The King at the Edge of the World audiobook by Arthur Phillips
Narrated by Euan Morton (2020)
The year is 1601. Queen Elizabeth I is dying, childless, and her nervous kingdom has no heir. It is a capital crime even to think that Elizabeth will ever die. The leading candidate to succeed her is King James VI of Scotland — but her spymasters fear James is not what he appears. To discover what the king truly believes, they enlist Mahmoud Ezzedine, a Muslim physician left behind by the last Ottoman diplomatic visit: the ultimate outsider, stranded on this cold, wet, and primitive island, willing to do almost anything to return home to his wife and son.
Critical acclaim for the narration
The Washington Post praised Euan Morton's performance:
"Narrator Euan Morton delivers the novel in a wonderful range of voices and accents — his Scottish burr is especially engaging, and his wry manner wonderfully suited to the novel's sardonic wit and trapdoor plot."— Katherine A. Powers, The Washington Post
Critical Praise for the Novel
The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice): "Its plot is an intricate set of intersecting mechanisms and locks and keys, which, when they finally all fall into place, provide the reader with the gawping satisfaction of having been well and truly fooled… the book blends the leanness of a taut thriller with the marbled fatness of Elizabethan prose."
The Wall Street Journal: "Evokes flashes of Hilary Mantel, John le Carré and Graham Greene, but the wry, tricky plot that drives it is pure Arthur Phillips."
Kirkus Reviews (starred review): "A rare combination of literary finesse and quick-paced plot — and another triumph from the versatile Phillips."
Publishers Weekly: "This clever, serpentine novel recalls the historical dramas of Hilary Mantel and the thrillers of John le Carré, and will reverberate in readers' minds."
Recognition
About Arthur Phillips
Arthur Phillips is the internationally bestselling author of six novels, including Prague (winner of the Los Angeles Times/Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction), The Egyptologist, The Song Is You, and The Tragedy of Arthur. He lives in New York. The King at the Edge of the World was published in print by Random House.
Publication Details
The King at the Edge of the World
Links
Purchase & Listen: Audible | Amazon | Penguin Random House Audio
Visit Arthur Phillips' official website for more information about the author and this novel.