Ash, Mercury, and the Names We Gave the Fire
By Michael Batches
Length46m
About this audiobook
Ash, Mercury, and the Names We Gave the Fire is a quiet, human-centered novel about ancient alchemy as lived practice rather than legend. Told through the voice of a young alchemist shaped by illness, failure, restraint, and care, the story follows years of patient work in hidden workshops and borrowed spaces. Instead of chasing gold, the narrator learns to listen to fire, materials, and limits, discovering that true transformation lies in attention, survival, and ethical restraint. Grounded in concrete details of daily labor and human relationships, the book explores knowledge passed through humility rather than spectacle. It is a reflective historical literary fiction about craft, balance, and the kind of wisdom that does not shine but endures.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★★ 5.0 (2)
GenreLiterary Classics, History
Length46 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateJan 17, 2026
LanguageEnglish
STATUS SYMBOLMichael Batches59m5 (1) Only with Ultra
The Wheel That Taught Us to DreamMichael Batches50m4 (1) Only with Ultra
The Long Breath HomeMichael Batches47m4 (1) Only with Ultra
Quiet Streets, Loud HeartsMichael Batches51m5 (1) Only with Ultra
The Slow Burn of Glass and SilenceMichael Batches43m5 (1) Only with Ultra
Salt in the Bone, Names in the WaterMichael Batches45m5 (1) Only with Ultra
The Quiet Weight of TomorrowMichael Batches40m5 (1) Only with Ultra
The Quiet Arithmetic of Becoming RichMichael Batches43m5 (1) Only with Ultra
What We Gave Without Being AskedMichael Batches47m Only with Ultra
The Day We Chose Each OtherMichael Batches45m Only with Ultra
Above All VoicesMichael Batches48m4 (1) Only with Ultra
When Money Learns to SpeakMichael Batches54m4 (1) Only with Ultra
MrBIGGS and the Weight of Small ChoicesMichael Batches42m5 (1) Only with Ultra
This Year, I StayMichael Batches45m Only with Ultra
Honeyed Throats, Open SkiesMichael Batches44m5 (1) Only with Ultra
Voices ThatMichael Batches45m4 (1) Only with Ultra
Chalk on the Hands, Fire in the MindMichael Batches52m5 (1) Only with Ultra
The Quiet Power on the PlateMichael Batches46m Only with Ultra
What the Bottle Promised and What It TookMichael Batches47m5 (1) Only with Ultra
High Roads, Heavy DoorsMichael Batches48m5 (1) Only with Ultra
The Complete Works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Novels, Short Stories and Autobiographical WritingsFyodor Dostoyevsky271h 27m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Works: Charlotte, Emily, Anne, Patrick & Branwell BrontëCharlotte Brontë, Anne Brontë, Emily Brontë138h 12m$1 · $0.00
L. M. Montgomery – Premium Collection: Novels, Short Stories, Poetry & MemoirsLucy Maud Montgomery155h 55m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Books of F. Scott Fitzgerald (all his 5 novels + all 4 short story collections published during his lifetime)F. Scott Fitzgerald87h 53m$2 · $0.00
MARK TWAIN: 12 Novels, 195 Short Stories, Autobiography, 10 Travel Books, 160+ Essays & Speeches (Illustrated)Mark Twain416h 24m$2 · $0.00
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m$18 · $0.00
The Complete Novels of Jane Austen & Brontë SistersCharlotte Brontë, Anne Brontë, Emily Brontë, Jane Austen204h 24m$2 · $0.00
Louisa May Alcott: 16 Novels in One Volume (Illustrated Edition)Louisa May Alcott141h 35m$2 · $0.00
