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About The Book
*Named a MOST ANTICIPATED Science Fiction & Fantasy Book of 2023 by Polygon, Tor, and Men's Health!
*Named a MUST-READ Book of March 2023 by CrimeReads and Gizmodo!
From New York Times bestselling author Owen King comes a Dickensian fantasy of illusion and charm where cats are revered as religious figures, thieves are noble, scholars are revolutionaries, and conjurers are the most wonderful criminals you can imagine.
It begins in an unnamed city nicknamed “the Fairest”, it is distinguished by many things from the river fair to the mountains that split the municipality in half; its theaters and many museums; the Morgue Ship; and, like all cities, but maybe especially so, by its essential unmappability.
Dora, a former domestic servant at the university has a secret desire—to find where her brother went after he died, believing that the answer lies within The Museum of Psykical Research, where he worked when Dora was a child. With the city amidst a revolutionary upheaval, where citizens like Robert Barnes, her lover and a student radical, are now in positions of authority, Dora contrives to gain the curatorship of the half-forgotten museum only to find it all but burnt to the ground, with the neighboring museums oddly untouched. Robert offers her one of these, The National Museum of the Worker. However, neither this museum, nor the street it is hidden away on, nor Dora herself, are what they at first appear to be. Set against the backdrop of a nation on the verge of collapse, Dora’s search for the truth behind the mystery she’s long concealed will unravel a monstrous conspiracy and bring her to the edge of worlds.
Praise for Owen King:
“King writes with witty verve.” —Entertainment Weekly
“[Owen King] has a captivating energy, a precision and a fondness for people that are rare…King loves people as well as words.” —The New York Times
About The Author
Photograph by Anne Raftopoulos
Owen King is the author of The Curator, Double Feature, and We’re All in This Together: A Novella and Stories. He is the coauthor of Sleeping Beauties and Intro to Alien Invasion and the coeditor of Who Can Save Us Now? Brand-New Superheroes and Their Amazing (Short) Stories. He lives in upstate New York with his family.
About The Reader
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (March 7, 2023)
- Runtime: 14 hours and 18 minutes
- ISBN13: 9781797149165
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Raves and Reviews
"Marin Ireland navigates an ever-expanding world of characters and details. In a mysterious city recently devastated by conflict, museums and universities have been turned to rubble. Dora finds work as a curator at the last remaining museum, where she seeks her long-lost brother. In the city, cats are highly revered. King's audiobook unfolds in a dreamlike fashion, with much character introduction and a myriad of short, significant moments. As the story progresses, the nature of the broken city and its main players emerges, capturing timely themes of systemic oppression. Throughout, Ireland does exceptional work in a commanding performance that provides a vivid canvas for listeners. She gives an expert’s touch to the complicated proceedings."
– Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award, AudioFile Magazine
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): The Curator Unabridged Audio Download 9781797149165
- Author Photo (jpg): Owen King Photograph by Anne Raftopoulos(0.1 MB)
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