The Last Smile in Sunder City

Book One in the Fetch Phillips Archives: a fantasy set in a world where the magic has disappeared...

By: Luke Arnold

Narrated by: Luke Arnold

The Last Smile in Sunder City is a brilliantly voiced contemporary fantasy for fans of Ben Aaronovitch, Rotherweird or Terry Pratchett's Discworld, and the debut novel from high-profile actor Luke Arnold.

Fetch Phillips fought on the wrong side of a war between humans and magical creatures, and his actions helped to drain the world of enchantment. Now he works on the streets of Sunder City, taking what odd jobs he can while trying to help those whose lives he ruined.

His first case is to find a missing teacher. Professor Rye is a four-hundred-year-old vampire with a heart of gold in a husk of a body. In a world without magic, most vamps have already crumbled into dust, but Fetch is happy to go looking for some dirt with pointed teeth if it gets him his drinking money. Then, when a young siren disappears, Fetch finds out that this dark world still hides some monsters - and he'd better clean up his act before they come into the light.©2020 Luke Arnold

Critic reviews

This off-piste detective story set in a magical world, now in meltdown, has verve and charm in abundance and a rough diamond hero with quite a story to tell.In short, an actor's dramatic voice has found a pen which can write

Sunder City [is] an evocative creation, it has echoes of Ankh-Morpork, but also a broken melancholy all of its own

This book was a marvellous noir voice; Luke Arnold has captured the spirit of the genre perfectly and wrapped it around a fantasy setting with consummate skill

[A] standout debut . . . winningly combining the grit of Chinatown with the quirky charm of Harry Potter, this series opener is sure to have readers coming back for more

The first instalment of an effortlessly readable series that could be the illegitimate love child of Terry Pratchett and Dashiell Hammett

Excellent start for a novel writer

Initially got into it because of Black Sails and my love for Luke Arnold, but right off the bat the book got me hooked. Great world-building, engaging story and a really smooth writing filled with creative metaphors and eye(or ear!)-opening comparisons. I definitely recommend to any lover of fantastic literature!

So engaging it was bewitching.

The 5 stars are all well deserved, because this was a brilliantly written debut novel.

Actor Luke Arnold is more known for his role as Long John Silver in the STARZ series Black Sails (which is amazing and you should go binge it right now if you haven't yet), and I had no idea he was such a good writer as well. He claims he's always loved writing, but stopped for a few years. Well I am so glad he picked that pen (or keyboard) back up!

The Last Smile in Sunder City is a fantasy thriller with an amazing noir atmosphere, with lovable and immensely flawed characters. It's their flaws that keep you locked to the book, transporting you right to the dusty old roads of Sunder with detective Fetch Phillips: his painkiller addiction is as vivid as your need to know what happened to old, decrepit vampire Professor Edmund Rye. And when stories from the present start weaving with ghosts from the past, and you meet Amarita, Hendricks, and all the colorful characters that made Fetch who he is today, then you already know you're hooked.

The audiobook makes it even better, even if you're not audiobook people (I personally am not, but I just had to give it a shot): Arnold's incredible acting skills give life to the characters to the point of making you forget he's the one voicing them all. And I already can't wait for the second installment of this new incredible series out in October.