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High Vaultage

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High Vaultage

By: Chris Sugden, Jen Sugden
Narrated by: Peter Wicks
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THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE FOR COMIC FICTION

'A joyously funny and absurd steampunk frolic that satirises both the era in which it is set and our own age'
FINANCIAL TIMES

From the creators of the acclaimed audio drama podcast Victoriocity comes a cozy scifi mystery set in the chaotic metropolis of Even Greater London - unmissable for fans of Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series and Terry Pratchett's Discworld.

EVEN GREATER LONDON, 1887: a vast, uninterrupted urban plane encompassing the entire lower half of England and, for complex reasons, only the upper third of the Isle of Wight... The immense Tower casts electricity across the sky itself, powering the mind-boggling mechanisms of the city below; the notorious engineer-army swarms through its very veins, building, demolishing, and rebuilding whatever they see fit; and - at the heart of it all - sits the country's first ever private detective agency.

Archibald Fleet and Clara Entwhistle hoped things would pick up quickly for their new enterprise. No one is taking them seriously, but their break will come soon. Definitely... Probably.

Meanwhile, police are baffled by a series of impossible bank robberies, their resources wholly absorbed by the case. Which means that when a woman witnesses a kidnapping, Fleet-Entwhistle Private Investigations is the only place she can turn for help. Luckily they're more than happy to oblige.

But what's the motive behind the kidnap? As Clara and Fleet investigate, they find more than they could ever have imagined...
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Chris and Jen Sugden's book 'High Vaultage' was a No. 5 Sunday Times bestseller w/c 18-03-2024.

©2023 Chris Sugden and Jen Sugden (P)2023 Orion Publishing Group Limited
Fantasy Historical Mystery Science Fiction Steampunk England Exciting Witty
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Even Greater London is fascinating city to be immersed in, and Fleet and Clara make loveable protagonists.

Hilarious and imaginative

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Totally enjoyed this- great plot, well read .
Characters are so well developed and the story has fantastic humour.

Great story

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High Vaultage by Chris & Jen Sugden.

This is utterly, utterly brilliant.

I'm a recent comer to the Victoriocity podcast. only having discovered it from an advert for this book. I listened, I got hooked.

The inclusion of a book into the series is a phenomenal addition, hopefully running in tandem with the podcast because honestly, that's too good to lose to books.

The world is just as alive here & the comedy descriptive passages that can get lost in the interests of plot in the podcast have room to shine & breathe here. I started highlighting my favourite ones but soon realised I'd end up highlighting most of the book. It's pretty much a laugh a page, either from the madness of the world, a fun event or a superb descriptive passage.

The plot itself is well put together, moves briskly along & is tight & engaging. If I had one complaint about it, it'd be that everything is linked in a way that is pretty standard in detective fiction these days but is a personal annoyance to me as being too neat for real life.

One thing I have to mention is one of my favourite things in books, especially comic ones & that's the background action behind a main scene, little insignificant scenes that run through the main plot, micro tales of daily life. I love them, they're here in abundance & they're brilliantly done.

I split this over the kindle & audiobooks (still waiting on my signed copy to turn up!) & my only frustration is with the audiobook. Given that it's a book following on from a audio drama, we know exactly what the characters sound like. A single narrator, no matter how good & through no fault of their own, is incapable of doing the "right" voices & being a one man cast. Just be aware of that if you're planning on listening to this one.

Highly, highly recommended but be aware you'll need to set half a day aside as you'll not be able to put it down.

absolutely superb

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As a huge fan of the podcast I was very excited to listen to High Vaultage. Despite being linked to the podcast, it's certainly not necessary to have listened to that first to thoroughly enjoy this. The characters and the world are so fully realised, you can picture every scene. It's very funny but the story also drags you at break-neck pace through a good old ripping yarn which is expertly delivered by the narrator. Highly recommended.

Hilarious and exciting!

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An absolute must-listen for all fans of the Victoriosity podcast and steampunk fans alike. The narrator does an excellent job doing all their voices too.

Totally bingeable steampunk fantasy

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