
Verified Purchase
Cover was a litle damage. But luckly I could fix it. Anxious to read this series.
Helpful
 Report
Nancy Jane
5.0 out of 5 stars Inventive flowing story
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2018
Verified Purchase
Wonderful read with fast pace changes. Good characters well flushed out with a mix of great landscapes that keep the reader glued to the story
Helpful
 Report
Kindle Customer
2.0 out of 5 stars I really wanted this book to be fun and great to read
Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2018
Verified Purchase
I really wanted this book to be fun and great to read... unfortunately it fell short in a LOT of ways. The characters are basic and shallow; even the characters that seem as though they are going to be cool turn out to be weak, with various attributes the author wrote in (for no real reason) making them silly and superficial. The absolutely absurd love story in this novel is weakened even further by a protagonist who claims to "never cry" and then proceeds to tear up and bawl in every chapter. She is superficial and idiotic with no real loyalties but to herself... and even then she cant make up her mind. I wouldn't be surprised if this book was written by a stereotypical self-absorbed millennial (and I am technically a millennial myself, so THAT is saying something).
Final word: I wanted more out of this story. It really could have been well done but the characters were written so poorly that I couldn't even get past 75%... and even that was a struggle.
Very sad to see such an interesting story idea with so much potential fall flat.
14 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
K. Brandt
4.0 out of 5 stars Love this world
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2019
Verified Purchase
I really enjoyed the world Bates has created here. Tying the natural world and magic together was really interesting and I would love to see El's use of magic as she grows more into her position.
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Louise
5.0 out of 5 stars The waking land
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 8, 2018
Verified Purchase
Intriguing love all the folklore. Can imagine the land coming alive and helping people. It's silly I know but the mystery is good and almost believable.
Report
niki
3.0 out of 5 stars Plot Lacking
Reviewed in Australia on August 22, 2017
Verified Purchase
The story had a promising start, but deteriorated by the end. The protagonist spends a lot of time moving about the country very quickly gathering facts about the past, without much actually happening. It had potential but was sorely lacking in plot. I'm giving three stars instead of two, as the writing itself was good.
Report
Mig Bardsley
4.0 out of 5 stars A good read but probably more for the Young Adult reader
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 9, 2018
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed reading this, the pace is good, the background theme of the living land is well imagined and the characters are varied and fairly strong. I found it quite fresh and lively for a sword and sorcery novel.
However, I'm not sure if this is intended as Young Adult reading? It certainly came across that way to me. And I found that while the magical parts were believably written, some of the events seemed a bit rushed and the links between then weren't always completely solid. So much happens in this story it could have been an epic tale but on the other hand there is a lightness of touch which is refreshing. So overall a good read but probably more suited to the Young Adult genre.
Report
Kenn from Toronto
1.0 out of 5 stars Profound disappointment.
Reviewed in Canada on June 12, 2019
Verified Purchase
I wanted to enjoy this book. I am drawn to stories about people drawn to to life of the land. I predominately read fantasy novels because I love the idea of someone striving to be more than they thought they could be and overcoming what might seem to be impossible odds. I am profoundly disappointed in this book. The protagonist is naive and irrational, and if she didn’t have countless people willing to sacrifice themselves to cover for her foolish choices, she would have died several times over in the first third of the book. Maybe other readers can find sympathy with an irrational character facing life and death circumstances. I can’t. If there was a positive transformation in the protagonist after the first third of the book, I didn’t have the tolerance to continue to discover it.
Report
janine goddard
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 1, 2018
Verified Purchase
Enjoyed every minute of it, couldn’t put it down, is there another, I really want to read a sequel if there is one!!
Report