The Emperor of Any Place

“Readers will be swept up quickly in the tense relationship between Evan and Griff, as well as the unlikely friendship between enemy soldiers fighting for survival in a surreal landscape. Without spelling out the metaphoric significance of the story within the story, Wynne-Jones provides enough hints for readers to make connections and examine the lines between war and peace, as well as hate and love.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“An accomplished wordsmith, Wynne-Jones achieves an extraordinary feat: he eliminates the hidden depths of personalities and families through a mesmerizing blend of realism and magic.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Narrator Todd Haberkorn transitions between characters, times, and places in an audiobook that weaves two narratives. Evan, a high school student, is stunned by his father’s sudden death and confused about a newly arrived book that seems connected to it. Haberkorn contrasts this somber numbness with a sarcasm that barely contains Evan’s fury when his caustic grandfather arrives. Haberkorn’s portrayal of the cantankerous ninety-year-old ex-Marine is laced with unexpressed grief, a subtlety missed by his grandson…Haberkorn gracefully enacts this story’s complexities, shifting between lightly accented Japanese and the soldiers’ fearful reactions to supernatural beings. Author and narrator bring the novel’s two strands together in a poignant climax. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award.” —