Orphans of the Tide

The City, a spear-topped island rising from the sea, is the only land remaining since the world was submerged by rising waters long ago. When a whale is beached on a church roof, singing mournfully, and a hand and then a mysterious blue-eyed boy emerges from its belly, the question is, who is he? Where can he have come from? And, as the Inquisitors believe, is he really the next Vessel? In a world where the Enemy (the God who drowned the Gods) can take control of a person's body so they become the Vessel, no-one is to be trusted.

Ellie, a mechanical inventor's daughter who is following in her mother's footsteps, has a secret guilt she can tell no-one. Anna, Ellie's best friend, is an enigmatic pickpocket, who looks after the younger orphans. Seth, the whale boy, has no memory except that he needs to find his brothers and sisters. And then there's Finn, Ellie's cherubic yet antagonistic hanger-on. With so much mystery and so much left unsaid, will the children be able to convince the one-armed Inquisitor Hargarth that Seth is innocent before he is caught and executed?

Interludes dispersed throughout the main storyline give us 'the Diary of Claude Hestermeyer', where the previous Vessel records his thoughts as the Enemy gradually becomes stronger inside him. Can his story give the children any clues on how to survive?

With dramatic imagery and memorable characters conjured from the very first page, Orphans of the Tide quickly immerses the reader in the kind of fully-realised steam-punk world which is relatively common in adult/YA literature but has not been achieved so successfully for MG readers, at least not since Philip Reeves' Mortal Engines.

Character, plot and setting all meld together into a hugely satisfying and immersive story, with twists galore and the kind of satisfying ending, which also holds the seeds of a new adventure within it. Struan Murray had better write quickly as there will be many readers on tenterhooks, waiting to see what happens next in Ellie's world.

352 pages / Ages 9+ / Reviewed by Carol Carter, school librarian

Suggested Reading Age 9+

Orphans of the Tide is a gripping adventure-filled story. An epic-adventure trilogy like no other. A city underwater. A beached whale. A girl with a heavy secret. The enemy has risen again and threatens the city - a story of good vs evil.

Ellie, the Inventor's daughter, has lost everyone; her mum and brother are both gone, and she forms strong ties with Anna, a fellow orphan. Their bond is conflicted as Ellie sees herself as the protector. Something she was unable to fulfil with her brother, Finn. Anna is a fiery protagonist in charge of the younger Orphans. Both female leads are strong and have troubled backgrounds. When a boy erupts from the belly of a whale, the city erupts into cacophonous chaos - they think the enemy has returned.

The inquisition, assigned to protect the city, sets chase, sentencing him to death. Ellie, the Inventor's daughter, proclaims his innocence and does everything in her power to help him. In doing so, she has to reveal her dangerous secret: a secret that will change the course of her future forever.

Anna feels threatened, confused and discarded by Ellie's sudden need to protect Seth, the enemy who surfaced from the belly of a whale. She doesn't understand why Ellie is so sure of his innocence and wonders why she protects him at all costs. This series is perfect escapism.

352 Pages / Reviewed by Kelly Buxton 

Suggested Reading Age 9+