Rotherweird cover art

Rotherweird

Rotherweird, Book 1

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Rotherweird

By: Andrew Caldecott
Narrated by: Kris Dyer
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About this listen

Rotherweird is a twisted, arcane murder-mystery with shades of Deborah Harkness, Hope Mirrlees and Ben Aaronovitch, Mervyn Peake and Edward Gorey at their disturbing best.

The town of Rotherweird stands alone - there are no guidebooks, despite the fascinating and diverse architectural styles cramming the narrow streets, the avant-garde science and offbeat customs. Cast adrift from the rest of England by Elizabeth I, Rotherweird's independence is subject to one disturbing condition: nobody, but nobody, studies the town or its history.

For beneath the enchanting surface lurks a secret so dark that it must never be rediscovered, still less reused.

But secrets have a way of leaking out.

Two inquisitive outsiders have arrived: Jonah Oblong, to teach modern history at Rotherweird School (nothing local and nothing before 1800), and the sinister billionaire Sir Veronal Slickstone, who has somehow got permission to renovate the town's long-derelict Manor House.

Slickstone and Oblong, though driven by conflicting motives, both strive to connect past and present until they and their allies are drawn into a race against time - and each other. The consequences will be lethal and apocalyptic.

Welcome to Rotherweird!

©2017 Andrew Caldecott (P)2017 WF Howes Ltd Historical Fiction Fiction Feel-Good

Critic Reviews

"Intricate and crisp, witty and solemn: a book with special and dangerous properties." (Hilary Mantel)
"Baroque, Byzantine and beautiful - not to mention bold." (M. R. Carey)
All stars
Most relevant  
I found this book an ordeal. I really wanted to like it, and it held promise. The story is highly complex, multiple characters with bizarre names, and no effort from the reader to differentiate voices.
The reader sounds as if he’s reading a railway timetable. Measured, with suboptimal vocalisation of emotion or differentiation between characters.

In the end, after a few hours of perseverance, I could not endure.

I struggled to enjoy this.

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I've just finished Rotherweird and now I am sat here ruminating over the story and find I still have questions and am more than a little confused.
I listened to it on "audible" and was constantly having to rewind and check on the meanderings of the story.
I think it was a good concept but I was forever trying to place in my mind what era it was set in and who all the characters were.
If it hadn't been for the brilliant narration and character voices I would have surely lost track.
The description of the town could have been fantastic with it's unusual architecture and yet somehow it just didn't paint a vivid picture in my mind. I was continually left - wanting.
Maybe it's just me but I feel that this book could have been so much more. That being said , it's not the worst book I've read and one of the few I have ever felt the need to write a review.
Maybe I need to read the other books in the series to make sense of it all.

Not the worst book I've read.

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This is an interesting story and as it went along I became far more intrigued with it than I thought I would be when I started it.
A community seperate from the rest of the country by royal decree. No study of their history is allowed, but what a tangled history it turns out to be.
A new history teacher and the renovation of the town’s Manor house appear to be the catalyst for some extraordinary revelations and suspicious deaths.
The characters have rather unique names and I will admit that I found it hard to keep the names in my head to begin with. The story wove in directions I hadn’t anticipated. I did feel as if not all loose ends we tied up at the end. Maybe I just need to go back and check.

Intriguing

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The narration was Very annoyingly S l o w....... the gaps and pauses were long enough to fit in a nap. The story was a little confusing and characters hard to follow in the audible format but that may have been because I sped up the pace.

Didn't live up to expectations

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This is an excellent story, really well read. Part mystery, part alternate history, it kept me interested and entertained right to the end.

Twisted and unpredictable!

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What a weird and wonderful mystery this is!! Brilliantly narrated. Such a unique story, will definitely return to this author.

Thoroughly enjoyable

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lots of mind bending weirdness, especially the characters. looking forward to more mystery and weirdness

loved it

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I loved this trilogy - it was clever, engrossing and an interesting piece of political satire. beautifully written with colourful characters and disturbing and complex story line. Hope the author will write some more novels in this vein as he has a real skill.

Fantastic whimsical story

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I do like this book, but there is so much going on I had to read it twice before I could start the sequel. I like the characters, but there are lots of them!! The narrator does a good job of distinguishing between them, even in big group discussions.
I honestly feel like that meme with the man with the red string - trying to figure out the 3 timelines, the interwoven stories and the intrigue. This one takes brain power - it is not a casual listen.

Super complex - read twice

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Just a little slow at times. But great ideas, characters, and stories. give it a listen!

bit slow

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