The Palace at the End of the Sea Audiobook By Simon Tolkien cover art

The Palace at the End of the Sea

A Novel (Theo Sterling, Book 1)

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The Palace at the End of the Sea

By: Simon Tolkien
Narrated by: Thom Rivera
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About this listen

A young man comes of age and crosses continents in search of an identity—and a cause—at the dawn of the Spanish Civil War in a thrilling, timely, and emotional historical saga.

New York City, 1929. Young Theo Sterling’s world begins to unravel as the Great Depression exerts its icy grip. He finds it hard to relate to his parents: His father, a Jewish self-made businessman, refuses to give up on the American dream, and his mother, a refugee from religious persecution in Mexico, holds fast to her Catholic faith. When disaster strikes the family, Theo must learn who he is. A charismatic school friend and a firebrand girl inspire him to believe he can fight Fascism and change the world, but each rebellion comes at a higher price, forcing Theo to question these ideologies too.

From New York’s Lower East Side to an English boarding school to an Andalusian village in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, Theo’s harrowing journey from boy to man is set against a backdrop of societies torn apart from within, teetering on the edge of a terrible war to which Theo is compulsively drawn like a moth to a flame.

©2025 by Simon Tolkien. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Coming of Age Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Political War New York
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Critic reviews

“In epic fashion worthy of his namesake, Tolkien crafts a remarkable novel of an American boy swept up by love and circumstance and cast into the crucible of the Spanish Civil War. Intense, vivid, and moving.”—Mark Sullivan, bestselling author of Beneath a Scarlet Sky and All the Glimmering Stars

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I liked the historical / political aspects of the story. However, it was unnecessarily long and the abrupt ending made no sense. The narration was even, but lacked story-telling variation and there were occasional mispronunciations

Long meandering story with abrupt ending

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I understand that there is a sequel, but the ending is abrupt and wraps up nothing in the story. It would have been an abrupt end to a chapter, let alone a book. The problem is, I don't think I even want a second book about this kid - I’m not sure he’s worth any more of my time, but I would like to know if he ever gets his act together, and what happens historically from this Spanish perspective through the Spanish Civil War and World War II. There’s a lot to work with here- but if you are interested - wait until both books are out.
As for the performance - not bad, but why does every native Spanish speaker speak English with such a heavy lisp? It's odd.

Potential not realized, maybe with the sequel?

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This is a tough depressing read. Given from a child’s point of view. And you only get to know the child’s view never the parents. To be fair I made it to chapter nine before I pulled the plug. Perhaps it gets better but it’s just so depressing and yes I get that’s probably the point.

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