I had been searching for this book for years. I would see it, and defer purchase and then forget the author and title, and be unable to find it again. I wanted it because I like SFF, and historical fiction.

This book is set during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in England. It moves as the court moves, so sometimes it is in London, and sometimes at other nearby locations. There is a prolog that depicts Elizabeth in the Tower where Mary had placed her ostensibly for her religious beliefs, but really because she was afraid Elizabeth's supporters were going to overthrow her. The premise is that Elizabeth was definitely slated to die, but she made a pact with one of the Fae. Invidiana, was a woman who also wished to be Queen, but of the Fae. She makes Elizabeth an offer she can't refuse.

The story jumps then to a mature Elizabeth who is secure on her throne, and to Invidiana being the Fae queen. It is implied that the poor weather caused the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and that the weather and other combatants were supplied by the Fae.

The POV character for the human court is a poor, socially low level young man who comes to court, Michael Deven. He did some good work for Walsingham, and has been sponsored to become a member of the Gentlemen Pensioner's, Queen Elizabeth's bodyguard. He is loyal to the Queen but he also wants to make his fortune and advance in social rank.

The POV for the Fae is a character named, Lune. She was a lady in waiting for her Queen Invidiana in the Onyx Court. The court was created under human London and protects the Fae from the charms and religious injunctions that humans use against them. The Fae are not open about their existence, they sneak around humans and go in disguise.

Lune is in disgrace because she was responsible for negotiating the deal that had the sea folk helping the English and destroying the Armada. Her Queen felt she gave up too much. In royal disfavor, Lune has become a target in the court. Life in the Onyx Court is dangerous, because the Queen is vicious, capricious and likes to play games. Even living out in the countryside is no protection from the Queen's machinations, so there is no safe place. Because the Queen is that way, her courtiers emulate her, and are very cut-throat.

Deven and Lune do end up together, when Lune is sent to the human court to spy on them. She goes in disguise at the start and latches onto Deven for his inside knowledge. Of course, Lune's plans fall apart, and Deven becomes aware that she is Fae and that they exist.

The story is mostly about how he finds out about Lune, and what they do together to fight Individiana. Her evil influence is felt at Elizabeth's court, and Walsingham instructs Deven to find the secret actor pulling the strings. Walsingham suspects a human agency dabbling in the politics of the realm, not a magical one. He dies before Deven learns of the Fae.

I enjoyed the book. I thought it was well written and gave a good picture of the time period. Brennan is able to balance the past with enough modernity to make it understandable to us, without being jarring or anachronistic.

The characters were very well done. They all seemed believable and real, and like people I want to know more about. The construct of the Fae and their world was interesting, as was the politics and history of the various realms.

The story was good, though a little light on the influence of the Fae on Elizabeth's court. Something more dramatic than meddling in Ireland would have been better. Much of the story of the Onyx Court is told towards the end when they are trying to overthrow Individiana. More information about how and why the court became evil sooner would have been better, since the explanation at the end was not really shown in the story.

Finally the structure of the story is a bit odd. There is a human who has been sucked into the Fae world, and is trapped there. He is a seer, and he has strange passages that describe his dreams, sights and experiences, but he isn't really explained til the end. What is in the passages, doesn't always connect or make sense for a lot of the book.

I think Brennan was trying to gild her story with some of the literary magic that was part of Elizabeth's time period, but it wasn't meaningful for me.

The narrative is also broken up with date, and location lines. It helps break scenes and lets you know when and where the story is, but I didn't find them terribly important.

The problems I have listed are really minor and keep the book from being 4.5 or 5 stars, but the story is still a very good read.

I have the next book in the series, In Ashes Lie which is set in 1666 England. ( )

Midnight Never Come's plot ranges from historical to fantastical, a balance of courtly intrigue and faerie magic. I find the concept of faeries within Elizabethan England incredibly intriguing and Marie Brennan did a great job of meshing Faerie and historical England. The historical and magical elements flow smoothly into one another. However, the book never really lived up to its potential for me.

The world-building and historical aspects were exceptional but the characters, while likable, never felt fully developed. They lacked the emotions needed to fully draw the reader in. This limited the emotional impact on what would have otherwise been a wonderful love story mixed in with all of the intrigue and politics.

