|
|
FLY BY NIGHT
by Frances Hardinge
HarperTrophy
Hardcover: 0060876271
Paperback: 9780060876302
Ages 10-up
512 pages
• Read an Excerpt
Words were dangerous when loose. They were more powerful than cannon and more unpredictable than storms. They could turn men's heads inside out and warp their destinies. They could pick up kingdoms and shake them until they rattled. And this was a good thing, a wonderful thing...
In the world of the Fractured Realm, an almost medieval setting, 12-year-old Mosca Mye falls into a wild and most unpredictable adventure because of words, because of books, and because Mosca can read. Her father, dead now for four years, has left her a special legacy --- the ability to read and write. She has no idea when she runs from her aunt and uncle's home that she will encounter people and events to challenge any young girl. With her pet goose Saracen (actually more like a guard dog), she flies the family that, for all practical purposes, has kept her captive and never shown her love. Because she accidentally sets her uncle's mill ablaze, her flight is shadowed by the fact that now she is a criminal. Before she's out of the village of Chough, she's thrown into the company of a most unusual trickster by the name of Eponymous Clent. He charms her with his words.
I am a poet and storyteller, a creator of ballads and sagas. Pray do not confuse the exercise of the imagination with mere mendacity. I am a master of the mysteries of words, their meanings and music and mellifluous magic.
Against her better judgment but totally taken by his language, Mosca becomes attached to Eponymous --- a plump, strange little man of questionable morals. Soon they are involved with a major war between two guilds, the Locksmiths and the Stationers. There's also the problem of the Birdcatchers who supposedly have been disposed of and all their books burned by the Stationers. The business of book burning is alive and well in the little town of Mandelion, and somewhere there seems to be a printing press that both sides need. How can Mosca, who loves words and books, not become a major part of all that is happening? But this fight goes even deeper, and as more characters are introduced, the plot becomes more tangled and complex.
This story is filled with surprises, twists, colorful characters, and strange gods such as GoodLady Prill, The Protector of Pigs; Goodman Sicklenose, He Who Lures the Shelled Fish Into the Hungry Net; and GoodLady Judin of the Borrowed Face.
Between the sometimes wordy but beautifully poetic descriptions, the action is fast and exciting as Mosca, her wonder goose and Eponymous fight off a myriad of deceivers, pirates and power seekers. Notes provided at the end of the book are most helpful in sorting out the convoluted groups and strange happenings that bring about all the action.
Although a wonderful story with delightful characters, this is not a book that will find appeal for everyone. The language can be difficult to get through. The possibility of another book would be welcome for readers who are not daunted by phrases such as this one:
There was no escaping the sound of water. It had many voices. The clearest sounded like someone shaking glass beads in a sieve. The waterfall spray beat the leaves with a noise like paper children applauding. From the ravines rose a sound like the chuckle of granite-throated goblins.
Mosca has much of the tenacity and courage found in Lyra, of Philip Pullman's THE GOLDEN COMPASS. Hopefully Mosca and Eponymous will bring their humor, wit and dapper sense of adventure to future books from the very creative mind of Frances Hardinge.
--- Reviewed by Sally Tibbetts (stibbetts@maine207west.k12.il.us)
 Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.com.
Back to top.
|
