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Orphans of the Tide

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Orphans of the Tide

By: Struan Murray, Manuel Sumberac
Narrated by: Lucian Msamati, Georgina Campbell
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About this listen

Brought to you by Puffin.

The City was built on a sharp mountain that jutted improbably from the sea, and the sea kept trying to claim it back. That grey morning, once the tide had retreated, a whale was found on a rooftop.


When a mysterious boy washes in with the tide, the citizens believe he's the Enemy - the god who drowned the world - come again to cause untold chaos.

Only Ellie, a fearless young inventor living in a workshop crammed with curiosities, believes he's innocent.

But the Enemy can take possession of any human body and the ruthless Inquisition are determined to destroy it forever.

To save the boy, Ellie must prove who he really is - even if that means revealing her own dangerous secret . . .

© Struan Murray 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Fiction Growing Up Growing Up & Facts of Life Literature & Fiction Scary Stories Science Fiction & Fantasy Scary Fantasy

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Critic reviews

A sumptuously atmospheric adventure . . . Murray is a tirelessly inventive storyteller (Emily Bearn)
Gripping . . . with a touch of Frances Hardinge's bizarre brilliance (Imogen Russell Williams)
Unputdownable . . . Murray has an extraordinary imagination (Alex O'Connell)
Energetic and inventive . . . and with some startling surprises, this is also touching about friendship, siblings, loss and courage (Nicolette Jones)
Struan Murray . . . effortlessly joins the ranks of the most skilled world-creators . . . Unpredictable, filled with plot twists and shades of moral grey, Orphans of the Tide is both gripping and original. (Kitty Empire)
A beautifully written fantasy adventure with prose that is both muscular and musical, and outstanding world building. (Sarah Webb)
Orphans of the Tide is singularly brilliant. So inventive, and weird, and beautiful, with just the right amount of bite and darkness. I predict big things!
I loved it! Dark and thrilling. Great characters to root for. Perilous plot. Extraordinary, vivid world building . . . brilliant!
The most original opening I've read in years and a plot twist that turns brilliantly
This is a terrific debut of strange myths and dark secrets, fierce loyalties and ruthless villains, told against the thrilling backdrop of a half submerged city.
All stars
Most relevant
I really liked the premise of the book - the fear of the outsider. The characters really grew on me and the twist was brilliant. Recommend it

Well written and well read

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I personally really liked this gritty fantasy book with a lot of twists en turns.

Good post apocaliptic fantasy

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I couldn't stop listening to the story, amazingly wrote and performed. Best story ever

amazing

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This is a wonderful book which I loved listening to. It is beautifully narrated and is compelling in every way.

Orphans of the tide review

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Absolutely beautifully written. A brilliant story that twists and turns with great well rounded characters.

wow! brilliant story

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