Voyages in the Underworld of Orpheus Black by Marcus Sedgwick, Julian Sedgwick and Alexis Deacon

Book of the Week: 19 May 2019

Harry and Ellis Black were close when they grew up together in the Shropshire countryside, but now Harry is a firefighter and conscientious objector and Ellis is in the forces and feels his brother is a shirker in the fight against the Nazis. One evening, they meet in a London pub. When Harry leaves, a V2 bomb hits the pub and Harry’s bus is overturned in the blast. Ellis is believed to have been killed, although his body isn’t found. Harry sets out to explore under the rubble with the help of Agatha, a young Jewish refugee from Germany, who is searching for her parents.

Interleaved with this story is a poetic commentary from Orpheus and excerpts from Harry’s sketchbook for a book he is illustrating called ‘Warriors of the Machine’ where he envisages a world in which killing and destruction have been enabled by sophisticated machinery.

This cleverly-told story may not be for everyone, but it is poignant and passionate about the horrors of war.