The Gutter Prayer cover art

The Gutter Prayer

Book One of the Black Iron Legacy

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The Gutter Prayer

By: Gareth Hanrahan
Narrated by: John Banks
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About this listen

In the ancient city of Guerdon, three thieves - an orphan, a ghoul and a cursed man - are accused of a crime they didn't commit. Their quest for revenge exposes a perilous conspiracy, the seeds of which were sown long before they were born.

A centuries-old magical war is on the verge of reigniting, and in the tunnels deep below the city, a malevolent power stirs. Only by standing together can the three friends prevent a conflict that would bring total devastation to their city - and the world beyond.

Set in a world of dark gods and dangerous magic, The Gutter Prayer is thrilling and visceral debut fantasy from an exciting new talent.

©2018 Gareth Hanrahan (P)2018 Hachette Audio UK Fantasy Fiction Magic

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Critic reviews

"A ground breaking and extraordinary novel...Hanrahan has an astonishing imagination." (Peter McLean, author of Priest of Bones)

"Beautifully written. Gripping. Guerdon is the city of my dreams." (Anna Smith Spark, author of The Court of Broken Knives)
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This book is an incredible work of genre-defying literature, utterly gripping from start to finish!

A stunning work!

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As good as world building as Tchaikovsky and as sharp as Abercrombie - this book is an absolute fantasy gem. Top it off with a top tier narration? Friend, you just got lucky. I’m jealous of you, the person reading this. You’re in for a treat.

The most original, sparkling audiobook I’ve read in a long time

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I really loved this book. The worldbuiding and characters were gripping and the story was unputdownable

Excellent

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A fantastic opening book with hints of China Mieville and the Shadows of Esteren RPG but definitely finding its own voice and tone. Almost hallucinogenic in its description of magic, evocative of the unique visionary setting blending fantasy with an almost Edwardian feel, Gareth Hanrahan has a real winner here and I can't wait for the next one.

Excellent opening book

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Off to a good start and then something slipped towards the end of the book, it lost subtlety.

Different

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A rare treat. a fantastic and fresh setting coupled with a breezy exciting plot. The plots moves at a breakneck pace yet never feels like it has been cut short. the characters are (in) believable and it's great to read a book where horrible and monstrous protagonists are explored in their full file detail. The setting is pleasingly drip-fed to the reader. Zero info dumps. it's only February but I feel this may well be a contender for my favourite book i read this year.

a gripping and grimy ride

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Some other reviews put me off, and the score seemed a bit low, and i dithered but kept coming back so went for it. Glad I did. This was one of the more enjoyable books and i got the next one. Enjoyed that even more. Now waiting for the next…

The world was different and interesting and i found the story engaging, I likes the dynamic between the characters and found that i wanted to know what was going to happen.

I like it when you’re left to fend for yourself a little and try and make out whats going on, so you have the “eh?” moments then a bit later “oh thats what that was”.

I also really liked the narrator and did a search for other books he’s read.

Take the chance!

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This is a story mainly about a runaway, a drifter, Cari: Rat, a Ghoul and Spar, a Stone Man. Three people who chance has brought together and whose friendship will endure.

This book has many good reviews. However, I found it to be very slow and hard going. If it had not been for the good narration, I would probably not have finished it.

On the Slow Side

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This isn't going to be the longest of reviews, mostly because I just never really felt pulled in or attached to this in any way. I wasn't a fan of the second person narrative opening as that really didn't seem as though it added anything or was needed in anyway by the story as a whole. If I'm left feeling a tad cold by the opening it will take a while for a book to warm me up again and The Gutter Prayer never really managed to get anywhere close to doing that.

The characters, each of them interesting and unique in their own way, certainly should have made me feel something for them. But I just never felt attached to any of them. I found some of them intriguing, but it was more of a passing interest than a 'I have to learn more about these people'. I'm not sure what it was that just left me feeling incredibly inert as far as enthusiasm went with this particular book. It might have been the writing style, which I didn't ever think hit me with that rush of adrenaline that I enjoy so much from reading. It could also have just been that it was a 'it's me not you' as far things went with this book. 

It's a strange thing to say, but I feel it applies well. It had so many awesome things going for it: interesting characters, a good world with inhabitants that were incredibly unique (Tallow Men for instance). I'd say, as far as interesting and inventive creatures go, it rivals the Raven's Mark series by Ed McDonald.

Yet for all the good things it had going for it, I just couldn't get invested in it in the way I should be able to with a good book. So that's where I'll leave this review (and the Black Iron Legacy series). For me it just felt a tad average to really get stuck into and to ever really want to delve deeper with.

The narration, whilst good, was never really anything special. Some of the voices were a bit samey whereas some really fit characters well. I'd say the overall story and performance were pretty much 3 out of 5 each.

Just kind of average

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This story starts with a quick pace, introducing sharp characters with depth and dimension- it is pulsing with dark energy and heady ideas and the narrator brings the story and characters to life - Very much looking forward to the next book!

Pacy, exciting and imaginative

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