Nuts & Bolts Foraging Troupe reviewed Mordew by Alex Pheby
hmmmmmm
weird book. parts are fun, plot does feel a bit weird in an unsatisfying way. world building is the most fun part imo
hardcover, 624 pages
Published Sept. 14, 2021 by Tor Books.
4 stars
(9 reviews)
GOD IS DEAD, his corpse hidden in the catacombs beneath Mordew.
In the slums of the sea-battered city a young boy called Nathan Treeves lives with his parents, eking out a meagre existence by picking treasures from the Living Mud and the half-formed, short-lived creatures it spawns. Until one day his desperate mother sells him to the mysterious Master of Mordew.
The Master derives his magical power from feeding on the corpse of God. But Nathan, despite his fear and lowly station, has his own strength – and it is greater than the Master has ever known. Great enough to destroy everything the Master has built. If only Nathan can discover how to use it.
So it is that the Master begins to scheme against him – and Nathan has to fight his way through the betrayals, secrets, and vendettas of the city where God was murdered, and darkness reigns…
P. E. T. Conroy reviewed Mordew by Alex Pheby (Cities of the Weft, #1)
Looking forward to the sequel
5 stars
Content warning May contain hints of some plot points/elements
This book is longish but can be completed in one or two sittings (184,483)...
Reading the blurb is a little sleight of hand - you imagine that the blurb is the central part of the story (it is the point rather than the main part)...
The blurb doesn't reach the dead person mentioned in the blurb until about 75% of the way through, maybe as much as 90% of the way through! So forget that, and enjoy the journey from slum to manse (a very British word for a minister's house)...
The world-building is deftly done, very slight but generally enough - it's earth or a parallel earth with Noah's ark mentioned and a variation of the Horse or Troy, but it's a world with magic, which makes me suspect there is a history yet to be revealed... We've been following the unaware main character, which doesn't elucidate enough of the world to understand everything.
There is an 'interlude' where we are gifted the viewpoint of a particularly unusual character (but not so unusual for fantasy), but it works; it is the most philosophical chapter.
There is so much here - but the story is undoubtedly solid and well-paced (though, of course, you want it to move quicker when reading) - it is incredibly well written, though the use of words may be a little pompous - it hasn't been aimed at the same reading age as 'The Sun' (7 y.o. ) - and this perhaps will place it in a hard to read category for some.
I look forward to the sequel to see how the main character resolves and learn more about this world.
matt reviewed Mordew by Alex Pheby
Review of 'Mordew' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Based on the press reviews, I expected this to be more along the lines of Gormenghast or Senlin Ascends, but those comparisons seem superficial. While the book was very engaging - I blitzed right through it in a couple of days - it was not very substantial. There is little character development and the pacing of the plot doesn't leave much room for nuance or even atmosphere to develop: for stretches of the book it feels like a progression from "and then this happened" to "and then this happened". I was particularly struck later on the book at an interlude I assumed would be descriptive ended up being almost entirely expository.
