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The Mouth
When sixteen-year-old Jack's hometown is burned down and his family killed his only chance of survival is to travel through a device called “The Mouth” that opens doors into other worlds.
He must do the impossible—find the world that gave his enemies their extraordinary power and travel to a place known simply as “The Maximum.”
The Mouth is a gritty science-fantasy adventure about hope, resolve, and finding the courage to carry on fighting even when all seems lost.
He must do the impossible—find the world that gave his enemies their extraordinary power and travel to a place known simply as “The Maximum.”
The Mouth is a gritty science-fantasy adventure about hope, resolve, and finding the courage to carry on fighting even when all seems lost.
182 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 1, 2016
1 person is currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
Henry Anderson
5 books4 followersHenry Anderson is a former reporter who has written for national UK newspapers. He studied English Language and Literature at Magdalen College, Oxford. He spent time as a "Jackaroo" in Australia learning the farm trade before working in publishing, the performing arts and journalism.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 23, 2016
I found this a rattling good adventure story for anyone who likes science fiction and fantasy. Well written and involved me from the start - I was fascinated by the way "The Mouth" transported the characters between the different worlds. I was given an advanced copy in return for an honest review.
February 11, 2017
Really well written and a genuine page-turner. Looking forward to more from this author.
November 9, 2018
The Mouth is a bleak, bloody and violent story that rockets along at breakneck speed. Most of the action takes place in a futuristic Dystopian England, which is ruled over by a tyrannical dictator-monarch and which carries strong echoes of World War II.
The hero, Jack, faces a relentless struggle merely to survive in this hostile environment. He is alone and being hunted down on all sides, but his indomitable fighting spirit means he refuses to give up even when death seems inevitable. Whom can he trust amongst those he meets, though? Suspicion & potential betrayal await him at every turn. The identity of the person who becomes Jack’s most important friend surprised me at first, but by the end of the story, I desperately wanted the friend to survive too.
The author has what may feel like a bare-bones writing style, but on closer observation I realised it is more that he simply doesn’t waste words; consequently, whenever there is any description, it is very effective. For example: during one horrific, brutal, high action chase scene, Anderson skilfully slips in a tiny close-up image of wild flowers growing on a concrete wall – surviving against all the odds in a contaminated world of machines, bombed out buildings & decomposing human remains, these wild flowers felt to me like a metaphor for Jack & his friends’ seemingly impossible resistance against evil King Eustace’s regime.
The repulsive ‘Mouth’ of the title, with its gruesome operating mechanism, is a unique and inspired creation on the part of the author. It made me shudder.
The story’s end came too soon for my liking – I wanted to turn the page & read on further, which is always the sign of a really good book. So many clever little plot points I’d love to comment on, but they would be spoilers. Just keep your eyes open for them when you read The Mouth for yourself.
For anyone 16+ who enjoys reading dark Sci Fi / Fantasy, I thoroughly recommend The Mouth. It is an exciting, satisfying read, with a great main character in Jack and an upbeat ending!
The hero, Jack, faces a relentless struggle merely to survive in this hostile environment. He is alone and being hunted down on all sides, but his indomitable fighting spirit means he refuses to give up even when death seems inevitable. Whom can he trust amongst those he meets, though? Suspicion & potential betrayal await him at every turn. The identity of the person who becomes Jack’s most important friend surprised me at first, but by the end of the story, I desperately wanted the friend to survive too.
The author has what may feel like a bare-bones writing style, but on closer observation I realised it is more that he simply doesn’t waste words; consequently, whenever there is any description, it is very effective. For example: during one horrific, brutal, high action chase scene, Anderson skilfully slips in a tiny close-up image of wild flowers growing on a concrete wall – surviving against all the odds in a contaminated world of machines, bombed out buildings & decomposing human remains, these wild flowers felt to me like a metaphor for Jack & his friends’ seemingly impossible resistance against evil King Eustace’s regime.
The repulsive ‘Mouth’ of the title, with its gruesome operating mechanism, is a unique and inspired creation on the part of the author. It made me shudder.
The story’s end came too soon for my liking – I wanted to turn the page & read on further, which is always the sign of a really good book. So many clever little plot points I’d love to comment on, but they would be spoilers. Just keep your eyes open for them when you read The Mouth for yourself.
For anyone 16+ who enjoys reading dark Sci Fi / Fantasy, I thoroughly recommend The Mouth. It is an exciting, satisfying read, with a great main character in Jack and an upbeat ending!
December 31, 2016
This book is Anderson's transition from news reporting to novelist. He shows a lot of promise as a novelist, but I think there's still some work to be done. Needless to say, it's a tough job to go from such extremes of writing.
The plot is phenomenal. It's a fresh idea that is carried out pretty well when looking at the timeline. The characters are bold and vibrant, however any information that you have about them is what you glean along the way. The worlds that we enter are vast and intricate, but once again, we only have the information about them that we glean along the way.
I didn't finish this book. It's non-stop action. It's like being in a chase dream where you never get to stop and breathe. To tell you the truth, I was just too fatigued to finish it. Action is a great thing to have in a book, but even more importantly, we need balance. A little time spent on world building and scene setting and inspecting our characters would go a long way.
I think Anderson could make a great novelist and I'm looking forward to reading more of his works. He has the facts down. He's great at keeping you on the edge of your seat. I'm just hoping he slows down enough to add more of the human interest side of the story so that you don't want to jump off the edge of your seat. When I find myself chanting for the hero to die, I know a little work still needs to be done.
Over all, if you're an action junkie, you'll like this one just as is. If you're looking for more than that, wait for his next book and give that one a shot.
The plot is phenomenal. It's a fresh idea that is carried out pretty well when looking at the timeline. The characters are bold and vibrant, however any information that you have about them is what you glean along the way. The worlds that we enter are vast and intricate, but once again, we only have the information about them that we glean along the way.
I didn't finish this book. It's non-stop action. It's like being in a chase dream where you never get to stop and breathe. To tell you the truth, I was just too fatigued to finish it. Action is a great thing to have in a book, but even more importantly, we need balance. A little time spent on world building and scene setting and inspecting our characters would go a long way.
I think Anderson could make a great novelist and I'm looking forward to reading more of his works. He has the facts down. He's great at keeping you on the edge of your seat. I'm just hoping he slows down enough to add more of the human interest side of the story so that you don't want to jump off the edge of your seat. When I find myself chanting for the hero to die, I know a little work still needs to be done.
Over all, if you're an action junkie, you'll like this one just as is. If you're looking for more than that, wait for his next book and give that one a shot.
October 4, 2016
This book was somewhat confusing. While I like parts of the book, the story itself did not flow for me and I kept getting lost in the plot. It was very complicated with very little character development and support. The storyline was interesting and the author is definitively very talented, the book just seemed to be missing a few key details.
The author supplied a copy of the book to me in exchange for an honest review.
The author supplied a copy of the book to me in exchange for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews