Home › Find a book › Orphans of the Tide
Orphans of the TideStruan Murray
Orphans of the Tide
by Struan Murray
A city built on the peaks of a drowned world hunts for the Enemy, and the boy found inside a beached whale is the obvious suspect.
A story about children and magical creatures, adventurous and spooky in tone. We would put it with children of 9–12, and at a reading age of about 10 for reading alone.
Worth knowing before you buy
- Mild peril
- Frightening scenes
None of this makes it a bad book — often the opposite. It is here so you can decide whether it is right for your child now or in a year or two.
Our take on this book
In the half-drowned city of Nautilus, where the sea rose and never went back, a whale beaches with a mysterious boy inside its belly — and Ellie, a young inventor, must decide whether to trust him as the fanatical Inquisition hunts for the vessel of a returning god. Struan Murray's debut is a striking, atmospheric fantasy: a vividly imagined drowned world, a clever, grieving heroine, and a genuinely tense plot about faith, monsters and what is really good or evil. There is real peril and a dark, dangerous undercurrent, so it suits a confident reader ready for a story with proper stakes and shadows. For a nine- to twelve-year-old who likes their fantasy inventive and their heroines brilliant, it is a gripping, beautifully constructed read that keeps you guessing about the boy from the whale, and the first of a series that rewards a reader willing to be pulled into its strange, sea-swallowed world.
If they like this, try these
Chosen by matching age, reading age, tone and subject — not by what is selling.
CoralineNeil Gaiman
Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan CrowJessica Townsend
A Pinch of MagicMichelle Harrison
Dragon RiderCornelia Funke
GargantisThomas Taylor
MalamanderThomas Taylor
Or let them write their own.
Nothing gets a child reading like a story they invented themselves. Your child plans the characters and the plot, and we write, illustrate and print it as a real book with their name on the cover as the author.
Find another book
Tell us the age, the reading age and what they like, and we will suggest a handful.