*Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review*
Short but densely packed, a - as it says - "modern-day Dickensian fable" (with references galore) that shows how important every letter of a language is important when it comes to meaning.
Not for me but very well written, so I'd recommend giving it a go if you're interested.

"D (A Tale of Two Worlds)" is the first YA novel from acclaimed stylist Michel Faber, but it very much fits into the “also suitable for adults” category, so I came to it expectant of the pleasures of books from, say, Phillip Pullman. And so it turned out to be, Faber crafting a fable reminiscent of the Narnia classics but laced with Dickensian shadows. Dhikilo, a teenage refugee from Africa living in England, is roped in by an absent-minded professor to jump to a strange land (partnered with the professor’s dog who is also, naturally, a sphinx) in search of the theft of the letter “D” from the world. The plot bolts along with numerous entertaining adventures of the type one would expect, strange creatures proliferate, and much fun is had with “D”-less words. Dialogue throughout is a treat and a certain modernity is referenced in asides.. Faber is an artisan of the varied style, and in this novel he adopts an earnest, YA-ish clarity with undertones of enough sophistication to keep adults amused. The tale smoothly concludes with pleasing results and overall, D (A Tale of Two Worlds) is a pleasing, stylish, energetic romp.

Kept failing to download and can’t get this now as archived so unable to review, apologies Not leaving bad review due to errors

I never thought I would say this - but I was disappointed with a book by Michel Faber. I'm a big fan usually, but this just left me cold. I did enjoy the first chapter or so - pretty much until Dhikilo steps through into the Liminus. At that point, the narrative just seemed to take a nosedive, and it really didn't hold my attention. I did like the Bleak House Hotel section, and thought that could have made for a really interesting couple of chapters, rather than the small section that we actually get. I hated all the various tribes of people Dhikilo meets - they all felt cliched and pointless. The ending seemed rushed (although I was quite pleased at that point as I just wanted it to be over!)

It's such a shame, as it looks beautiful and when I first heard about it, I thought it was going to be a 5 star read for me.

In Dhikilo's world the letter D starts to vanish from conversation, from signs and then things start to disappear (or should that be isappear?) like dogs or other things that begin with D.

Through a portal in her teacher's house Dhikilo enters the world of Liminus and meets various "strange" characters on her quest to find out what is happening to the letters that have gone missing. She is accompanied by the sometime dog ( Nelly Robinson) sometimes sphinx.

There are obvious parallels to the Wizard of Oz ( Faber also acknowledges Thurber's Wonderful O which I haven't read.) For me there are also comparisons to Gaiman and Pratchett is terms of comedy, satire and sheer genious of invention.

Dhikilo is a young black woman whose homeland no-one has heard of , who has been adopted by caring but anxious white parents. Her schoolmates treat her as an outsider and someone "different" so Liminus gives her the opportunity to face danger and find her own identity and find justice in a strange world.

The different "peoples" she encounters are based on different Dickens characters e.g the diminutive, angry Quilps . The Drood reminded me of the kind benign aliens in The Book of Strange New Things by Faber

Like Ishiguro, Faber writes books of different genres from the Science Fiction of The Book Of Strange New things to the Victorian novel The Crimson Petal and the White. I had read that following the death of his partner he wouldn't write another novel so was very happy that he decided to issue this one. . The nearest comparison I can make is to Gaiman or Pratchett.

I am not sure who the readership is but i think it will appeal to the YA market but also those of my customers who value good inventive fantasy . This book made me laugh and also touched me deeply. It's also entertaining and touches on the essence of who we are, identity and how we lead our lives.

Michel Faber’s latest novel has everything you’d want in a great adventure story—a brave protagonist, an animal companion, and, of course, the nutty professor. Centred around Dhikilo’s journey to return “the missing D” to the alphabet, D finds pleasure in the ridiculous and the frivolous, charming readers with the same playfulness as children’s favourites like Alice In Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz.

