A Market of Dreams and Destiny
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3 Months Free + £10 Audible voucher
A Market of Dreams and Destiny
Buy Now for £15.17
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Narrated by:
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Will Watt
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By:
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Trip Galey
Enter the bazaar of the bizarre where fate and fortunes are for sale in this high-stakes magical adventure across a London not quite like our own, perfect for fans of Neverwhere and The Night Circus.
Below Covent Garden lies the Untermarkt, where anything and everything has a price: a lover's first blush, a month of honesty, a wisp of fortune. As a child, Deri was sold to one of the Market's most powerful merchants. Now, after years of watchful servitude, Deri finally spots a chance to buy not only his freedom but also his place amongst the Market's elite when he stumbles into the path of a runaway princess desperate to sell her royal destiny.
But news of the missing princess and her wayward destiny spreads. Royal enforcers and Master Merchants alike are after it. Outmanoeuvring them all would all be hard enough had Deri not just also met the love of his life, a young man called Owain, whose employers are using the Market for their own nefarious schemes.
Deri soon finds that the price of selling the royal destiny, making a name for himself, and saving the man he loves is dear. The cost of it all might just change the destiny of London forever.
©2023 Trip Galey (P)2023 W. F. Howes LtdAmazing from start to finish
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Read as an audiobook during a reading slump, the story of AMoDaD unravels itself in a way that's deceptively tidy given the number of imaginative threads in play. With what's effectively a hard magic system of complex bargains and rules, the Untermarkt is a place where fantastical characters congregate to trade all manner of things, but most excitingly, intangibles like fear, success, or even destiny. Deri, the indentured servant of a skilled and terrifying merchant, is honing his craft in making trades for his master and using sharp words to slice his own portion of the pie and gradually secure his freedom. This magical and scaly underbelly is beneath the grey and gritty surface of London, where Owain struggles in a cruel and torturous workhouse whose cantankerous owners are seeking to use mystical means to further secure their fortunes. Worlds and characters collide in an exciting and delicious combination of slick and poetic prose, poignant moments, crisp dialogue, and satisfying surprises. Words are weapons,bargains only more so, and watching Deri become a master of making deals--no matter the cost--is a treat. The supporting cast are well developed, making you crave more, but the focus is never away from the leads for too long, providing an outstanding balance that's mirrored in the contrast of emotive narrative running through through complex articulated scenes.
I became incredibly invested in the main characters achieving their goals and worried about what might happen if they failed, but also excited to see interesting villains and side characters getting their moments to shine. It's perfectly twisty and unpredictable in that way that new information isn't dropped to obscure the turn, but you still don't see it coming. AMoDaD is hard to stop once started, and time seems a suitable trade for such a complete and enjoyable ride.
I have a special place for books that can make me laugh and cry at the same time, and it's called 'my shelf where future insta-buy authors go.'
Magical
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Excellent narrator, really good story
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A gorgeous novel read beatifully
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fabulous
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