Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
River of Ink cover art

River of Ink

By: Paul M.M. Cooper
Narrated by: Maanuv Thiara
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

All Our Broken Idols cover art
Those Rosy Hours at Mazandaran cover art
Dragonkeeper cover art
The Fool's Girl cover art
Court of Fives cover art
A Stranger in Olondria cover art
Eye of the Moon cover art
Beneath a Marble Sky cover art
The House of the Stag cover art
The Tiger's Daughter cover art
Imhotep cover art
The Sekhmet Bed cover art
Taliesin cover art
Counted with the Stars cover art
In the Shadow of the Banyan cover art
Shadowmarch cover art

Summary

All Asanka knows is poetry. From his humble village beginnings in the great island kingdom of Lanka, he has risen to the prestigious position of court poet and now delights in his life of ease: composing romantic verses for love-struck courtiers, enjoying the confidence of his king, and covertly teaching Sarasi, a beautiful and beguiling palace maid, the secrets of his art.

But when Kalinga Magha, a ruthless prince with a formidable army, arrives upon Lanka's shores, Asanka's world is changed beyond imagining. Violent, hubristic, and unpredictable, Magha usurps the throne, laying waste to all who stand in his way. Under his terrifying rule, nothing in the city is left untouched and, like many of his fellow citizens, Asanka retreats into the shadows, hoping to pass unnoticed by the tyrant. But it seems his new master is a lover of poetry....

To Asanka's horror, Magha tasks him with the translation of an epic Sanskrit poem, a tale of Gods and nobles, love and revenge, which the king believes will have a civilizing effect on his subjects, soothing their discontent and snuffing out the fires of rebellion he suspects are igniting across the island.

Asanka has always believed that poetry makes nothing happen, but as each new chapter he writes is disseminated through the land and lines on the page become cries in the street, his belief and his loyalties are challenged. And, as Magha circles ever closer to the things Asanka treasures most, the poet will discover that true power lies not at the point of a sword, but in the tip of a pen.

©2016 Paul M. M. Cooper (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about River of Ink

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

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

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

A portrait of history.

A step into a historical time period with not too much exposition given for a lot of the people, cities, religious and historical figures necessarily, but a small google shows that many of the main characters are real even it still obscure. A beautiful story told from one unfortunate mans point of view, in the form of a letter written by him to someone else, showing the brutal world of (then) India. Both satisfying yet honest with the harsh reality of life, and human behavior. India is rich with history, an often unexploited world, and this shows a glimpse of the fascinating stories we can learn from them. Anyone who have felt small and suppressed by larger people can relate to Asanka, which helps opening the story to one. I liked it a lot.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!