But Faber also took some risks that didn’t pay off. There is an excruciating amount of time given to painting Dhikilo’s backstory as a non-white adoptee but there is never any connection made between her history and who she is now. There is no real exploration of her identity and although there are passing comments about Dhikilo never encountering people that look like her, Faber never really elaborates on how this might make her feel. So, while it’s refreshing to see non-white protagonists in stories that focus on more than just pain, Faber hasn’t written his characters of colour in a way that makes me feel seen and understood.

There’s also something uncomfortably colonial about the premise of an adventurer arriving in a mysterious yet dangerous foreign land, telling the locals how to speak properly, triggering a revolution, and then trotting off home once they’ve gotten what they want.

So, what’s my final verdict on D? Well, despite being a little lazy, this homage to Dickens is still a fun read. It’s a delightful story for Middle Grade readers that’s sure to put a smile on your face. However, it lacks the depth and character development I’ve come to expect from a teen novel, so when it comes to the intended YA audience, I think Faber has probably missed the mark.

I got a part of the way through this and i really liked the first third but as i continued i enjoyed it less. I've enjoyed previous Michel Faber novels but this just didn't do it for me. The premise was interesting but something was missing from it and i just lost interest in what was happening. I liked the writing but the rest of it, i would leave.

Very unusual tale, especially coming from the author of Under the Skin, with a brilliant viewpoint character. Strong elements of Dickens and Lewis in this fable filled with a cast of fabulous characters investigating the disappearance from our world of the letter D.
This is definitely aimed at a younger audience but like all great children’s literature can be enjoyed equally so by adults, tackling many modern concerns such as global warming and racism. It’s an extremely funny tale too and I found myself chuckling as a read. This tale is well worth your time no matter what age you are.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for the early copy.

This is a lovely, quirky little story, very much in the same mould as the Nania stories or Alice in Wonderland. Extremely imaginative with a gorgeous little main character. Sweet fun for middle graders and the young at heart.

I didn't realise this was a novel aimed at young adults until I read an interview with Michel Faber in the Guardian a couple of weeks ago just after I had finished reading it - it's strange that the publisher didn't make this more obvious in the blurb/description on NetGalley. Knowing that this book is aimed at teenagers makes a lot more sense in hindsight, as I think the allegorical ideas in D (A Tale of Two Worlds) will appeal more to younger readers than to adult readers like myself who enjoyed Faber's previous work. That said, Faber is an author who is well known for experimenting with different genres so fans of his other novels will already know to expect something a bit different.

The plot focuses on Dhikilo, a young girl from Somaliland who lives with a foster family on the south coast of England and finds that the letter D is disappearing. With encouragement from her teacher Professor Dodderfield, she sets off on a quest to the wintry world of Liminus to recover the missing letters This novel also commemorates the 150th anniversary of the death of Charles Dickens and there are some nice nods to his work through various characters and names. Overall, I thought the first half was more compelling than the second half where I lost interest a bit in the fantasy elements.

D (a tale of two worlds) by Michael Faber, is a Narnia-esque tale about a girl named Dhikilo and a quest to rescue the letter D, which is mysteriously going missing. It is to be published on September 17th and I highly recommend you get it and read it.
This is a magical story that reminded me of the chronicles of Narnia. The characters are vivid and likeable and the world feels very real. I was drawn into Dhikilo's storyboard cant wait to find out what she gets up to next. 5 stars, highly recommended.

A quirky story about a young girl, Dhikilo, and her adventures into the fantasy world of Liminus. Her mission is to discover why the letter D is disappearing and to put a stop to it. I had originally assumed this was an adult book but it soon became clear that it was better suited to children. The promise of the early chapters soon gave way to an unsophisticated episodic tale. Any potential for an involved story soon evaporated. The characters lacked depth and there was very little in the way of plot. Sadly disappointing.

If Crimson Petal was a modernist love letter to Dickens, it's clear that D (while still full of references to dear Charles) is a child of Carroll, and Lewis, and Baum. I had the feeling I was reading a classic, a book parents can read out loud to their children before bed and make it into a family event.

