the first book in the Cities of the Weft trilogy
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020
BSFA BEST NOVEL AWARD
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021
REPUBLIC OF CONSCIOUSNESS PRIZE
The Guardian Books of the Year 2020
Tor.com Books of the Year 2020
The I Books of the Year 2020
Locus Magazine Books of the Year 2020
Waterstones Fantasy Picks 2020
Waterstones Paperbacks of the Year 2021
‘Extraordinary… An extravagant and unnerving marvel.’
—The Guardian
‘Outstanding… Magical… An utter delight. [Mordew] takes the framework of English fantasy and pushes at it. You finish desperate to read more.’
—The I
‘Think Great Expectations meets Gormenghast, with a cliffhanger ending that hints at a dynamic sequel.’
—Literary Review
‘Weird and wonderful, bleak and beautiful… an extraordinarily vivid piece of world-building.’
—Sunday Express
‘Pheby infuses [Mordew] with a crackling, animating magic… Charismatic, delicious… This is a serious book, for serious people.’
—Big Issue
‘This novel… oh my goodness, this novel. It is amazing.’
—Interzone
‘The world of Alex Pheby’s fourth novel is dizzying… a beguiling splicing of Dickensian social satire and rackety steampunk fantasy. Written with combustible verve.’
—The Spectator
‘An incredible opening to an exciting new epic fantasy trilogy.’
—Locus Magazine
‘Impressively ambitious, vividly imagined… Filled with delicious, unexpected twists.’
—The Express
‘Beautifully rendered… Immersive, tense, full of action.’
—The Irish Times
‘Mouldering… Magnificent… Reading [Mordew] becomes a need and a dread, a story you absolutely must finish to find out what terrible things will happen next, knowing that bad dreams will follow.’
—Strange Horizons
‘This beautifully produced book… is an absorbing and inventive addition to the genre.’
—Irish Examiner
‘One of the most darkly enjoyable fantasy novels I have read in ages; vast, gothic, Gormenghasty in the best way, and bursting with invention and joyous grotesquery.’
—The Bookseller
‘Magisterial… A maximalist triumph.’
—Los Angeles Review of Books
‘With its dizzying strangeness, nightmarishly surreal imagery and delightfully drawn characters, not to mention its playful attitude towards genre, Mordew is a fantastically fun read. … There are books that from the moment you enter their world, you know you are dealing with something special.’
—The Fantasy Hive
‘Brilliantly written… And as to the sequel? Write quickly, Mr Pheby, please write quickly.’
—Bookmunch
‘A mesmeric slice of gothic fantasy… An unforgettable literary experience.’
—Waterstones.com