Murdstone Trilogy, The: A Novel

by Mal Peet, James Langton (Read by)

Overview

How hard can it be to write a fantasy trilogy? From Carnegie Medalist Mal Peet comes an outrageously funny black comedy about an impoverished literary writer who makes a pact with the devil.

Award-winning YA author Philip Murdstone is in trouble. His star has waned. The world is leaving him behind. His agent, the ruthless Minerva Cinch, convinces him that his only hope is to write a sword-and-sorcery blockbuster. Unfortunately, Philip—allergic to the faintest trace of Tolkien—is utterly unsuited to the task. In a dark hour, a dwarfish stranger comes to his rescue. But the deal he makes with Pocket Wellfair turns out to have Faustian consequences. The Murdstone Trilogy is a richly dark comedy described by one U.K. reviewer as “totally insane in the best way possible.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781511308229
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	09/22/2015
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 5.50(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Mal Peet published his first novel, Keeper, in 2003. It was translated into several languages and won the Branford Boase Award. He next won the Carnegie Medal in 2005 and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize in 2009, as well as a Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor in 2012 for Life: An Exploded Diagram. Born in Norfolk, England, in 1947, Mal Peet died in 2015.

Editorial Reviews

Philip Murdstone, declining author, lives in Flemworthy, where he writes award-winning nonfiction that nobody reads. He has a crush on his sexy agent who wants to dump him but who sees one last chance for fame and fortune if she can get him to ride the current tide of the fantasy genre. James Langton gives voice to a hysterical set of characters from the series that Murdstone creates. Pocket Welfare, an elf-like being, actually dictates the novels (“flaming ledgers” in his world) to Philip while demeaning him for being a cowardly, ignorant fool at every turn. There are monsters, evil wizards, noble princes, and living swords—all artfully energized by Langton’s vocal range and talent. His characters are memorable—from the lugubrious Murdstone to the sometimes drippingly sarcastic Pocket Welfare. Monty Python would be proud. M.C. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2015 - AudioFile