Dhikilo was a wonderful heroine - clever, resourceful, but above all kind. I felt safe looking at the world through her eyes, and I wish we'd gotten to know her a bit more. In fact, I suppose my only issue with this book is that it was too short! There were many questions left unanswered, and some plot points felt too quickly resolved (at its climax, the novel deflates and suddenly everything is resolved with close to no intervention from our heroes. That was a bit of a disappointment and the whole novel's tension suffers from it. How did the Gamp steal /our/ Ds and what was the Dynamo for? Who controlled the weather? How was it so easy to take him and, more importantly, the Magwitches down? How did Dhikilo have the power to bring the sun back? Was her father from Liminus? And why was the Professor stuck in his home with a death sentence on his head?) - it made me wish this was just the beginning of a long, Narnia-like saga exploring Liminus, its history, and what role Dhikilo and the Professor play in it.

That said, I actually very much enjoyed this reading experience - I was thoroughly entertained and I could see a child absolutely adore it. It was an allegorical tale - climate change, racism, intolerance, industrialism. And honestly? I found myself laughing out loud MANY TIMES whenever the Gamp and his followers spoke! The similarities with Trump were uncanny, his State of The Union might've just been a direct quote. Turns out he didn't make Liminus Great Again!

All in all, it was funny, it was sweet, the world building was interesting, and I hope Michael Faber has, after all, a few more books inside him because I'd love to go back to this world.

Michel Faber’s D (A Tale of Two Worlds) didn’t quite work for me, I’m sad to say. I loved the main character, Dhikilo, and Professor Dodderfield, and the concept of the disappearing D’s. However, the narrative in the fantastical world felt a bit of a plod after a wonderful bit in a strange uninhabited hotel. The climax in the city was a bit of a damp squib and the journey home was a bit dull. I’m sure it will be adored by some, but I was disappointed.

Absolutely phenomenal. A beautifully written fairy tale that reminded me so much of authors such as CS Lewis, Frank Baum and of course, Charles Dickens.
This was an utter joy to read, full of hope and joy. I loved Dhikilo so much, she was full of gumption and was one of the most delightful characters I've read in a long time. I have high hopes for this, and the fact that it is so gorgeous is a bonus, I have ordered myself a signed copy of the hardback.

Weirly wonerful, wonerfully weir

Dhikilo wakes one morning to find all the D's have gone missing & this is the tale of her adventure to get to the bottom of what's going on. A super quick, entertaining read where Narnia meets Oz in a chocolate factory.

I didn't realise this was a middle-grade read when I requested this, I just liked the sound of it, my issue with it is that as a middle-grade read it's probably pretty difficult. As well as the D's going missing (which your brain gets used to pretty quickly) our heroine meets the 'roo' (Drood) who all have a speech impediment which is even more problematic to read. I think my early middle-grade reader would soon give up on this as, although entertaining, it would be hard work.

"No one will thank you for your brave achievement. That is the fate of many a courageous champion. The good that we do sinks into history like rainfall into the earth. The earth, being earth, cannot feel gratitude or award us with medals, but it can grow flowers, and that is our reward."

I loved Faber’s The Crimson Petal and the White. Loved it. From page One.
This is quite a departure from his style. A fairytale/fantasy/Blytony kind of book.
Dhikilo, the foster child/heroine, originally from Somaliland (hello bandwagon, I hear you say), notices that the letter “D” is missing from everybody’s speech. She is tasked by her old former teacher Mr Dodderfield to bring the stolen “D”s back from the parallel world of Liminus. At her side is Dodderfield’s dog Mrs Robinson, who has a neat little secret of her own...and a sssspeech impediment.
To start with, this book annoyed me to the point of nearly giving up. The issapearing “ ”s make it slow and cumbersome to rea. Aitionally, uring Hikhilo’s aventure, she meets a loa of villagers with ifferent speech impeiments - you get the picture...For a proofreader’s eye, this is close to torture.
Many of the character and place names are purloined from or alluding to Dickens, e.g. Pumblechook, Drood, Quilp, Nell, Magwitch, Bleak House or indeed the title of the book. But they do not refer to Dickens’ characters; they are picked out as if Dickens were the author of a telephone directory which, to me, seems not a homage but disrespect.
Some ideas shine, like the “Hotel California” style hotel/mansion that tries to trap its guests inside its maze-like rooms (someone has read his Walter Moers!). Some non-sequiturs you will overlook cause they’re just too prettily executed. However, the likeness of the “Gampalonian Tower of Light” to the WTC reawakens disturbing images without serving a real purpose.
I waited and waited for “The Grand Reveal”, an explanation of who and why and how and whether this all was a parable for something real big. Alas, nothing. The End.

