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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
This was an enjoyable story in the way I expect from Frances Hardinge. Starring a little girl from a tough set of life circumstances getting embroiled in the middle of upheaval. At least in this case, she has a homicidal goose by her side. The world-building is surprising and fun. I found the start to this one much slower than A Face Like Glass, but then I enjoyed the dennoument of this one so much more.
Using for Book about Books in Fantasy Bingo.
Using for Book about Books in Fantasy Bingo.
"I don't want a happy ending, I want more story."
~Mosca Mye, Fly By Night ....
So do I, Mosca Mye !
More review later!
~Mosca Mye, Fly By Night ....
So do I, Mosca Mye !
More review later!
4.5 stars.
This was so whimsical. I absolutely love Frances Hardinge's writing - it is witty and charming and so engrossing you can't help but smile at it.
I can't believe this is their debut novel! Filled with mischievous plots and shady characters, this was absolutely brilliant.
This was so whimsical. I absolutely love Frances Hardinge's writing - it is witty and charming and so engrossing you can't help but smile at it.
I can't believe this is their debut novel! Filled with mischievous plots and shady characters, this was absolutely brilliant.
This is a wonderful book. Rather like a collision between Lloyd Alexander's Westmark books and Leon Garfield, but in a secondary world that's based on late 17th-century England rather than late 18th/early 19th, and with some of its own bizarre touches.
I've been on a spree of rereading books from my childhood and, boy, let me tell you that this stacks up much better than the other ones. While it was fun to revisit How to Train Your Dragon again, it's undeniably a children's book and most of the enjoyment came from nostaligia rather than the merits of the book itself. By contrast, Fly by Night was genuinely really good on a reread. Yes, it is aimed at a slightly older audience which helps, but that's not the only reason why I found it much more enjoyable. I really loved this book as a kid and on rereading it I can definitely see how it shaped a bit of who I am now (and also how who I was as a kid shaped my enjoyment of it). It's a complicated book with a number of plot threads that are tied together in ways that I couldn't predict, even despite having already read this book. Our main characters are definitely not unequivocally good - they're a bit weird and they make bad choices sometimes but they're loveable because of that. It's a book that's about the power of language & books (I love books about books!) but also about power & religion & class and it's never written in a way that talks down to the audience. The way that Hardinge writes is rich and complex and it doesn't shy away from some vivid descriptions of awful things and that's what makes it so good. That's why it's still enjoyable to read all these years later, but it's definitely still at a level where it's fun & appropriate for (weird) children. Oh, and how could I forget to mention her incredible worldbuilding. She's created an incredibly detailed and rich world that feels so real, and that's because of all the tiny little things she mentions, like Mosca saying "fenfenny" as a blessing, a corruption of "friends defend me". It feels like a really lived-in world, and I just love that. And! The names! They're a really important part of this book and even more so in the sequel, and I just love them all. My other reviews often have mentions of great names, and this book is a veritable treasure trove. Mosca Mye, Eponymous Clent, the Cakes, Lindon Kohlrabi, Lady Tamarind... every name is just incredible and also just the right choice for the character. Agh I'm just going to get lost talking about all the things that I loved in Fly By Night but the take home message is just that it was totally great and reaffirmed my love for all of Francis Hardinge's works.
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I can't believe I've never heard of this book before! It's the first in a LONG time that I have just lost myself in completely. The author's wordplay is hilarious and witty, the characters are interesting and memorable, and the world-building is complex yet accessible. Mosca has to be one of my favorite heroines in recent memory, and while some of the plot got a bit murky towards the end, it was all straightened out and cleanly resolved without oversimplifying anything. I can't wait to pick up the sequel, yet I hesitate because I don't want to be done yet. What else can I say? Hmm. There's a goose who wreaks havoc on anyone who messes with him, some of the best character names EVER, and so many surprising plot twists that you'll always be caught off-guard, but in the best way. Read this book.
I loved this book. The world (which kept reminding me of post-Cromwell England) was wonderfully detailed, with its multiple churches, forbidden learning, fantastically named characters, and that goose!
