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    The Twyning
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    The Twyning
    Unavailable
    The Twyning
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Twyning

    Written by Terence Blacker

    Narrated by Michael Page and Nico Evers-Swindell

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Efren is a young rat, unnoticed and timid among the kingdom of rats living in the London sewers. When the king dies, leaving the kingdom in upheaval, only Efren dares to journey into the human world, where he discovers a human doctor's plan to destroy London's entire rat population. Meanwhile, Peter, otherwise known as Dogboy, does odd jobs for both the scheming doctor and the town rat-catcher. But his gift for understanding animals-even rats-forces him to decide where his allegiances truly lie. Dogboy and Efren, along with the waifish girl Caz and her pet rat Malaika, set out to test the strengths of friendship and loyalty against the gut-wrenching cruelties of the world.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateSep 9, 2014
    ISBN9781491502907
    Unavailable
    The Twyning
    Author

    Terence Blacker

    Terence Blacker is a columnist for the Independent and has written many books for adults and children. He is an active member of English PEN. www.terenceblacker.com

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    Reviews for The Twyning

    4/5

    11 ratings3 reviews

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    • 4/5
      The Twyning is a middle-grade historical fiction/fantasy novel where two children living in the dump befriend two rats during the human's War Against Rats. Peter finds work catching rats for two very different characters. One, a doctor who is convinced that all of the diseases that rats carry will be the cause of our ultimate downfall; the other a rat catcher for pit fights who believes the creatures harmless. Peter lives with Caz, a young girl who ran away from a dance school that she was sold to. Below the streets, the rat King has died. When a lowly taster, Efren goes to the world above to find out the fate of their King, he brings back news of just how much the humans hate them and how they plan on getting rid of them. Efren also finds Caz's pet rat, named Mailika as well as his gift for hearing and communicating with humans. When Peter's doctor declares war and complete eradication of the rats, the children and the rats use their unique gift to help each other. For a middle grade novel, this had a lot of graphic violence of killing rats, although probably very truthful to the time period early 1900's England. The writing brings feelings of compassion and a sense of great intelligence to the rats with their society and skills. However, the human side of the rats being disease carriers is also true. I liked that both sides were presented, but there needed to be more into how the two species can actually live together peacefully. Anyway, I did like the characterization of the rats and the device of how Efren and Mailika could communicate with Caz and Peter through 'revelation' or thoughts. The structure of the rat society was also very well thought out with the Twyning being a sort of governing body. Efren's eventual role within his rat society was nice and unexpected, a good character for beating the odds. The point of view shifts chapter to chapter between humans and rats and it took me a second to realize that fact. Both rats and children are safe at the end; however, there aren't really any answers given for how humans and rats will coexist. This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
    • 5/5
      Enjoyable read, took me a little to get in to it but glad I persevered.
    • 4/5
      When most of us think about rats, it’s usually along the same lines as we think of mosquitoes or fleas, as plague carrying pests with no value, whose extermination would be beneficial to us all. Author Terence Blacker attempts in his novel, The Twyning to do for rats what Richard Adams’ book Watership Down did for rabbits.Set in Victorian London, two young orphans ‘Dogboy’ and Caz live in a rubbish dump. Dogboy supports them by hunting rats both for sport and science. Beneathe their feet, in the rat kingdom great changes are occurring: the old king is dying and as tradition demands, he swims away from the kingdom to die above ground and a new more cruel regime is taking over. Efren, a young ratling and lowly taster but with the heart of a hero, ascends to the world above to discover the fate of his king. What he reports back causes outrage in the kingdom.Above ground, Dogboy works for a doctor with a particular hatred for rats. He convinces everyone that the rats are planning war against humans and, if they are to survive, the humans must strike first. Soon both rats and humans are planning for this conflict and it will take all of Efren’s efforts with the aid of the children to ensure the survival of both species.The Twyning, a middle-grade fantasy by author Terence Blacker, is both compelling and engrossing. It asks some very tough questions and examines some real grey areas. Neither side in the story is completely in the right but neither is completely evil either. The characters are well-drawn with Efren especially gaining the reader’s sympathies. It should be noted that there are some rather disturbing scenes making this unsuitable for very young children. At times, it also felt like Blacker was channeling Dickens as well as Adams as unlikely coincidences and fortuitous saves occur just in the knick of time. Still, for those who enjoy a good tale with interesting characters and world-building, plenty of action, and no easy answers, The Twyning makes for a very entertaining read for both children and adults.