Supriya's Banter
The House in the Cerulean Sea
Author: TJ Klune
Publisher: Tor (16 September 2021); The Smithson, 6 Briset Street, London EC1M 5NR
Language: English
Paperback: 400 pages
Listening Length: 12 hours and 11 minutes
Narrator: Daniel Henning
Welcome to Linus Baker’s world. It’s colourless, drab and mind-numbingly dull. The middle-aged government employee working with DICOMY (the Department in Charge of Magical Youth) lives with a cat named Calliope, a stack of rulebooks, and a nosy neighbour in a tiny and equally colourless house. His mundane existence is jolted when a classified assignment drops on his desk.
He is dispatched to Marsyas Island, home to a secluded orphanage by the cerulean sea. The island is lush, magical, and alive—a sharp contrast to the drab bureaucracy Linus knows. His world unravels when he meets the six so-called “dangerous” magical children: Lucy (the literal Antichrist), Talia the gnome, Chauncey the blob, Sal the were‑Pomeranian, Phee the sprite, and Theodore the wyvern. The children, accompanied by the mysterious and fiercely protective caretaker Arthur Parnassus, remould Linus’s perspective and beliefs. And before Linus realises, his journey transforms from evaluating others to standing up for them. Unexpectedly, he finds love, purpose, and his first real family.
The setting is almost whimsical—emerald hills, a sea that hums in cerulean blue, and a cottage that bursts with noise, colour, and chaos.
Klune’s writing style is full of warmth and gentle humour. His prose skips between laugh-out-loud moments and emotional clarity that lingers. The world-building is appealing and not heavy-handed. The magic is in the small moments—shared meals, secret fears, bedtime stories, and quiet acts of bravery.
The audio version proved to be quite a treat. Daniel Henning, the narrator, performs it as if it were a script. His voice modulation is masterful. Each of the six magical children is given a distinct voice. While Lucy has mischievous sass, Talia has a gruff grumble, and Chauncey reflects an eager bubbliness. Henning lends them personality, pacing, and soul, making them unforgettable. Even Arthur’s calm, poetic cadence and Linus’s hesitant formality are delivered with remarkable depth.
A gentle fantasy full of tenderness and compassion. It’s more like a bedtime story for grown-ups than a full-blown fantasy lore.
