Midnight Never Come

spring08,fantasy

Amazon preorder

A dark and intriguing read, Midnight Never Come takes some of the traditional fey and moves them to the Elizabethan court. I found this originally at work and fell in love with the book. I love how Brennan brings Elizabethan England to life, from the court life to the outskirts of London at the Angel Inn. While some of the plot elements and revelations seemed a little off for me (particularly the details surrounding Individiana’s backstory), the plot was deftly woven and I did not want to put it down. ( )

The central conceit in Midnight Never Come is that Elizabeth I was not the only Queen to rule in England during that time. There was a second, shadow kingdom, one below the city of London. One ruled by a faerie queen. The two kingdoms are not independent of one another; their histories have been interwoven since a fae calling herself Invidiana approached Princess Elizabeth, imprisoned in the Tower of London by her sister Mary and awaiting execution, and made the startling offer: Elizabeth's life and freedom for an alliance. "As I will raise you to your throne, you will raise me to mine," Invidiana promises. "And when we both achieve power, perhaps we will be of use to each other again."

Was this a pact with the devil or the key to survival for both England and the Onyx Court? Three decades later, the two kingdoms have become entwined in ways Elizabeth could never have foreseen, from the storm that stopped the Spanish Armada (with magical help) to the execution of Mary Queen of Scots (which maintained the balance of power between the various faerie realms).

Now comes to court a young man, Michael Deven, full of idealism and ambition, anxious to find a patron and make his fortune. He is not the only one to seek favor at court; Lune, a fae courtier once trusted by Queen Invidiana but now marginalized, seeks to regain her former position. Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth's master of spies, suspects a conspiracy, but has not yet begun to suspect schemes that transcend merely human politics. One plot twist follow another, with such skillful blending of historical and fantastical that at times I found myself wondering which was the real series of events. ( )

A nice, fairy-filled urbanish fantasy that takes place in two worlds, with two Queens of England. It's part historical fiction and part fantasy. The fairy Queen of England and the human Queen of England are about to come to blows, while a human and a fairy must find a way to save their two worlds. Fun, exciting and more than a little dark. ( )