Orphans of the Tide

Author Struan Murray, illustrated by Manuel Sumberac
Narrator Lucian Msamati, Georgina Campbell
Publisher Penguin Random House Children's UK
Run Time 9 hours
Format Audio
Genre Children’s / Teenage fiction: Action and adventure stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Family and home stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Fantasy.

Get in the xigxag app

This book is not purchasable in your country. Please select another book.

Pre-order Buy Now £{{ price }}

How does xigxag pricing work?

Listen to a sample

What to expect

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

Critics Review

A sumptuously atmospheric adventure . . . Murray is a tirelessly inventive storyteller
The Daily Telegraph
Gripping . . . with a touch of Frances Hardinge’s bizarre brilliance
The Guardian
Unputdownable . . . Murray has an extraordinary imagination
The Times
Energetic and inventive . . . and with some startling surprises, this is also touching about friendship, siblings, loss and courage
The Sunday Times
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.
The Observer
A beautifully written fantasy adventure with prose that is both muscular and musical, and outstanding world building.
Irish Independent
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!
Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Girl of Ink and Stars and The Mercies
I loved it! Dark and thrilling. Great characters to root for. Perilous plot. Extraordinary, vivid world building . . . brilliant!
Eloise Williams, Children's Laureate Wales
The most original opening I’ve read in years and a plot twist that turns brilliantly
Abi Elphinstone, author of Sky Song
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.
The Bookseller – Editor's Choice
Compellingly inventive and unpredictable, kept me guessing right till the end.
Piers Torday, author of The Last Wild
Absolutely cracking! Great characters, with quite the nastiest villain I’ve met in a long while.
Fleur Hitchcock, author of The Boy Who Flew
Outstanding and immersive . . . I devoured this in one go
book blogger Lily SugarPlum Faery
An imaginative journey to a stunning fantasy world, full of twists and heart . . . an absolute corker . . . filled with swashbuckling adventure . . . an enthralling fantasy that moves through dark and grisly scenes of grave peril to positively touching moments of profound friendship. An incredibly imaginative narrative that fills its reader with wonder and thrills while also not being afraid to share quieter moments of real heart.
The Daily Express
There is a touch of Phillip Pullman about the world that Murray creates, and Murray matches Pullman lyrical prose […] The comparison, however, should not take away from Murray’s originality […] the characters themselves, led by the plucky Ellie, anchor Orphans of the Tide in an urgent, human reality.
Irish Times
The energetic steampunk vibe overlies a thoughtful fable about compassion and justice
New Statesman

More from the same

Author

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to get tailored content recommendations, product updates and info on new releases. Your data is your own: we commit to protect your data and respect your privacy.