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  • Title: Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children
  • Author: Ransom Riggs
  • Narrator: Kirby Heyborne
  • Length: 11:39:29
  • Version: Abridged
  • Release Date: 14/01/2014
  • Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
  • Genre: Kids, Fairy Tales & Folklore, Mystery & Fantasy
  • ISBN13: 9.78E+12
Dear fellow wanderers of strange and wonderful worlds,

The moment Kirby Heyborne’s narration began weaving Ransom Riggs’ peculiar tapestry, I found myself transported back to that dusty roadside café in Andalusia where I first discovered the magic of oral storytelling. Much like the abuela who held our table rapt with her tales of duendes and ancient curses, Heyborne’s performance in “Hollow City” doesn’t merely recount a story – it conjures an entire universe where vintage photographs breathe and children with extraordinary gifts navigate the rubble of war-torn London.

This second installment picks up exactly where “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” left us – with Jacob and his peculiar companions fleeing their shattered sanctuary. As a travel writer who’s documented refugee routes across three continents, I was particularly struck by Riggs’ depiction of their journey from Welsh shores to the bombed-out streets of 1940s London. The audiobook version makes these landscapes visceral – you can almost taste the salt spray as they cross the channel, feel the grit of fallen masonry in Hollow City’s air raid shelters, and hear the eerie silence between explosions. It reminded me of interviewing Holocaust survivors in Prague, how the most extraordinary stories often emerge from history’s darkest corners.

Heyborne’s narration is nothing short of alchemical. His ability to distinguish between Jacob’s American cadence, Emma’s fiery determination, and the myriad peculiar voices – each with their own temporal quirks – creates an auditory landscape as rich as the vintage photographs that inspired the series. There’s a particular scene where Addison the talking dog recounts his circus days that transported me straight to those Oaxacan evenings, where animals in folktales spoke with more wisdom than humans. The narrator handles Riggs’ signature blend of whimsy and horror with perfect pitch – the moments of levity land like bright balloons against the bleak wartime backdrop, while the wights and hollowgasts emerge as truly bone-chilling presences.

Riggs’ genius lies in how he grafts fantasy onto historical trauma. The peculiar children’s journey mirrors that of real WWII evacuees, their supernatural abilities becoming metaphors for how all children develop survival mechanisms in times of crisis. As someone who’s documented displaced youth from Syria to Venezuela, I recognized authentic emotional truths beneath the fantastical surface – the way Bronwyn’s super-strength manifests as protective instinct, or how Horace’s nightmares blend prophecy with trauma. The audiobook format intensifies these connections, making the children’s voices feel heartbreakingly immediate.

The expanded menagerie of peculiar animals offers some of the most delightful moments – from the sarcastic pigeon to the scene-stealing Gypsy horse. Heyborne gives each creature distinct personality without veering into caricature, a balance that reminded me of the best campfire storytellers who know exactly when to lighten the mood. The newly introduced peculiar factions in London – particularly the flamboyant and tragic Miss Wren – are rendered with such vocal nuance that I found myself pausing the audio just to sit with certain character revelations.

If I have one critique, it’s that some wartime transitions feel abrupt in audio format. Without the photographs as anchors, a few temporal jumps required rewinding to track. Yet even this minor quibble speaks to how thoroughly Riggs’ world integrates text and image – the audiobook’s very limitations highlight the original’s innovative form. That said, Heyborne compensates beautifully with his cinematic pacing during action sequences, particularly the breathtaking climax in St. Paul’s Cathedral that had me holding my breath on a crowded subway platform.

For listeners new to the series, I’d suggest experiencing the first book in print to appreciate Riggs’ photographic alchemy, then letting Heyborne’s narration carry you through this darker second chapter. Fans of “The Book Thief” or “Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell” will find similar pleasures here – historical fiction where magic doesn’t soften war’s brutality but rather sharpens our perception of it. The peculiar children’s journey through Hollow City mirrors our own through life’s strange landscapes – equal parts wondrous and terrifying, always moving forward because turning back would be the most frightening thing of all.

With one ear always tuned to the peculiar,
Marcus Rivera