Before wars are won, they must be witnessed.

Elize Janview is a soldier, one of the few survivors of an unimaginably terrible weapon, which ended the long détente between the North and the South and plunged them back into all-out war. She enlisted with a dream of finding those responsible, of somehow getting revenge for the deaths of everyone she knew, but was posted to guard the prison at Crag, the fortress of the South, which has never fallen to the enemy.

Janview’s life is transformed when a rough wooden box is delivered to Crag, holding the performer and spy Marius Mondegreen, agent of the North: the Misheard Word, who can read minds, breathe fire, and make objects appear and disappear. Janview is to witness Mondegreen’s interrogation by his captor, the beautiful and cruel Allynx Syld, who promises the end of the war. As recorder – and by degrees participant – in the interrogation, Janview comes to question everything she knew about the war, and the very world she lives in…

“One of the books of the year. Superb, on every level.” –Buzz Magazine on Three Eight One
“A wonderfully alienating experience.” –SFX on Three Eight One, five star review
“Brilliant in its playful inventiveness.” –The FT on Three Eight One
“A quirky, unsettling work from one of the most original writers of speculative fiction in Britain today.” —The Guardian on Three Eight One
“The Misheard World is riveting, weird, unpredictable, and magnificent. This is Aliya Whiteley at her inimitable best.” —Oliver K. Langmead, Hugo Award-nominated author of Calypso
“Whiteley’s prose is taut and surprising—each sentence does more work than you expect, each image cuts deeper than it first appears. A stunning achievement.” —Helen Marshall, author of The Lady, the Tiger and the Girl Who Loved Death
“Artfully woven and humming with the power and possibilities of the spoken word, The Misheard World confirms Aliya Whiteley as one of our most original and exciting writers. I loved this book.” —E. J. Swift, Arthur C. Clarke Award-nominated author of The Coral Bones
“In The Misheard World, Aliya Whiteley deftly conjures an alien world that echoes our own, or perhaps it’s the other way around… This quiet, contemplative novel is at first preoccupied with stories, symbols and the remnants of the past, but gradually the canvas widens so that it’s the very nature of reality that’s scrutinised. Across all her work Aliya Whiteley never puts a foot wrong, and the wild world-building of The Misheard World is another triumph to add to her list of many.” —Tim Major, author of Snakeskins
“A brilliant, surprising book, The Misheard World is beautiful, melancholy and very mysterious. Aliya Whiteley has crafted a powerful story full of unexpected twists. I couldn't stop reading.” —Ben Tufnell, author of The North Shore and Paradise
“Layering stories upon stories, echoes upon echoes, this fearless, mesmerising novel irresistibly wrongfoots the reader.” —Heather Child, author of The Undoing of Arlo Knott and The People's Republic of Love

Aliya Whiteley is one of the most exciting talents in the UK. She is the author of six books of speculative fiction, including the Arthur C. Clarke Award shortlisted Skyward Inn and The Loosening Skin, and also The Beauty, which was shortlisted for both a Shirley Jackson Award and the Otherwise Award. She lives in Sussex with her husband and daughter.