Midnight City: A Conquered Earth Novel (edition 2012)

This book is described as "Lord of the Flies meets War of the Worlds in J. Barton Mitchell's alien-invaded post-apocalyptic world where two teens and a young girl with amazing powers must stop the aliens’ mysterious plan" and I have to agree with that 100% It's a very fast paced novel with characters that are memorable and admirable.

The world building is amazingly detailed and unique. Both the outside world and within the Midnight City itself. The government and ruling powers are harsh and unforgivable. Which only makes for a better story when our three main characters stand up to them, for the right reasons.

Partly what makes the book such an amazing read is the use of gadgets. They are powerful and fun and magical. For instance some do tricky things with gravity. Others are dangerous and can enhance the already deathly effects that have happened to the humans once the Alien beings landed.

I was very happy to see the touch of both sides of the human spirit, both to destroy and to save/rebuild. The humanity that the characters show just in taking care of the dog during everything they have to go through is true spirit and I love seeing that touching side to stories that are so full of darkness and inhumane actions by others.

I loved every minute of this book, I highly recommend it, great for both teen girls, boys and adults. ( )

I love books with worlds that are only inhabited by teens/kids or in this case where kids and teens are the only ones not stuck under the mind control of the aliens. I think it's a fun dynamic to play with, because you never really know how young people are going to act when there is no adult supervision and when they have to fend for themselves. I thought this was a cool take on alien invasion, because you see so much body snatching in alien stories, but it's not really discrimnating. Here we get to see it from a different perspective. This book was unique, thrilling, had lots of action and definitely kept me turning the pages. I look forward to book two :0) ( )

A tense, frightening at times novel about teenagers surviving nine years after an alien invasion captured nearly all the adults on the planet-- or at least in North America. This novel should capture wide readership among teens.
Holt Hawkins is one of the lucky ones. Eight years ago aliens known as The Assembly invaded Earth and easily overpowered the adults by sending out 'the tone,' which corrupted the minds of nearly everyone over the age of about 20. Those affected simply walked away from everything: jobs, families, and military posts and headed toward waiting Assembly ships never to return. The kids who were left also eventually succumb when they are old enough, but not Holt. For some reason, he is heedless: the tone has no effect on him. Holt is a teenage bounty hunter, tracking Mira Toombs for a large reward. But while on her trail, Holt also discovers Zoey, a young girl with no memory of her past and strange powers that reveal themselves more frequency the longer they are together. To collect the bounty, Holt must get Mira to Midnight City, a secret underground enclave full of kids and teenagers who have yet to succumb to the tone. However, through their adventures along the way, battling alien gunships, drowned zombies, and teenage pirates, Holt comes to see Mira as more than a bounty and Zoey as more than a rescued child holding him back.

Midnight City is the first of a series, and it is part swashbuckling adventure, part alien resistance, and part mystery (who is Zoey, really? and why are the aliens so keen to get her back?) At 374 pages in hardcover, this is a longer title than casual readers may be used to. The action will appeal to young men and some below-grade readers (although the length might be a turn-off for them), and the strong female lead, Mira, will hopefully draw in young women. Midnight City might not find widespread popularity, but this will satisfy fans of a number of different genres. ( )

Midnight City is a complex tale that weaves together a post-apocalyptic story with aliens and magic. Barton does an amazing job of focusing on both world building and character development, not sacrificing one for the other.

Holt is a great main character. He has a depth to him that is continually exposed in increments through out the story. His personal experiences with the Tone have left him jaded, without turning him into a complete jerk. He comes across as very real with his fears and insecurities mixed with his strength and determination. Mira was also very interesting. She had a sassy, tough side to her, but it didn't define her. She also came across as caring and vulnerable without ever seeming weak. I loved how she was constantly planning and never felt like there was no way out of a bad situation.

The chemistry between Holt and Mira is obvious from the first meeting, but it doesn't consume the story. This is not a romance novel. It is a Science Fiction book with a bit of romance thrown in. And despite being a romance addict, I was perfectly all right with that.

The biggest issue I had with Midnight City was that the alien technology was pretty much exactly like War of the Worlds. It's extremely hard not to notice the sticking similarities, even if you're like me and have only seen the Tom Cruise movie.

Ultimately, what I love about this book and had me putting aside the WotW similarities is that Midnight City is a story for boys and girls. One of the biggest complaints I hear about YA books is that there aren't enough books that appeal to boys. Midnight City is one of those that I think has the potential to do so. ( )

I am thoroughly surprised that I have not heard more about this novel. When I came across a copy I thought it looked interesting, but I had not seen the cover before or read any reviews for it. So unfortunately it kept getting pushed further and further back in my TBR pile, replaced by those books I kept seeing everyone reading. Hopefully I can stop that cycle right here, because Midnight City is a book you want to pick up as soon as possible.

When you hear the word "alien" what immediately turns you off? For me, and I'm guessing the same goes for many, I invasion little beady-eyed green creatures emerging from a crashed saucer. Because of this automatically generated image, I have a hard time reading about aliens and not rolling my eyes. Amazingly, Midnight City was able to distort that image and replace it with a mystifying wonder about the nature of this novel's aliens, "the assembly". The world was conquered years ago by an alien race, but no surviving human knows what they look like. They hide in their deadly machinery, waiting until each survivor succumbs to the Tone , the radio-like signal that puts humans under their control (which enacts right around adulthood). These aliens are not laughable in any way, no doubt partly attributed to the the fact that the reader never sees their true appearance.

I loved this story. If you are not immediately taken with the characters and the plot, please give it a few chapters. I too was not instantaneously swept off my feet. This is one of these stories where there is no real easing into the post-apocalyptic world, it just starts, full speed ahead. It took me a few chapters to get into the world, understand the terminology and accept the unknown. Once I did, there was no tearing this book from my hands, I needed to know what happened. It is extremely action packed as well as thought provoking. What I love about it is that there were enough questions answered to let me ignore those uncertainties that remain in question. For the time begin anyway... I cannot wait for the sequel, and I hope to see that this book starts to get some of the hype it deserves. ( )