The Trial of Katterfelto Audiobook By Michael Redhill cover art

The Trial of Katterfelto

A Novel

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The Trial of Katterfelto

By: Michael Redhill
Narrated by: Patrick Mcmanus, Gillian Deacon, Michael Redhill
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A Globe and Mail Best Book of 2025

“I will grant here at the outset that the Doctor was not who he seemed, but this shall turn out to be of little import in the tale to come. He is, as am I, but a charge in a wire. We were conductors for another force, vassals to a vessel. This vessel I cannot speak of for some pages however central it will become, but I gallop ahead of myself. . . . I believe it is important that you see how I came to meet the good Doctor, and for you to meet us for who we were. Perhaps you will marvel, as have I, at how chance encounters can be charged with the power to alter the course of one’s life, or even history.”

In the late-eighteenth century, the conjurer and amateur scientist Gustavus Katterfelto has made a name for himself travelling across the English countryside with a bag of tricks. For audiences, his astonishing stunts are pure magic. For Katterfelto, each one is carefully engineered and executed with the help of his colleague, confidante and amanuensis, and our narrator, Roger Gossage.

Yet one day in their travels, the two men come across a mystifying object beyond their ken: a metal horn that emits a disembodied woman’s voice. She calls herself Siri of Toronto, and claims to speak from a place plagued by climate catastrophe and social unrest. As they begin to use the horn in their magic shows, Gossage and Katterfelto must work to understand the origin and intent of Siri’s call—a quest that will put them up against the limits of reason and test Roger’s allegiance to the man he calls his friend.

Endlessly inventive, richly imagined, and entirely its own, The Trial of Katterfelto is a consciousness-expanding novel that writes directly into the most urgent questions we face as a species: who we are, what we have done, and what we might do from here. Dystopian Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Magical Realism Science Fiction

Critic reviews

A Globe and Mail Best Book of 2025

“Pierces forcefully into our present. . . . The Trial of Katterfelto doesn’t disappoint.” —Winnipeg Free Press
All stars
Most relevant
I loved this audiobook. It feels original right from the start. Grounded in history, then slowly opening into something much bigger. Strange, unexpected, and a little unsettling. The narration is excellent. The manuscript style makes it feel like a real account. You’re right there with Gossage as it unfolds. What stayed with me most was the idea. A voice from the future trying to warn people who have no way to understand it. That tension carries through the whole story. The writing is beautiful. Michael Redhill brings out details and quirks of the past I’d never come across before. The characters feel real and fully developed, and you really feel their emotional arc. The voice from the future hits close to where we are today. It stays with you. There are a few audiobooks I return to over and over again, like comfort food. The Trial of Katterfelto is now on that list. For me, it’s a 5-star listen.

An original story right from the start.

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