The opening of Orphans of the Tide must surely be one of the most arresting and memorable in recent children’s literature: a whale washes up and is caught on the rooftops of a partly submerged city. As crowds gathers to stare, young inventor Ellie realises the danger they are in. Cutting into the whale’s belly to avert a build up of gas, the incredible happens and a living boy falls out. The story continues at similar levels of drama, the City’s religious authorities dragging the boy to prison and a death sentence, believing his body is home to The Enemy, the god they hold responsible for putting the world in its watery grave. Only Ellie is convinced of his innocence and determines to save him. This remarkably assured debut won the Branford Boase Award, impressing the judges with quality of the writing, the power of Murray’s storytelling and his ability to explore timeless themes such as courage, friendship and loss. 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 Puffin is an imprint of Penguin Random House, the world’s number-one publisher representing a vibrant community of publishing houses marked by unparalleled success. Through our world of stories, Puffin aims to open up the world to every child. Our mission is to inspire children to feel they can be and do anything, and to create readers for life.

I felt like I jumped into the second or third book in a series. I didn't feel like I had enough about the characters to know the characters. The world they lived in may have been well developed, but because the characters felt under-developed I had a hard time connecting to the world. Feel like I could wax lyrical about this for ever. But I’ll stop. Because, to some extent, this is best come to without prior knowledge of the story. Orphan Ellie Lancaster lives in the City, the only remaining one that remains after the Great Drowning. She makes a living by fixing all manner of intricate and wonderful things in a workshop that used to belong to her mother. When a whale washes up on the shore and a boy crawls out the City inhabitants come to the only logical conclusion, he is a deadly force that has not walked the City for 23 years. The Vessel, the life form of the dreaded Enemy has returned and must be destroyed before it can cause devastation and destruction. The plot of the book was predictable. As soon as you began to understand the world this is set in, it becomes quite easy to guess the outcome of everything. I don’t know how well the age group this is aimed at would guess the plot but as an adult reading this, I thought it was quite predictable.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. -- Kitty Empire - The Observer When you ask for a favor there is always a cost. The cost can be good or bad, but in "Orphans of the Tide" the cost is always bad.

The breathtaking fantasy adventure for fans of His Dark Materials that The Times calls 'Unputdownable'. When a mysterious boy turns up in the body of a washed up whale, inventor Ellie ends up embroiled in The City's murky past. It's a past scattered with stories about murdered Gods, a lost civilization and the return of a vengeful Enemy who takes a vessel to give him power.

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Orphans of the Tide is one of the best books I have read in 2020. Myth, legend and dark truths combine in this thrilling tale. Personally, it takes me about two weeks to finish a book. But, because of the enticing story, I finished this one in around five days. At breaktime at school, this book has a gift for making its way into any fun conversation for its amazing storyline. This was a delight to read. Fast paced, action filled, and with a wonderfully unique setting that sees our hero living in the last remaining city in an ocean filled world. It managed to invoke vivid descriptions of sealife, gruff sailors and salty sea air, which helped bring the whole story to life. It's atmospheric and evocative.

This book was very slow and I ultimately had to put it down when I was just over a third of the way through. The main character was written more like a 20-something adult than a 12 year old child, and the story was too slow and had too many inconsistencies in small details to make me want to continue. Maybe it was because we've hardly had internet for the last two days, but I genuinely think it was down to some very skillful writing: I got completely lost in this book, like I haven't been able to in a long time. Since March last year my concentration span has gone out the window but this book demanded my attention and kept me guessing. I really, really liked this story. What a glorious conclusion to a thrilling trilogy! Struan Murray has done it again with Eternity Engine. Building upon the phenomenal world building of the previous two novels, the final instalment ramps up the excitement immensely and delivers exactly what I hoped and expected to read (given how good the others were!) Eternity Engine was filled with twists and turns and I was left guessing all the way – just how I like it. Orphans of the Tide is a truly outstanding trilogy, perfect for year 6 and beyond. Objectives: Match key themes to book covers from the series; identify what makes the City an interesting and unusual setting for the story; write a descriptive paragraph about an imagined city. More like a 4.5, but I'm rounding up because it's the authors debut. How does someone just start writing and then write something this good straight away? I'm jealous.My favourite part was near the beginning when the boy, Seth, came out of the whale - I found it fascinating. I think the author, Struan Murray, has written a fabulous book and I hope others will enjoy it as much as I did. This is the third and final book in the Orphans of the Tide series. I couldn't wait for it to come out after reading the second book and I was pumped when I found out it was released. I hadn't gotten around to reading it yet, but I've finally read it! Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments