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Children's reading lists

15 must-read fantasy books for 9-12-year-olds

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16 of the best Scottish children’s books and authors

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Competitions

Win signed copies of the Orphans of the Tide trilogy and an invention kit

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Extracts

Eternity Engine by Struan Murray

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Shipwreck Island by Struan Murray

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Orphans of the Tide by Struan Murray

Eternity Engine

The seas have parted to reveal the remains of humanity's lost empire and opened a path from Shipwreck Island to the Enemy's City. Now only Ellie Lancaster and her orphan friends can prevent a terrible war. 
 
As Kate marches north at the head of her army, panic infests the City as the Enemy's strength grows. For the parting of the seas has also uncovered the Eternity Engine, a dreadful machine from before the Drowning, with the power to remake the world - or destroy it forever . . . 
 
Perfect for fans of His Dark Materials and Vashti Hardy.

The final instalment in the breathtaking Orphans of the Tide trilogy, which The Times calls 'Unputdownable'. 
 
The seas have parted to reveal the remains of humanity's lost empire and opened a path from Shipwreck Island to the Enemy's City. Now only Ellie Lancaster and her orphan friends can prevent a terrible war. 
 
As Kate marches north at the head of her army, panic infests the City as the Enemy's strength grows. For the parting of the seas has also uncovered the Eternity Engine, a dreadful machine from before the Drowning, with the power to remake the world - or destroy it forever . . . 
 
The critically-acclaimed Orphans of the Tide trilogy reaches its spine-tingling climax and dramatic conclusion. Perfect reading for fans of His Dark Materials or Vashti Hardy. 
 
 
Praise for Orphans of the Tide: 
 
'Unputdownable' - The Times 
 
'Enthralling' - The Daily Express 
 
'Sumptuously atmospheric . . . tirelessly inventive' - The Daily Telegraph 
 
'Gripping' - The Guardian 
 
'Energetic and inventive' - Sunday Times 
 
'Gripping and original' - The Observer 
 
'Singularly brilliant' - Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Girl of Ink and Stars and The Mercies 
 
'Compellingly inventive and unpredictable' - Piers Torday, author of The Last Wild 
 
'A terrific debut of strange myths and dark secrets' - The Bookseller (Editor's Choice)

Shipwreck Island

Orphans Ellie and Seth have crossed an endless ocean in search of freedom and peace. 
 
Arriving on the shores of a colourful tropical island ruled by a mysterious queen, it seems they might just have found the perfect new home. 
 
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 . . .

The breathtaking adventure continues in the sequel to the much-loved Orphans of the Tide. 
 
Orphans Ellie and Seth have crossed an endless ocean in search of freedom and peace. 
 
Arriving on the shores of a colourful tropical island ruled by a mysterious queen, it seems they might just have found the perfect new home. 
 
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 . . . 
 
Praise for Orphans of the Tide: 
 
'Unputdownable' - Times 
 
'Enthralling' - Daily Express 
 
'Sumptuously atmospheric . . . tirelessly inventive' - Daily Telegraph

Orphans of the Tide

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. 
 
Only Ellie, a fearless young inventor living in a workshop crammed with curiosities, believes he's innocent. 
 
But the Enemy can take possession of any human body and the ruthless Inquisition are determined to destroy it forever. 
 
To save the boy, Ellie must prove who he really is - even if that means revealing her own dangerous secret . . .

Winner of the Branford Boase Award 2021, a breathtaking fantasy adventure for fans of His Dark Materials that The Times calls 'Unputdownable'. 
 
The City was built on a sharp mountain that jutted improbably from the sea, and the sea kept trying to claim it back. That grey morning, once the tide had retreated, a whale was found on a rooftop. 
 
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. 
 
Only Ellie, a fearless young inventor living in a workshop crammed with curiosities, believes he's innocent. 
 
But the Enemy can take possession of any human body and the ruthless Inquisition are determined to destroy it forever. 
 
To save the boy, Ellie must prove who he really is - even if that means revealing her own dangerous secret . . . 
 
'Unputdownable' - The Times 
 
'Enthralling' - The Daily Express 
 
'Sumptuously atmospheric . . . tirelessly inventive' - The Daily Telegraph 
 
'Gripping' - The Guardian 
 
'Energetic and inventive' - Sunday Times 
 
'Gripping and original' - The Observer 
 
'Singularly brilliant' - Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Girl of Ink and Stars and The Mercies 
 
'Compellingly inventive and unpredictable' - Piers Torday, author of The Last Wild 
 
'A terrific debut of strange myths and dark secrets' - The Bookseller (Editor's Choice)

A sumptuously atmospheric adventure . . . Murray is a tirelessly inventive storyteller

Gripping . . . with a touch of Frances Hardinge's bizarre brilliance

Unputdownable . . . Murray has an extraordinary imagination

Energetic and inventive . . . and with some startling surprises, this is also touching about friendship, siblings, loss and courage

Struan Murray . . . 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.

A beautifully written fantasy adventure with prose that is both muscular and musical, and outstanding world building.

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 loved it! Dark and thrilling. Great characters to root for. Perilous plot. Extraordinary, vivid world building . . . brilliant!

Eloise Williams, Children's Laureate Wales

The most original opening I've read in years and a plot twist that turns brilliantly

This is a terrific debut of strange myths and dark secrets, fierce loyalties and ruthless villains, told against the thrilling backdrop of a half submerged city.

Compellingly inventive and unpredictable, kept me guessing right till the end.

Absolutely cracking! Great characters, with quite the nastiest villain I've met in a long while.

Fleur Hitchcock, author of The Boy Who Flew

Outstanding and immersive . . . I devoured this in one go

An imaginative journey to a stunning fantasy world, full of twists and heart . . . an absolute corker . . . filled with swashbuckling adventure . . . an enthralling fantasy that moves through dark and grisly scenes of grave peril to positively touching moments of profound friendship. An incredibly imaginative narrative that fills its reader with wonder and thrills while also not being afraid to share quieter moments of real heart.

There is a touch of Phillip Pullman about the world that Murray creates, and Murray matches Pullman lyrical prose [...] The comparison, however, should not take away from Murray's originality [...] the characters themselves, led by the plucky Ellie, anchor Orphans of the Tide in an urgent, human reality.

The energetic steampunk vibe overlies a thoughtful fable about compassion and justice

Struan Murray

Vivienne To

'Sensational storytelling' - AF Steadman, author of Skandar and the Unicorn Thief. 
 
The breathtakingly imaginative new fantasy novel from Branford Boase winner Struan Murray. 
 
Domino is an eleven-year-old girl with a strange affliction: if she goes anywhere near magic, it will kill her. 
 
All her life she's been trapped in a floating laboratory, safe from magic but not from the cruel children and the crueler Science Barons who live there. Domino believes the Barons are trying to invent a cure for her magic allergy, but when a mysterious wizard arrives and unleashes total chaos, she discovers that everything she's been told is a lie. 
 
Domino escapes to the wondrous city of Abzalaymon, its streets filled with marvels she's never seen, from automobiles to televisions to hulking thunder lizards. But the Science Barons are on her trail, and Domino must brave a hidden realm of magic if she is to defeat their sinister plot, and uncover a secret that might just save the world: the Secret of the Moonshard. 
 
'This is a perfect fantasy adventure' - Katya Balen, author of October, October.

Struan Murray

The Secret of the Moonshard

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