The end felt unfinished and left many questions unanswered. There were a few characters who seemed to disappear from the pages of the book. Most of the flashback chapters felt disjointed and unnecessary. I would have liked to read more flashbacks between Invidiana or Queen Elizabeth I or Francis.

With that being said, I am curious about where the "sequel", In Ashes Lie, will take readers. I would really like to read a "prequel" about Invidiana - a fully developed story about her curse and pact rather than flashbacks and second-hand accounts.

I will definitely be reading more historical fantasies that mesh Faerie with history. Namely, Elizabeth Bear's Promethean Age. ( )

The premise: In Elizabethan England, everything is not as it seems. Queen Elizabeth rules all of England, but beneath the London, another Queen rules another city. A Dark Queen who'll do whatever it takes to keep Elizabeth in power, as well as hold on to her throne. But two courtiers have stumbled upon the secret of this darker, shadow rule, and will do anything to break it.

My Rating

Give It Away: by time I finished the book, I was enjoying myself and will actually seriously consider getting the sequel. But it took a very long time for my interest to get snagged, and that's more my fault than the author's: I have a strong dislike of fairies and I've sadly lost interest in the Elizabethan period in which this book takes place. I will say that on the surface, this looks like it's another fairy book with an evil Queen who needs to get what she deserves, but there's more to it than that, and once I got to that point in the book, I was very engaged. Like I said, I'll consider reading the sequel. I've read all of Brennan's novels so far, and she's improving as a writer, there's no doubt. I think if there's a flaw in this one, it's that the historical detail sometimes gets in the way of the larger plot, and I'm curious to see if the same happens with In Ashes Lie (the sequel). Who knows? But I intend to read on, despite my dislike of fairies. That's how much I like the author.

The full review, which includes some spoilers as well as cover art commentary (and why I like this author so much), is in my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.

REVIEW: Marie Brennan's MIDNIGHT NEVER COME

Happy Reading! ( )

This book surpassed all my expectations! After borrowing it from a fellow LT member I thought it was a tad on the dull side but soon got caught up in the drama and political issues it brought forth. Lune, a member of the fae is undercover for her queen in mortal London.. She meets and falls in love with Devon, a member of the Queen's Gentleman Protectors. She soon is in over her head with her spying and the Queen of Faeries, Indiviana; casts her out of the Onyx Throne hall to beg for food and a place to sleep. Devon and Lune, along with many supporters, see that it is time for Invidiana to give up her throne. Easier said than done! A tale of loves lost and found in merry old England. ( )

With her latest book, Brennan has moved from more traditional sword & sorcery to intricate historical fantasy. Anyone wanting or expecting more of the same might be disappointed. I was not.

Set in the late 16th century, Midnight Never Comes opens with a pact between two women who will soon become the most powerful rulers in England: Elizabeth the Virgin Queen, and Invidiana, faerie ruler of the Onyx Court below London. The Onyx Court is a dark shadow of the city above, a secret place of cruelty and deception. One member of Invidiana's court, a faerie named Lune, struggles to regain the favor of her queen by spying on events above. Lune's counterpart is the human courtier Michael Deven, who has been tasked by spymaster Francis Walsingham with finding the hidden player influencing Queen Elizabeth. As Lune and Deven discover the secrets behind Invidiana's power and the true nature of the faerie queen's pacts, they must choose whether to work together, risking everything to try to break Invidiana's rule.

Lune was a more appealing character to me, in part I think because her stakes were higher. Whereas Deven starts out trying to secure a position in Elizabeth's court, Lune serves a more temperamental and dangerous ruler in a court that makes human politics look as simplistic and straightforward as the squabbling of preschoolers. Watching Lune navigate that court, seeing her fall and struggle to rise again, leaves Deven feeling a little bland by comparison.

I confess to being a poor historian, but even to my eye it's clear Brennan has done a great deal of research for this book. Every detail is meticulous and precise, evoking not a generic English fantasy setting but a very real and concrete place and time. Brennan blends historical detail with the fantastic so smoothly I barely noticed the seams.

This is a book that invites you to slow down and savor. Broken into five acts, each act builds more tension, moving from a relatively leisurely introduction toward a much more focused struggle in the final act. By the end, I had a hard time closing the book, and lost quite a bit of sleep as things came to a climax.

If you're looking for nonstop action and excitement, this may not be the book for you. But if you want rich worldbuilding and a story you can truly immerse yourself in, I'd recommend picking this one up. ( )