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A review by seshat59
Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge
4.0
I'm won over, and I have to mildly recant my earlier complaint in my status update.
Fly by Night is a book that embraces and celebrates the power of words, and our heroine, fiery Mosca Mye (who really reminded me of Lyra in the His Dark Materials series), has an addiction and craving for novel words that her small town cannot provide. So she ends up running away with a loquacious con-artist poet, and she becomes involved in the complex politics of a world of fighting guilds and religious upheaval. You can see why the plot might begin a little on the dry side...
I do stand by my complaint that the world building is filled with info dumping from the very beginning. This makes the first 39% of the novel rather tedious to labor through, but once you trudge through the prologue, you're immediately rewarded with a glimmer of hope because the novel does celebrate words, and Hardinge's word choice is just lovely (though, I admit, at times that loveliness edges toward mildly awkward). And witty -- don't forget witty. There's a lot of humor here, and Saracen is definitely one of the best parts of this story. (Saracen is Mosca's aggressive goose, and having been chased by geese as a child, I would not want to get into Saracen's way. Ever -- but his exploits are fantastic to read about from a safe distance. ;))
The themes of the novel are very adult and complex -- free speech, thought, religion. I love the battle between the radical Birdcatchers and the recognizably placid and comfortingly traditional Beloved (and I love Mosca's resolution and evaluation of it all at the end).
And while this is young adult, I do think think that kids would have a hard time muddling through the complex themes and the world building/info dumping beginning. But I could be wrong. :)
Overall, if you can labor your way through the political and social histories that bog down the beginning of the novel, it is worth it in the end. This a complex and well thought out novel. I'm glad I made the effort of making myself sit and read it. It was definitely worth it in the end, and I'm definitely going to continue the series.
Fly by Night is a book that embraces and celebrates the power of words, and our heroine, fiery Mosca Mye (who really reminded me of Lyra in the His Dark Materials series), has an addiction and craving for novel words that her small town cannot provide. So she ends up running away with a loquacious con-artist poet, and she becomes involved in the complex politics of a world of fighting guilds and religious upheaval. You can see why the plot might begin a little on the dry side...
I do stand by my complaint that the world building is filled with info dumping from the very beginning. This makes the first 39% of the novel rather tedious to labor through, but once you trudge through the prologue, you're immediately rewarded with a glimmer of hope because the novel does celebrate words, and Hardinge's word choice is just lovely (though, I admit, at times that loveliness edges toward mildly awkward). And witty -- don't forget witty. There's a lot of humor here, and Saracen is definitely one of the best parts of this story. (Saracen is Mosca's aggressive goose, and having been chased by geese as a child, I would not want to get into Saracen's way. Ever -- but his exploits are fantastic to read about from a safe distance. ;))
The themes of the novel are very adult and complex -- free speech, thought, religion. I love the battle between the radical Birdcatchers and the recognizably placid and comfortingly traditional Beloved (and I love Mosca's resolution and evaluation of it all at the end).
And while this is young adult, I do think think that kids would have a hard time muddling through the complex themes and the world building/info dumping beginning. But I could be wrong. :)
Overall, if you can labor your way through the political and social histories that bog down the beginning of the novel, it is worth it in the end. This a complex and well thought out novel. I'm glad I made the effort of making myself sit and read it. It was definitely worth it in the end, and I'm definitely going to continue the series.