The Fire Next TimeJames Baldwin2h 25m$15
The Complete Works of Oscar WildeOscar Wilde80h 38m$1 · $0.00
The Count of Monte Cristo + The Three Musketeers + The Man in the Iron Mask (3 Unabridged Classics)Alexandre Dumas100h 13m$2 · $0.00
Betty Crocker picture cooky bookBetty Crocker, Inc. General Mills2h 13m$2 · $0.00
Braving the TruthRachel Held Evans11h 31m$29 · $0.00
Richard Wagamese SelectedRichard Wagamese3h 14m$15
Shōgun, Part OneJames Clavell24h 19m$35
Henry V (The Play, Historical Background and Analysis of the Character in the Play)William Shakespeare, William Hazlitt8h 40m$1 · $0.00
Pathways to LightPrakash Amte7h 6m$8
The Mysterious Island Trilogy: 2 TranslationsJules Verne42h 34m$2 · $0.00
The North American Indian (Illustrated Edition)Edward S. Curtis, Frederick Webb Hodge6h$2 · $0.00
The Complete Novels of Leo Tolstoy in One Premium Edition (World Classics Series)Leo Tolstoy213h 41m$2 · $0.00
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m$20 · $0.00
Frederick Douglass: All 3 Memoirs in One VolumeFrederick Douglass44h 9m$2 · $0.00
I've Been to the MountaintopMartin Luther King48m5 (1)$11 · $0.00
RevolutionariesSanjeev Sanyal11h 23m$29 · $0.00
We Crossed a Bridge and It TrembledWendy Pearlman6h$24 · $0.00
Unbroken Bonds of BattleJohnny Joey Jones8h 31m$8 · $0.00
The Red RecordIda B. Wells-Barnett2h 9m$2 · $0.00
The Daughter of AuschwitzTova Friedman, Malcolm Brabant7h 54m$26 · $0.00
Lily's PromiseLily Ebert, Dov Forman8h 54m$29 · $0.00
Saving My EnemyBob Welch9h 11m$20
On Democracies and Death CultsDouglas Murray10h 38m$29 · $0.00
Across the RiverKent Babb11h 40m$29 · $0.00
Balcony Over Jerusalem: A Middle East Memoir - Israel, Palestine and BeyondJohn Lyons12h 37m$33 · $0.00
The Fire Next TimeJames Baldwin2h 25m$15
EnduranceAlfred Lansing6h 1m$20
LES MISERABLES (Illustrated Edition)Victor Hugo66h 17m$1 · $0.00
BeyondStephen Walker15h 39m$33 · $0.00
Kings and PawnsHoward Bryant10h 9m$29 · $0.00
No EscapeNury Turkel9h 30m$28 · $0.00
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Complete 6 Volume Edition)Edward Gibbon179h 45m$2 · $0.00
You may also like
What I Talk about When I Talk about RunningHaruki Murakami4h 24m$12
Menopause ConfidentialTara Allmen6h 25m$24 · $0.00
The Book of Knowing and The Book of OverthinkingGwendoline Smith4h 13m$15
The TracesMairead Small Staid7h 25m$17
The Crest-Jewel of WisdomAdi Shankara3h 54m$2 · $0.00
The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer: the Wisdom of LifeArthur Schopenhauer5h 6m$1 · $0.00
Transform Your Body Transform Your LifeAkash Vaghela4h 24m$20 · $0.00
THE PATH OF INTUITIONLinda Vera Roethlisberger2h 44m$23 · $0.00
The Cool, Calm And Confident GirlsClinton Greene1h 52m$6 · $0.00
My Life in MiddlemarchRebecca Mead9h 38m$20
The Art of the Voice: 7 Classic Books on Vocal MasteryEmil Sutro, James Francis Cooke, W. E. Haslam, Millie Ryan, Katherine Jewell Everts, David C. Taylor, Francis E. Howard35h 44m$2 · $0.00
True life through ZENZensho W. Kopp1h 12m$13 · $0.00
Cognitive Behavioral TherapyEric Holt1h 47m Only with Ultra
HE CAN WHO THINKS HE CAN & OTHER BOOKS ON SUCCESSOrison Swett Marden5h 9m$2 · $0.00
The Middle YearsHenry James2h 22m$2.30
The EnchiridionEpictetus0m$1 · $0.00
Leading Change!Made for Success8h 43m$20
ON BEING ILLVirginia Woolf1h 48m$2 · $0.00
Clarity Through ActionSteve Pavlina17m$4 · $0.00
Dr. Montessori's Own HandbookMaria Montessori2h 42m$10 · $0.00