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Midnight Never Come.
Jan. 12th, 2011 11:23Brennan, Marie. Midnight Never Come. New York: Orbit, 2008.
Disclaimer: I am personally acquainted with the author. But I would have liked this book regardless.
I distinctly remember, when this book came out, reading the back in Barnes & Noble, thinking, "Enh, another Elizabethan fairy book…" and putting it back down. With the large caveat that I have avowedly not sought to read many fairy books, my initial disinterest was more or less totally ill-founded. I wound up buying the book because I was going to Sirens 2010, at which Brennan was one of the Guests of Honor, and after about five minutes' conversation with her it becomes crystal clear that she has more than done her research, which pays off in spades in the book itself: Brennan never info-dumps, but she brings the period to convincing life, and as a bonus, this book doesn't feature Christopher Marlowe or Will Shakespeare, not even in cameos. But I'm going about this widdershins once again--Brennan's attention to detail in research shines in the details which bring the book to life, and the writing and characters are wonderfully vivid and lucid at the same time.
The story is told from the points of view of Lune, a faerie in the court of Invidiana, who reigns in the Onyx Court below London and mirrors Queen Elizabeth above, and of one Michael Deven, who has just been granted a position as one of Elizabeth's Gentlemen Pensioners. The story starts just after the defeat of the Armada and ends slightly less than two years later, in the course of which Lune and Deven come to realize that their respective courts are linked far more closely than they knew, and that if they wish to survive they must rely on each other to unravel plots within plots, with momentous consequences for both realms. I liked both Michael and Lune a lot, as well as the brownie sisters who are their best allies, and I liked the portrayal of Elizabeth as well, acknowledging her flaws but also unhesitant in defending her achievements. Brennan's fairies are explicitly and specifically English, and the regionalism works well in context; I also found myself questioning the way I viewed English history, particularly in light of the fact that the next book, In Ashes Lie, takes place just after the War of the Three Kingdoms--did the precedent that Elizabeth feared to set in the execution of Mary Queen of Scots redound, not on her as she feared, but on the head of the son of her heir and Mary's? It seems plausible; certainly it has the seductive quality of a well-told tale, as does this novel. I'm looking forward to the next three.
For those interested, there is also an Onyx Court novella, "And Blow Them at the Moon," set in 1605.
Disclaimer: I am personally acquainted with the author. But I would have liked this book regardless.
I distinctly remember, when this book came out, reading the back in Barnes & Noble, thinking, "Enh, another Elizabethan fairy book…" and putting it back down. With the large caveat that I have avowedly not sought to read many fairy books, my initial disinterest was more or less totally ill-founded. I wound up buying the book because I was going to Sirens 2010, at which Brennan was one of the Guests of Honor, and after about five minutes' conversation with her it becomes crystal clear that she has more than done her research, which pays off in spades in the book itself: Brennan never info-dumps, but she brings the period to convincing life, and as a bonus, this book doesn't feature Christopher Marlowe or Will Shakespeare, not even in cameos. But I'm going about this widdershins once again--Brennan's attention to detail in research shines in the details which bring the book to life, and the writing and characters are wonderfully vivid and lucid at the same time.
The story is told from the points of view of Lune, a faerie in the court of Invidiana, who reigns in the Onyx Court below London and mirrors Queen Elizabeth above, and of one Michael Deven, who has just been granted a position as one of Elizabeth's Gentlemen Pensioners. The story starts just after the defeat of the Armada and ends slightly less than two years later, in the course of which Lune and Deven come to realize that their respective courts are linked far more closely than they knew, and that if they wish to survive they must rely on each other to unravel plots within plots, with momentous consequences for both realms. I liked both Michael and Lune a lot, as well as the brownie sisters who are their best allies, and I liked the portrayal of Elizabeth as well, acknowledging her flaws but also unhesitant in defending her achievements. Brennan's fairies are explicitly and specifically English, and the regionalism works well in context; I also found myself questioning the way I viewed English history, particularly in light of the fact that the next book, In Ashes Lie, takes place just after the War of the Three Kingdoms--did the precedent that Elizabeth feared to set in the execution of Mary Queen of Scots redound, not on her as she feared, but on the head of the son of her heir and Mary's? It seems plausible; certainly it has the seductive quality of a well-told tale, as does this novel. I'm looking forward to the next three.
For those interested, there is also an Onyx Court novella, "And Blow Them at the Moon," set in 1605.