Midnight Never Come.
Jan. 12th, 2011 11:23![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
starladyBrennan, 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.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-12 19:39 (UTC)*blink* Interesting. I always assumed that it did - that she indeed did manage to set a precedent, but that it took some time to sink in, and even when it DID sink in, was traumatic enough that, well, see the rest of English history, because the sanctity of a crowned head was such a big Thing to deal with.
(I know you don't read much Pratchett, but this is one of the things that always underpins and informs all of the Ankh-Morpork-set books - the idea of kings and the sanctity of kings and how the stories get retold.)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-12 19:45 (UTC)But yeah, it makes a lot of sense. And it adds a certain layer of delayed family tragedy to the whole thing, not unlike Henry VI.
Yeah, the Prachett I've read has usually not been the Ankh-Morpork books. Though it's my goal to get through Tiffany Aching this year, for sure.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-12 19:59 (UTC)One of the background things for the Watch books in specific and all the Ankh-Morpork books in general is that Sam Vimes (Captain, then Commander of the City Watch, Knight, then Duke of Ankh*) is the descendant of Duke "Stoneface" Vimes, ancient Commander of the Watch, who killed the last king of Ankh-Morpork. (For being a seriously evil sumbitch). Without trial, because no jury would sit, and with his own hand, because no executioner would do it. Because it was the King. Vimes-forebearer promptly fell from grace, and while there hasn't been a king in Ankh-Morpork since (the city being ruled by Patricians since then), the stories pretty much get rewritten with Stoneface as the villain. Vimes rather resents that.
Re: Tiffany books: I love them, and they can probably stand on their own, but they have more depth and resonance if you've read Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, Maskerade and Carpe Jugulum. Or even just Carpe Jugulum, come to think of it, to give you a good sense of Granny Weatherwax from her own and Nanny Ogg's points of views, before you get her from Tiffany's.
. . . /babble Sorry >.>
*Vetinari keeps blackmailing him into promotions. Literally.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-12 20:02 (UTC)At some point I really should read the A-M books, too.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-12 20:04 (UTC)*solemn* I am of the opinion that people ought to read all Discworld books except the first two (maybe three, but Equal Rites is bearable after you've read some of the others), so you will not see me arguing.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-13 02:43 (UTC)I like Midnight Never Come, but I love In Ashes Lie, because there are a great many Elizabethan fairy books but I have never seen a Charles I fairy book before, and it's so well done, and shouts out to Defoe. (I also like the second sequel, but In Ashes Lie just blows me away.)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-13 02:52 (UTC)Yeah, after reading The Baroque Trilogy I came away convinced that the Jacobean and Restoration eras were the best times for fantasy novels ever, but sadly most people haven't gotten the memo yet. I'm excited for the next one.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-13 04:04 (UTC)This is because the only people who study them are history majors and English majors focusing in Restoration Lit. Whereas the Tudors and the Mediaevals get EVERYONE's attention.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-13 04:11 (UTC)