Oliver Twist is one of the most well-known stories ever told, about a young orphan who has to survive the mean streets of London before ultimately being rescued by a kindly benefactor.
But it is his friend, the Artful Dodger, who has the far more intriguing tale, filled with more adventure and excitement than anything boring Oliver could possibly get up to. Throw in some vampires and a plot to overthrow the British monarchy, and what you have is the thrilling account that Charles Dickens was too scared to share with the world.
From the brilliant mind of novelist and comic book veteran Peter David, Artful is the dark, funny, and action-packed story of one of the most fascinating characters in literary history.
With vampires.
Download and start listening now!
You don’t need to have read the source material to enjoy the Dickensian language; Peter David obviously had a lot of fun creating the flowery prose and the rambling chapter headers. And the character of the Artful Dodger himself was extremely appealing: very tough, very hard to embarrass, determined to pitch in and help even when it was a really stupid idea, and very much the perfect gentleman. As long as, y’know, he didn’t have to be anyone respectable.
—
Pixelated Geek