Mr. Gorzug: Substitute Teacher
Nole Moody
Jan 2027 · Mr. Gorzug Book 1 · Simon and Schuster · Narrated by Lukas Arnold
headphones
Audiobook
family_home
Eligible
info
infoThis book will become available on January 5, 2027. You will not be charged until it is released.
About this audiobook
The school needed a substitute teacher. It got an orc war-chief instead.
A towering green-skinned warrior from another world was never part of the staffing plan, but after a magical accident leaves him stranded in modern England, the local secondary school discovers something unexpected:
He is exceptionally good with children.
Not in the approved sense, naturally.
He carries an axe, distrusts educational jargon, treats corridor duty like battlefield positioning, and regards most school policies as elaborate attempts to lose control of a situation politely.
But he listens.
He notices.
And when children are frightened, angry, lonely, or quietly falling apart, Mr. Gorzug stands between them and the world with the calm certainty of someone who has defended walls under far worse conditions.
As Halcyon struggles with failing budgets, exhausted staff, vulnerable students, and the growing threat of something unnatural following Gorzug into England, the school slowly realises that the strangest person in the building may also be the one adult least willing to give up on its children.
Mr. Gorzug – Substitute Teacher is a warm, funny fantasy novel about schools, belonging, safeguarding, and what happens when an orc war-chief accidentally becomes the pastoral support system a comprehensive school desperately needed.
Perfect for readers who enjoy:
A towering green-skinned warrior from another world was never part of the staffing plan, but after a magical accident leaves him stranded in modern England, the local secondary school discovers something unexpected:
He is exceptionally good with children.
Not in the approved sense, naturally.
He carries an axe, distrusts educational jargon, treats corridor duty like battlefield positioning, and regards most school policies as elaborate attempts to lose control of a situation politely.
But he listens.
He notices.
And when children are frightened, angry, lonely, or quietly falling apart, Mr. Gorzug stands between them and the world with the calm certainty of someone who has defended walls under far worse conditions.
As Halcyon struggles with failing budgets, exhausted staff, vulnerable students, and the growing threat of something unnatural following Gorzug into England, the school slowly realises that the strangest person in the building may also be the one adult least willing to give up on its children.
Mr. Gorzug – Substitute Teacher is a warm, funny fantasy novel about schools, belonging, safeguarding, and what happens when an orc war-chief accidentally becomes the pastoral support system a comprehensive school desperately needed.
Perfect for readers who enjoy:
- Wry British humour
- Found family
- School-based fantasy
- Discworld-style observational comedy
- Kind but capable protagonists
- Slow emotional storytelling beneath absurd situations
- Bureaucracy treated as an enemy faction
- Tea deployed as a stabilising force
The school needed a substitute teacher. It got an orc war-chief instead.
A towering green-skinned warrior from another world was never part of the staffing plan, but after a magical accident leaves him stranded in modern England, the local secondary school discovers something unexpected:
He is ...
Discover more
About the author
Nole Moody is a software engineer who has spent much of his life thinking about schools, children, authority, and the strange ways adults try to help.
As a child, he was not always an easy pupil. He grew up in a home shaped in part by his father’s PTSD, and the usual school punishments never carried quite the weight adults seemed to expect. What he needed, though he would not have had the language for it then, were adults with steadiness, clarity, patience, and the courage to see difficult children as more than the trouble they caused.
When he was older, he wanted to become that kind of teacher himself: firm, fair, protective, and useful in the mould of Mr. Gorzug. Life took him elsewhere, into software rather than classrooms, but that version of him found another route onto the page.
These books are, in part, his way of letting that teacher exist.
He hopes you enjoy them.
As a child, he was not always an easy pupil. He grew up in a home shaped in part by his father’s PTSD, and the usual school punishments never carried quite the weight adults seemed to expect. What he needed, though he would not have had the language for it then, were adults with steadiness, clarity, patience, and the courage to see difficult children as more than the trouble they caused.
When he was older, he wanted to become that kind of teacher himself: firm, fair, protective, and useful in the mould of Mr. Gorzug. Life took him elsewhere, into software rather than classrooms, but that version of him found another route onto the page.
These books are, in part, his way of letting that teacher exist.
He hopes you enjoy them.
Nole Moody is a software engineer who has spent much of his life thinking about schools, children, authority, and the strange ways adults try to help.
As a child, he was not always an easy pupil. He grew up in a home shaped in part by his father’s PTSD, and the usual school punishments never car...
Listening information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can read books purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
