Ordinary Monsters
The dark and dazzling Sunday Times bestseller and first book in the Talents Trilogy
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- USD 9.99
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- USD 9.99
Descripción editorial
* THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER *
'An enthralling read' GUARDIAN
'A thrilling blend of fantasy and horror, richly imagined and masterfully executed' SFX
'Terrific . . . A book that creeps up on you, wearing brass knuckles' CONN IGGULDEN
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The first in a captivating new historical fantasy series, ORDINARY MONSTERS introduces the Talents with a catastrophic vision of the Victorian world, and the gifted, broken children who must save it.
There in the shadows was a figure in a cloak, at the bottom of the cobblestone stair, and it turned and stared up at them as still and unmoving as a pillar of darkness, but it had no face, only smoke . . .
1882. North of Edinburgh, on the edge of an isolated loch, lies an institution of crumbling stone, where a strange doctor collects orphans with unusual abilities. In London, two children with such powers are hunted by a figure of darkness – a man made of smoke.
Charlie Ovid discovers a gift for healing himself through a brutal upbringing in Mississippi, while Marlowe, a foundling from a railway freight, glows with a strange bluish light. When two grizzled detectives are recruited to escort them north to safety, they are confronted by a sinister, dangerous force that threatens to upend the world as they know it.
What follows is a journey from the gaslit streets of London to the lochs of Scotland, where other gifted children – the Talents – have been gathered at Cairndale Institute, and the realms of the dead and the living collide. As secrets within the Institute unfurl, Marlowe, Charlie and the rest of the Talents will discover the truth about their abilities and the nature of the force that is stalking them: that the worst monsters sometimes come bearing the sweetest gifts.
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'A dazzling mountain of wild invention, Dickensian eccentrics, supernatural horrors and gripping suspense' JOE HILL
'Expansive in scope and storytelling, Ordinary Monsters builds an electrifying Victorian world' CARI THOMAS
J.M. Miro's book 'Ordinary Monsters' was a #5 Sunday Times bestseller w/e 04-06-2022.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Miro debuts with a sweeping historical fantasy that takes readers on an epic, continent-spanning journey, but the intricately constructed world and engaging characters don't quite make up for the plot's bleakness. When teenage Eliza, fleeing her abusive employer in Victorian England, discovers an infant glowing blue in the gloom of a freight car, she adopts the baby and names him Marlowe. The tale widens its scope with each subsequent chapter, but Marlowe remains central, as good and evil forces seek to harness his inexplicable powers. The labyrinthine plot risks becoming convoluted, but Miro retains masterful control over the details throughout. Marlowe and the diverse group of companions he accumulates—including other mysteriously powered children like him—are fascinating and easy to care about, and the prose shifts nimbly from thrilling fight scenes to quiet moments of connection. The world, however, is painfully austere, largely lacking in joy or even comfort, so much so that reading can feel like a slog despite the well-maintained pace. Still, readers who can stomach the grimness will be richly rewarded.
