Wildlands

Author Brogen Murphy
Narrator Robyn Holdaway
Publisher Penguin Random House Children's UK
Publish Date 6 March 2025
Run Time 7 hours and 34 minutes
Format Audio
Genre Children’s / Teenage fiction: Action and adventure stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Crime and mystery fiction, Children’s / Teenage fiction: General fiction, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Nature and animal stories, Children’s / Teenage social issues: Environment and green issues.

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What to expect

Brought to you by Puffin.

A UTOPIAN FUTURE.
A FORBIDDEN WILDERNESS.
TWO SISTERS TRYING TO SURVIVE.

Twenty-five years into the future, no humans are allowed in the Wildlands – a vast area in Britain where wolves, lynx and bison roam free. The only exception is a high-speed train line between London and Glasgow that crosses right through the heart of the project. Thirteen-year-old Astrid and her little sister, Indie, are onboard when their train slows to a brief, unexpected stop … and they find themselves accidentally left behind. Stranded in this place of astonishing natural wonders and terrible dangers, they have only a rucksack, a phone without signal – and each other. As every wrong turn takes them deeper into the Wildlands, do they have the ingenuity and determination to survive?

How far would YOU go to find your way home?

Perfect for fans of THE EXPLORER and THE LAST WILD, this riveting and emotional story takes place in an imagined future teeming with lost flora and fauna that we can only dream about encountering today.

© Brogen Murphy 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Critics Review

Set in an imaginary near-future, this environmental adventure is full of incredible lost animals and plants. It's a tense, exciting story that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

The Week Junior (Book of the Week)

Convincing and affecting, this classic-in-the-making keeps things nail-bitingly real.

Teach Primary magazine

Set in a utopian landscape and addressing big questions about humanity's relationship with the environment, this is a gripping and refreshingly original story of survival against the odds. Engrossing, thrilling and thought-provoking.

BookTrust

At the core of this book is a story about tenacity, sisterly love and hope all wrapped up in a brilliant adventure. Chapter after chapter is filled with emotional depth, adventurist dilemmas and thought-provoking conversation starters around what Britain's ecological future might look like - a brilliant read!

Books For Keeps

Murphy's family drama is set against a backdrop of bigger issues, and the environmental and domestic concerns are neatly interwoven. The idyllic setting, meanwhile, offers a narrative of hope: there are things that humans can do to control and save the world, on both the micro and macro level.

The Irish Times

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