
Mordew
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Narrated by:
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Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
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By:
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Alex Pheby
About this listen
Welcome to Mordew - the first in a fantastic new trilogy from the Wellcome Book Prize-shortlisted writer Alex Pheby.
God lies defeated, his corpse hidden in the catacombs beneath Mordew. On the surface, the streets of this the sea-battered city are slick with the Living Mud and the half-formed, short-lived creatures it spawns - creatures that die and are swept down from the Merchant Quarter by the brooms of the workers and relentless rains, where they rot in the slums.
There, a young boy called Nathan Treeves lives with his parents, eking out a meagre existence by picking treasures from the Living Mud - until one day his mother, desperate and starving, sells him to the mysterious Master of Mordew.
The Master derives his power from feeding on the corpse of God. But Nathan, despite his fear and lowly station, has his own strength - and it is greater than the Master has ever known. Great enough to destroy everything the Master has built. If only Nathan can discover how to use it.
So it is that the Master begins to scheme against him - and Nathan has to fight his way through the betrayals, secrets and vendettas of the city where God was murdered and darkness reigns....
Experience this critically acclaimed masterpiece, perfect for fans of Philip Pullman and Ben Aaronovitch.
©2020 Alex Pheby (P)2021 W F HowesCritic reviews
"Brilliant.... Extraordinary.... An extravagant and unnerving marvel." (The Guardian)
"A treat.... The world of Alex Pheby's fourth novel is dizzying...a beguiling splicing of Dickensian social satire and rackety steampunk fantasy. Written with combustible verve." (The Spectator)
"Weird and wonderful, bleak and beautiful...[Mordew] is an extraordinarily vivid piece of world-building." (The Sunday Express)
The brilliant narrative
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Whoever you do, don't read the blurb on the sequel either as it gives a MASSIVE spoiler to this book. I made that mistake and spent the entire book knowing something crucial about the ending and that was just from one accidental glance at a blurb.
As I say, on the one hand I found the whole thing 'not quite' but I also finished it and plan the sequel so it must be okay.
Brilliant narration, avoid spoilers!
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OK but more YA than I expected
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just yes.
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However, although the storyline was interesting it didn’t excite and I just couldn’t invest in it.
Not a good ending.
The Narrator is Excellent
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amazing reader
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ok
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Top notch narration
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However, if Pheby's scene-setting is excellent, his pacing lets him down. The first act of this enormous novel introduces various political intrigues and a Dickensian narrative arc that sees Nathan fall in with a gang of thieving street urchins whilst his father lies dying and his aristocratic mother is forced into prostitution. This all builds nicely and I wish it had been developed further but then the story switches track for the second act: Nathan's nascent magical abilities suddenly turn full-Jedi and the book transitions into arcane symbolism and dreamlike fantasy. Once the confused Nathan has fallen under the Master's dubious patronage the remainder of the novel plays out with ratcheting jeopardy, flipped expectations, passageway chases and plenty of exposition in readiness for the second instalment. Oh, and the corpse of God lies is in the catacombs beneath the castle, but more on that next time. In other words, this does not resolve itself in a particularly satisfactory manner. Still, there was much to enjoy here, and I will certainly check in with part two.
Of course, what this audiobook really has in its favour is Kobna Holdbrook-Smith on narration duties. Holdbrook-Smith still has all the good will in the world from his work on the Peter Grant books and he doesn't drop the ball here, giving an excellent performance up to his usual high standards (even in the scene with the elefanges, which no one is going to like).
Gott ist Tot & the Festivals of Atonement
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Too long, too messy, some potential.
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