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  • Rotherweird

  • Rotherweird, Book 1
  • By: Andrew Caldecott
  • Narrated by: Kris Dyer
  • Length: 16 hrs and 14 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (68 ratings)

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Rotherweird cover art

Rotherweird

By: Andrew Caldecott
Narrated by: Kris Dyer
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Publisher's Summary

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

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)

What listeners say about Rotherweird

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Tedious

A drab story narrated well. Unconvincing characters. Dreadful dialogue in places. Editor? Get one, or get a new one! Such an effort to be imaginative and clever, and it fell flat.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Intriguing

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.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Interesting premise becomes an overlong slog.

Struggled to get through, the plot gets so convoluted that all the main characters have to sit around a table and explain to themselves (and the listener) what the Hell is going on once at the midpoint and then at the end. Speaking of, the ending is just hanging for a sequel and is unsatisfying.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Didn't live up to expectations

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.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

A slog

I finished it, but it didn’t feel satisfying. The character names were kinda off putting because they gave it a YA vibe but the story isn’t YA. And the mention of the illegality of looking into this town’s history, so repetitively, was overdone.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

I struggled to enjoy this.

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.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

bit slow

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

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

loved it

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

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Twisted and unpredictable!

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

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • AV
  • 11-10-2020

Fantastic whimsical story

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.

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