High Vaultage

By: Chris Sugden, Jen Sugden

Narrated by: Peter Wicks

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE FOR COMIC FICTION

'A joyously funny and absurd steampunk frolic that satirises both the era in which it is set and our own age'
FINANCIAL TIMES

From the creators of the acclaimed audio drama podcast Victoriocity comes a cozy scifi mystery set in the chaotic metropolis of Even Greater London - unmissable for fans of Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series and Terry Pratchett's Discworld.

EVEN GREATER LONDON, 1887: a vast, uninterrupted urban plane encompassing the entire lower half of England and, for complex reasons, only the upper third of the Isle of Wight... The immense Tower casts electricity across the sky itself, powering the mind-boggling mechanisms of the city below; the notorious engineer-army swarms through its very veins, building, demolishing, and rebuilding whatever they see fit; and - at the heart of it all - sits the country's first ever private detective agency.

Archibald Fleet and Clara Entwhistle hoped things would pick up quickly for their new enterprise. No one is taking them seriously, but their break will come soon. Definitely... Probably.

Meanwhile, police are baffled by a series of impossible bank robberies, their resources wholly absorbed by the case. Which means that when a woman witnesses a kidnapping, Fleet-Entwhistle Private Investigations is the only place she can turn for help. Luckily they're more than happy to oblige.

But what's the motive behind the kidnap? As Clara and Fleet investigate, they find more than they could ever have imagined...

Chris and Jen Sugden's book 'High Vaultage' was a No. 5 Sunday Times bestseller w/c 18-03-2024.

©2023 Chris Sugden and Jen Sugden (P)2023 Orion Publishing Group Limited

Hilarious

It was fun and entertaining. I loved the characters and I loved the atory. Great book.

Cheeky retro-futuristic mystery

Had a wonderful time with this one, an expansion of the Victoriocity canon in all dimensions. Got some proper lols out of me and I loved how the central mystery unfolded. looking forward to anything and everything this couple puts out in the future.

everything I could've asked for

I found victoriocity while looking for a character focused, non episodic podcast. I was also thinking "ugh maybe I should just register to the watch discworld books again, but it's not been long enough since my last reread.... Victoriocity is both everything I knew and didn't know I wanted, and high vaultage is a wonderful addition to Fleet and Clara's story.

I loved it start to finish.

As a fan of the audio drama I was expecting to like this book, but it far exceeded what I thought. It was so well written and performed. Definitely going to be a multiple listens title. Well done!

Victoriocity with Prose!

Honestly surprised this came together as well as it did. As someone who enjoys the audio drama, I wasn't sure what to expect but the transition from show to book is flawless! Feels like an extension of the show, provides enough context so that new listeners and old fans can enjoy. A particular shout out to Peter Wicks who does a terrific job capturing the voices of ALL the characters, Great work, and I hope we can see more in the future.

Great narrator

Huge fan of the show! Was a bit worried at first that I wouldn’t like the story told without the usual cast of voice actors, but Balmoral did such a good job with the story that it becomes just as captivating as their regular audio dramas! Can’t wait for a second book!

Every sentence is missing half a second at the beginning

First, I LOVE Victoriocity and this world. But my audio version, for whatever reason, is missing the first half second of every sentence. It's more than a little maddening, and I have no idea why this is happening. I'm going to get the kindle version so I can still enjoy this book, I'm just so dang disappointed I can't listen to this one like the rest of the works in this universe!

Absolutely incredible

I was a little leery about this audiobook at first because I am a huge fan of the Victoriocity audiodrama and this isn’t a full cast recording, but Peter Wicks did an excellent job voicing most of the characters. I thought Chief Inspector Keller was a little off, given Chris Sugden’s unique cadence for the character. On the other hand, were times when I couldn’t tell the difference between Wick’s portrayal of Fleet and Tom Crowley’s. I love this book and I hope there are more to come. I would still buy a full cast version, if that’s ever a thing

Engaging, Fun, Well-paced

I pre-ordered this book on Audible on faith because I'm a huge fan of the podcast Victoriocity, upon whose foundation this novel was built. I'm actually really picky about narrators and narration, but the sample chapter released on the podcast feed was perfect.

High Vaultage did not disappoint at all! There's a wonderful glimmer of Pratchett in the podcast that continued here, to my utter delight, and the mysteries are engaging and fun. They absolutely play on tropes from detective and Victorian settings along with steam punk ones and it's a wonderful ride.

I treat it as as season 2.5 of Victoriocity and have it in my relisten order there, and highly recommend, though I trust Chris and Jen Sugden's storytelling and writing skills more than enough to confidently hand a friend High Vaultage without the podcast.

Now, the narration: perfect. I was worried I wouldn't really be able to enjoy one narrator and not having the actors I know as Fleet and Clara and the whole gang. The narrator was brilliant and I could hear all the characters I know and love, with voices strongly inspired by the actors without being a mimickery that falls short. I have never held a physical copy of High Vaultage, but I never had the slightest urge to check who said what. Timing was great, tone was great, and I just loved it.

Easy 5 stars. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to review it after my first listen.

As Electric As Promised

Already a huge fan of the podcast Victoriocity l was delighted to have an extended romp with our favorite detectives AND highly impressed with the vocal versatility of the audiobook narrator. Isabard Kingdom Brunel himself could not have engineered a plot so humorous and diverting as the Sugdens have once again done here. So watch out for those pesky automatons as you sprint after Fleet and Entwistle on this break-neck adventure!