Orphans of the Tide

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A sumptuously atmospheric adventure . . . Murray is a tirelessly inventive storyteller Emily Bearn, The Daily Telegraph Quite possibly... the best children’s book I’ve read in five years?!? Or longer? To be perfectly honest, it’s been a very long time since I’ve been so successfully gripped by a novel of any kind. And ‘Orphans’ really did carry me away — to an utterly brilliant world that I just want to know more and more about. It reminded me of a blend of ‘His Dark Materials’ and ‘The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray’, with some Tim Lebbon body horror flung in for good measure. 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 do like that the gods still living, weren't just killed off. So Ellie does have to continue battling her very real inner demon for her mental health of not humanity, but she's stronger now and very able to do so.

The people believed what they were told to believe. They feared what they could not understand. The Enemy was effective because they did not understand what it was or how to over come it. It seems like human nature to fear the unknown. But to live in fear because of ignorance or because of herd mentality is dangerous. Puffin started out as a non-fiction publisher, with its first title appearing in 1940. As the most iconic and well-known children’s book brand in the UK today, we are always on the lookout for innovative ways to tell the world’s favourite stories and for brilliant new debut talent and brands that connect with today’s young readers, from newborn up to twelve years old.

The map and illustrations by Manuel Šumberac are dark, delicious and provide a beautiful visualisation of Murray’s imaginings. Murray's debut novel certainly didn't disappoint.The set-up grabbed me from the start; an independent female inventor living in the only city left in the world (after The Drowning) saves a mysterious boy who has just emerged from the belly of a beached whale... Your class will read chapter 18 and as part of a balanced argument, they will need to compare the qualities of the two men. Your class will read from P222 to the end of the chapter to help identify their skills. More like a 4.5, but I'm rounding up because it's the authors debut. How does someone just start writing and then write something this good straight away? I'm jealous.

This book has it's own map of The City, which I loved but honestly didn't use all that often. The book carried itself perfectly without needing a map, but the map was definitely a nice touch. 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.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. Orphan Ellie Lancaster lives in the City, the only remaining one that remains after the Great Drowning. She makes a living by fixing all manner of intricate and wonderful things in a workshop that used to belong to her mother. When a whale washes up on the shore and a boy crawls out the City inhabitants come to the only logical conclusion, he is a deadly force that has not walked the City for 23 years. The Vessel, the life form of the dreaded Enemy has returned and must be destroyed before it can cause devastation and destruction. I enjoyed this series greatly. This finl book is the most emotional of the lot. You really feel your heart being twisted for Ellie. The author of the Anastasia books as well as more serious fiction ( Rabble Starkey, 1987) offers her first historical fiction—a story about the escape of the Jews from Denmark in 1943. 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 – it demands a sequel.' Kitty Empire, The Observer

Objectives: Have a class vote for Ellie’s best invention; design an invention to solve a problem in your imagined city; create a character profile for the character of Ellie. Compared to sooo much other “fantasy” writing (especially that aimed at younger readers), ‘Orphans of the Tide’ is equally fresh and thrilling. I’d recommend it to everyone, but particularly anyone who adores HDMs.This story is well-plotted, pacy and has interesting characters, but I found it as wet, dreary and pessimistic as a rainy Sunday in Oldham. I did read it to the end and did have some empathy with the characters, but oh for some levity! Other than all of those problems, this book was good and well written, with really really interesting characters who were complex and intricate in ways I didn't expect. A world with only one city left standing. The gods drowned, the world drowned. The enemy comes and takes over humans and burst out and causes mayhem. Priests rule, whale lords rule. The sea gives and takes. Fear is always near, when will the Enemy return? I would recommend this to anyone from about 10 years onwards because it’s a bit scary and might frighten young children. But there is trouble brewing in paradise and soon Ellie and Seth find themselves caught up in a dangerous struggle for power - and forced to confront terrible truths from their past . . .

Winner of the Branford Boase Award 2021, a breathtaking fantasy adventure for fans of His Dark Materials that The Times calls 'Unputdownable'. The plot of the book was predictable. As soon as you began to understand the world this is set in, it becomes quite easy to guess the outcome of everything. I don’t know how well the age group this is aimed at would guess the plot but as an adult reading this, I thought it was quite predictable.I can't put my finger on all the little things that I couldn't properly fit into the puzzle of this story. Again and again, what I felt while reading was as if the author (and by extension the editor and the publisher) of this book cared solely for how thing looked and little for what the could mean. I found it took a little time to warm to the characters of Ellie and Anna and the ending felt left-open, making it not completely satisfying. However, for anyone who fancies immersing themselves in a murky, gritty fantastical world which will throw you around more ferociously than the waves in a stormy sea then this is the book for you. It is a novel which will leave you gasping for air and will stay in your memory long after reading. Any winner of the Bath Children's Novel Award is going to turn my head. The calibre of writers that are shortlisted for this award is staggering year upon year and so to win it must feel like the ultimate achievement. What a glorious conclusion to a thrilling trilogy! Struan Murray has done it again with Eternity Engine. Building upon the phenomenal world building of the previous two novels, the final instalment ramps up the excitement immensely and delivers exactly what I hoped and expected to read (given how good the others were!) Eternity Engine was filled with twists and turns and I was left guessing all the way – just how I like it. Orphans of the Tide is a truly outstanding trilogy, perfect for year 6 and beyond. This is the third book in the Orphans of the Tide series, and an epic conclusion at that. This series revolves around the presence of the Enemy. The Enemy of a kind of God, who resides in a Vessel. He can fulfil wishes for the Vessel, but in return gains some power to do as he wishes. He can for example save someone for the Vessel, but then himself gets the power to also save, or kill, someone. And as his name suggests, he does not want to do nice things with those powers. The town is obviously terrified of this Enemy and has installed an Inquisition to find the Vessel. If you are thought to be a Vessel, you are very likely to be killed… because then the Enemy also disappears for 10 years.