The Wonderling
By: Mira Bartók / Narrated By: Simon Vance
Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
DeLIGHTful, and OH Simon Vance!!!
It’s not that our little audiobook club had been doing bad or super duper heavy listening; no, not at all. Nope, it’s just that when my turn came around to choose our next listen?
I wanted to be filled with Wonder! Hence…?
The Wonderling by Mira Bartók, a woman who can not only craft a fine story but who can draw and paint like the Dickens! (My sister multitasked as we were chatting and sent over images so that we might Ooooh and Aaaah over the illustrations).
Now, speaking of Dickens, this is a fairly dark tale that might not be good for wee tots whilst y’all are on that long drive to Grandma’s, unless you’re there to mop up a few tears and ease a few tormented spirits by how Groundlings are treated.
We begin with No. 13, a fox-boyish hybrid who has but a single ear (Which he can hear supREMEly well out of) at the Home for Wayward and Misbegotten Creatures. It’s run by the vile Miss Carbunkle, an unfeeling woman whose big-topped red hair strikes fear into the hearts of the creatures in her care. There is no singing, no dancing, no Hope. The Groundlings work work work, creating mechanical beetles to feed into the gaping maw of a monstrously HUGE Beetle Machine. Supposedly work ceases and Groundlings go free when they’re older and of a certain age, but it’s kinda hinky that they get older, and Poof! Never seen from again.
No. 13 is miserable, and he has his tormentors and bullies amongst the other Groundlings. Dark dark dark. Until that is, a misbegotten bird with nubbins o’ wings joins the creatures and with her tales and her enthusiasm, with so much hope, she dubs No. 13 Arthur, after tales of Kings, Knights, and Chivalry.
Soon, a hole opens in the hedges, and Trinket (The little bird) invents some mechanical wings and urges Arthur to go forth from this wretched place: There’s sooo much out there, even pies! After a brouhaha, the two run run run like the wind, and they part ways.
“Be Brave” Trinket has told him.
And through the dark dark dark rest of the story, that is what Arthur must do. After being taken on by Quintus a Groundling rat, he joins a gang o’ thieves, but he’s soon on the lam. Into the underworld and MORE dark dark darkness where Groundlings are enslaved and hopeless. “Be Brave” he reminds himself over and over.
I was always glad that Arthur found himself in dire circumstances and, while first being absolutely paralyzed with fear and indecision, he’d always remind himself of Trinket’s words. It coulda gotten exasperating, but that prod to courage, my friend, always had Arthur in motion. Soon, after sooo many other characters are introduced, all who come back for an action-packed ending, we come to a satisfying conclusion, and whilst a sequel is hinted at, there are no dangling threads, just stories that are beginning to dive into at a later date.
We each listened at different speeds, but I confess that at the end there, I was jacking the speed up cuz I HAD to know what happened. Bartók’s story crafting throws all the characters together for the denouement, and she’d have what one group was going through, then she’d halt and switch to another group, then halt and switch again. Oofa! Had me at the edge of my seat!
And what can one say about how glorious Simon Vance is? Here he handles every single one of the characters with zest and verve, seeming to especially find joy in the wicked Carbunkle, her histrionics and machinations. I dooo have to admit to dozing off at one point cuz, see, it’s as though the listener is tucked into bed, covered by a snuggly blankie, with Vance reading the Most Exciting Bedtime Story ever, and well, like any good kid, one just dozes off to tales involving a mouse as a Knight Errant, a Night Crow named Belisha, a Song-Catcher that must be saved lest music disappear forever.
And two very good friends, a little fox-like creature who earns his name, and a little inventor bird, who inspires and motivates, and brings hope and good cheer to desperately gloomy times, dark and horrific places. What a wonder this was, and oh how super enjoyable.
Plus?
Steampunk! doncha know! What’s NOT to love?!
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