One thing the writer is not short on is imagination. I am certainly not in the intended age range for this book, some thing I hadn't worked out when I requested the book. So when it became obvious that I was several decades too old for this charming little book, I did my best to try and imagine how delightful a young child might find it. I honestly think that a child with a good imagination and a love for some thing different would love this book, and as such I am going to give it 4 stars .

I'm really not sure quite how to explain my feelings on this one. D (A Tale of Two Worlds) follows the tale of Dhikilo, a young girl who is confused when the letter D suddenly disappears from the world and no one else starts to notice, this leads to a sequence of events that ends with her going on an adventure to another world in an attempt to recover the letter D.

I should state that when I requested this I had no idea it was a children's book, and so I really wasn't expecting what I ended up getting. I don't mind the occasional middle-grade book, and obviously it's what I read when I was a child, but it meant that I felt someone let down by this book as soon as it began, just because it wasn't quite what I was expecting. However I'll try to be as objective as possible as the actual book itself.

The book is clearly heavily inspired by classic children's fantasy fiction. The title is a nod to Dickens, and the author also states C.S Lewis (Narnia) and L. Frank Baum (Wizard of Oz) as his inspiration and that's not surprising. It had that same whimsical feel of those stories and the idea of stepping into another world is a classic of the genre. I did enjoy the whimsy of it all, but I worry I'm just a little too old for it to all seem magical to me.

I think my main issue with this book is that it has little to set it apart from its middle-grade competitors, there was nothing about it that seemed new or exciting to me. That being said it is a solid novel, with all the components you like to see in a children's fantasy story - an adventure, an animal sidekick, some made-up words, stakes that seem high but you know what you're getting, a villain who's easy to hate. I think if this is something you like then you'll probably enjoy it, but I worry that if you read this genre a lot this one might not stand out to you.

I'm sure this will be enjoyed by its intended audience, sadly I just didn't realise that wasn't me.

How could I not want to love something with such a beautiful cover. And I did, want to love it. There are lovely elements, the way Faber took some of Dickens's character names and made them onomatopoeia, creating new creatures and characters to reflect the sound and feeling of the word itself. I loved that the most. I enjoyed the omniscient, patriarchal narrator simply because he was so familiar from children's books gone by and his wry humour entertained me. The fairy-tale feeling overall was comforting and cleverly recreated for a contemporary audience but while I enjoyed this part, the construction of the story was a little too episodic for me which made the pace a little plodding and repetitive. I suspect that's because it's aimed at children who will only read a chapter or two at a time, or have them read to them.

The disappearing "D" (or should that be isappearing " "?) was a fun stylistic device but was only cursorily explained and having read utterly brilliant books ("Ella Minnow Pea" and "A Void") based on a similar premise was a little under-developed, as was the use of Dickens as a character. The book is marketed as a celebration of Dickens on the 150th anniversary of his death but apart from Professor Dodderfield and the reuse of character names, there was little that was Dickensian about the story.

I was also a little uncomfortable with Dhikilo's history and it's handling. Perhaps the intention was to get children reading/listening to discuss Dhikilo's circumstances to get a better understanding of what growing up can be like for someone from a refugee background. While I don't think that writers can write only about their own experience Faber writing about a young girl adopted from Somaliland during horrific conflict jarred with me on several occasions.

The audience is very difficult to identify. 7-10 would probably be enthralled love but while Dhikilo is 13 but the story is a little young for that age and older readers may want something with a bit more depth. Adults, particularly fans of Dickens, will enjoy the wordplay and nods to his work but will be otherwise underwhelmed.