Rotherweird: Rotherweird Book I

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The town of Rotherweird stands alone – there are no guidebooks, despite the fascinating and diverse architectural styles cramming the narrow streets, the avant garde science and offbeat customs. Now that the trilogy is complete in print and audio, here is my review for all three books in this extraordinary fantasy series: Rotherweird, Wyntertide, and Lost Acre. deeply impressive debut' by Nick Curtis in the Evening Standard and 'Vivid and absorbing and grapples with big ideas without being dry, difficult or patronising' by Sarah Hemming, in the Financial Times, but informed by his love of history, which he studied at New College, Oxford, he was seized by the notion of a city-state hiding a cataclysmic secret: the result, Rotherweird. Caldecott uses parallel storylines and mysterious, absurd twists and turns to entertain, painting a tale of strange stones, a patch of starless sky, tiles that transport to other worlds, and plants with unexpected properties. The story more than earns your assiduity, immersing the listener in a richly detailed world full of extraordinary characters; many of whom have double (or even quintuple) personas to keep track of across the centuries.

The Rotherweird trilogy is full of mystery, action, interesting villains, quirky characters and fun. The characters are an eccentric, often disparate rabble, united by their fascination with Rotherweird's past and their growing determination to protect its future.

While there is plenty to savour in this engrossing debut, some of Caldecott’s storytelling choices come at a cost.

It's impossible to read it without sensing the shades of the greats: Lewis Carroll, Mervyn Peake, Neil Gaiman or Susanna Clarke – and that's just for starters. He has also represented a large number of celebrity clients including Naomi Campbell and Johnny Depp. He is the embodiment of a gangly, clumsy, misunderstood, accidentally intelligent man that tries to be the knight in shining armour but ends up being the naïve but benign sidekick. Even though I now know what the completed image looks like, I’m sure I’ll have just as much fun piecing the whole thing together again throughout the three books.

Lost Acre, Rotherweird Trilogy, Book 3by Andrew Caldecott is our third and final visit to this fantastical realm. Slickstone and Oblong, though driven by conflicting motives, both strive to connect past and present, until they and their allies are drawn into a race against time – and each other. A coracle race brings some colour to the day-to-day life of the town, as does the Midsummer Fair and, in the second book, Vulcan’s Dance and the elections. A twisted, arcane murder-mystery with shades of Hope Mirrlees, Ben Aaronovitch, Mervyn Peake and Edward Gorey at their disturbing best. It’s very rare for me to read a series one book after the other as I usually get a bit of series fatigue and have to slot in another book to cleanse the palate a little bit.