The Ill-Made Mute

The Bitterbynde Trilogy, Book 1

By: Cecilia Dart-Thornton

Narrated by: Kim Bretton

Dive into worlds as captivating as Tolkien's Middle-earth with 'The Ill-Made Mute'. Experience the same immersive awe you felt reading 'The Lord of the Rings' through tales rich in wonder and adventure. Embrace the journey into extraordinary realms. Feel the magic anew. Your escape begins as soon as you press play.

The stormriders land their winged stallions on the airy battlements of Isse Tower. Far below, the superstitious servants who dwell in the fortress's lower depths tell tales of wicked creatures inhabiting the world outside - a world they have only glimpsed. Yet it is the least of the lowly, a mute, scarred, and utterly despised foundling, who dares to scale the tower, sneak aboard a windship and then dive from the sky.

But the hearth-side tails are all true. Unhuman wights are real in all their legions. They haunt every pool, every turn in the road, threatening and tormenting travelers. A perilous journey begins.

The Ill-made Mute Special Edition is revised and extended with extras, including Dart-Thornton's introduction and fragments of her early writing.

"Not since Tolkien's 'The Fellowship of the Ring' fell into my hands have I been so impressed by a beautifully spun fantasy."

~Andre Norton, Grand Master of Science Fiction.

©2001 Cecilia Dart-Thornton (P)2024 Cecilia Dart-Thornton

Great concept story

The title and basic story-line are great. A bit dependent on common tropes/types. Like many such tales, the characters learn language incredibly fast. The various ensemble members quickly learn hand language to express very subtle nuances.
What keeps me from going on to the next book (though I have already bought it) is the frequent, unnecessary burden of pointless details. If you are going to mention lapis lazuli multiple times, it should be significant. The story is slowed down by countless other throw-away details - beautiful in their own right, but merely contribute to ambience and book-length. Too much ambience for my liking. But maybe that is what you want.

gorgeous thorough imagery

what a lovely book, i read the trilogy years ago but lost my hard cover books... a shame because they were my favorite.
Prose is neverending but I genuinely dont mind, the narrator has the perfect tone for this story, i enjoyed every minute.

The reader sounds like an AI

I love this book and have waited a long time to get it as an audio book.

The story is beautiful and sad

It is a real shame the reader sounds like an AI. Its so bad,

Amazing story

I love this book. I have waited so long for this book to become available on Audible, but I swear the narrator is an AI. Some of the inflections are just off and it's distracting. Whenever I imagined a narrator for this book, I imagined that it'd need a very talented voice actor to keep up with all the fun characters and wights, and unfortunately this actress cannot deliver. That being said, I'm still buying the rest of the series. The story is worth it, and while she is not ideal, she manages to read aloud the in text in between dialogue okay.

Astounding narration of one of my favorite books

If you haven't read this book and you love fantasy fiction get this now, as it's one of - if not THE best - fantasy novels I have ever come across. It's a game changer. And the narration brings it to life in a way I never thought possible. I loved reading it but listening to Kim Bretton's narration has taken it to another level. Cannot recommend this enough. You won't be disappointed! Thank you Cecilia and thank you Kim!