Mosca Mye and Eponymous Clent are great together. She's sharp-tongued and intelligent, and Clent's slippery self and word waterfalls are often hilarious.
Though Hardinge's text was sometimes a little dense, which slowed down the action every now and again, I loved all the colour of the setting and the characters. And that bloody goose Saracen, who was a terror to everyone but Mosca. That's the way a goose should be portrayed.
Mosca Mye and Eponymous Clent are great together. She's sharp-tongued and intelligent, and Clent's slippery self and word waterfalls are often hilarious.
Though Hardinge's text was sometimes a little dense, which slowed down the action every now and again, I loved all the colour of the setting and the characters. And that bloody goose Saracen, who was a terror to everyone but Mosca. That's the way a goose should be portrayed.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have to admit that I almost didn't read this book. The cover art gave the impression it might be a bit light and the banner across it that it might be a bit too straightforward. I'm very glad that I didn't judge this book by it's cover, though, because it ended up being a very satisfying read. A disclaimer at the end reads:
This is not a historical novel. It is a yarn. Although the Realm is based roughly on England at the start of the eighteenth century, I have taken appalling liberties with historical authenticity and, when I felt like it, the laws of physics.
It's not historical fiction, but instead resembles a fantasy novel in the author's world building. It offers a complex society, with a well-developed and confusing array of social, religious, and political factions. All made up names and situations. Yet there is nothing fantastical about it. The characters are mundane and deal with "real" situations. The banner across the cover asks us to, "Imagine a world in which all books have been banned." This is only partially true, and the situations and issues presented in the story are so much more. These are some tangled and intricate concepts.
But they are couched within an exciting and engaging story. Mosca is a 12-year-old orphan living with her cruel aunt and uncle in a backwater village. When a smooth talking con man and lover of words is arrested as a swindler, Mosca decides to set him free, burning her uncle's mill in the process so there is no option of going back. She latches onto Eponymous Clent despite his efforts to leave her behind. They end up in the big city of Mandelion, where her father lived and she was born. Before she realizes it, she and Eponymous are drawn into a world of espionage and intrigue among the various factions fighting for control of the city. I recommend giving it a try to learn the rest of the story.
At last she riased her head to look at the imagined figure of her father, whose desk was now perched up on the rag mountain.
"You weren't much help," she murmered bitterly. "Why didn't you tell me anything about all this?"
"If you want someone to tell you what to think," the phantom answered briskly, without looking up, "you will never be short of people willing to do so." . . . "Come now," he said at last, "you can hardly claim that I have left you ignorant. I taught you to read, did I not?"
This is not a historical novel. It is a yarn. Although the Realm is based roughly on England at the start of the eighteenth century, I have taken appalling liberties with historical authenticity and, when I felt like it, the laws of physics.
It's not historical fiction, but instead resembles a fantasy novel in the author's world building. It offers a complex society, with a well-developed and confusing array of social, religious, and political factions. All made up names and situations. Yet there is nothing fantastical about it. The characters are mundane and deal with "real" situations. The banner across the cover asks us to, "Imagine a world in which all books have been banned." This is only partially true, and the situations and issues presented in the story are so much more. These are some tangled and intricate concepts.
But they are couched within an exciting and engaging story. Mosca is a 12-year-old orphan living with her cruel aunt and uncle in a backwater village. When a smooth talking con man and lover of words is arrested as a swindler, Mosca decides to set him free, burning her uncle's mill in the process so there is no option of going back. She latches onto Eponymous Clent despite his efforts to leave her behind. They end up in the big city of Mandelion, where her father lived and she was born. Before she realizes it, she and Eponymous are drawn into a world of espionage and intrigue among the various factions fighting for control of the city. I recommend giving it a try to learn the rest of the story.
At last she riased her head to look at the imagined figure of her father, whose desk was now perched up on the rag mountain.
"You weren't much help," she murmered bitterly. "Why didn't you tell me anything about all this?"
"If you want someone to tell you what to think," the phantom answered briskly, without looking up, "you will never be short of people willing to do so." . . . "Come now," he said at last, "you can hardly claim that I have left you ignorant. I taught you to read, did I not?"