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Candy Jar Books Reveal Travers & Wells: The City of Dr Moreau

Candy Jar Books has revealed details of the long-awaited second book in the Travers & Wells series, The City of Dr Moreau.

The City of Dr Moreau is written by Andrew Allen (whose debut novel is The Haunting of Gabriel Chase, a follow-up to Ghost Light, available now) and features a cover by Richard Young.

Range editor, Andy Frankham-Allen says:

“This one was finished ages ago — we never intended there to be such a long gap between book one and two, but unfortunately with the outbreak of the COVID last year, many things needed to be rearranged. But finally, I’m glad to say it’s all done and on the way.” 

Andrew Allen says:

“In my book, Travers and Wells have managed to escape the world of The War of The Worlds as brilliantly introduced by Robert Mammone in his novella Other Wars, Other Worlds. Now, they’re in yet another alternative version of Earth. This one looks much more like the one that both men see as familiar, except they quickly meet a distinguished scientist known as Dr Moreau. Not only was it a delight to get a chance to borrow the characters of HG Wells and Professor Travers, but I also found myself fascinated by how those characters would respond when confronted with a character they previously believed to be fictional, as well as examining how they – and even the readers of the book – would react if it wasn’t necessarily guaranteed that they’d survive the story, even if it was the second book of four. I had a lot of fun pulling together many different elements, from the locations our heroes pass through (including a real-life island where legend says people tried to talk to God), to small tributes to some of my favourite films.” 

Here’s the blurb: 

“Wells blinked a couple of times, balling a fist into his eyes to rub away the sweat trickling there. But it was no good; the room was too dark and he still couldn’t see anything. Nonetheless, he was painfully aware that someone – something – was in the room with him. He heard a snuffling, a guttural breathing, and the thing moved closer.” 

Edward Travers and HG Wells are flung once again into an alternative reality: a London both achingly familiar and quite unlike the city either of them know. In the dying days of the Edwardian empire, public protests over the increasing use of vivisection in animal research collide with rising fears about looming war. 

Connecting both is the mysterious Dr Moreau. Wells is fascinated by the accomplished scientist, but Travers is horrified by the dark truth of the man that he previously had believed to be mere fiction. 

As the two men begin to discover the purpose behind their adventures out of time and come face to face with who is controlling their journey, they pursue Moreau to the inevitable conclusion: his very own island of creation, a perverse garden of Eden that’s very close to home… 

The City of Dr Moreau (both a limited hardback and a mass-market paperback) is available to order now from Candy Jar Books.

The Lethbridge-Stewart range continues in July with the three-book Series 9, starting with Warriors of Mondu by Gareth Madgwick. And the Travers & Wells series continues later this year, as part of Candy Jar’s annual crossover event, with The Invisible Women by John Peel.

Philip Bates

Editor and co-founder of the Doctor Who Companion. When he’s not watching television, reading books ‘n’ Marvel comics, listening to The Killers, and obsessing over script ideas, Philip Bates pretends to be a freelance writer. He enjoys collecting everything. Writer of The Black Archive: The Pandorica Opens/ The Big Bang, The Silver Archive: The Stone Tape, and 100 Objects of Doctor Who.

Candy Jar Books Reveal Travers & Wells: The City of Dr Moreau

by Philip Bates time to read: 2 min
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