Tara Sim

The Midnight Kingdom by Tara Sim is the second book in the Dark Gods series. The first book did not receive much attention upon its release, but I enjoyed it. The mystery, the uniqueness of the world, and the idea of five friends fighting for the crown were enough to keep my interest despite its slow start. As for the sequel, it is the type of story in which Ms. Sim had multiple directions from which to choose. With the five heirs and sidekicks in different locations, she opts for all of the show more above for The Midnight Kingdom.

As with the first book, you must wade through more world-building before the action heats up, something Ms. Sim keeps to a minimum. Unfortunately, she also does not recap anything from the first book. It took me a few chapters before I recalled details about the characters, their powers, and how the first novel ended. Once you get past that point, the story clicks.

The Midnight Kingdom follows each of the characters on their individual journies. While many authors tried to accomplish this and failed, Ms. Sim pulls it off by making each subplot compelling and surprisingly emotional. These subplots are unique in that each heir faces a very different challenge. Some tests of loyalty and desire are physical in nature, some mental, and some emotional. All are packed with twists you don't see coming, and all contain their own form of horror.

The journies the heirs are on serve two purposes. For one, they help forward the overarching plot. More importantly, however, they also develop the characters much more than you usually see in a fantasy novel. Through each decision an heir makes, we learn more about what they consider worth the fight. We also get insight into their mental states, which becomes key knowledge towards the end of The Midnight Kingdom.

Despite my struggles to remember any details of the first book, I ended up enjoying The Midnight Kingdom. The complex nature of the book, with its multiple subplots and shifts in POV, enhanced the story. I also appreciated the opportunity to get close and personal with the characters. It made me care about them, which, therefore, kept me vested in their stories. Plus, the ending of The Midnight Kingdom took a very unexpected turn, which only makes me want more of this intricate and dark novel. show less

Set in a Victorian England, the clock towers keep time from fracturing and the Timekeepers keep the clocks ticking along smoothly. Danny Hart is a time mechanic like his father and he hopes to one day free his father and citizens of a Stopped town where a clock tower broke 3 years ago. Meanwhile, he has been assigned temporarily to the clock tower in the little town of Enfield where small things keep going wrong. Danny begins to suspect sabotage even as he learns an unsettling yet still show more intriguing truth about the clock tower – it does indeed have a clock spirit. Colton seems equally intrigued by Danny and the two share a spark of romance that may or may not go anywhere.

This book was so much more than I was expecting. First, I was sucked in by the mythos of Chronos and how time was shattered but brought back under control by the clock towers and their spirits. Through out the book, we get little snippets of this mythology – never enough to bore and they always intrigued me. Then we learn more about the clock mechanics, their rigorous training, and how it’s more than just sprogs and bolts. There’s also this slightly mystical ability to feel the flow of time coupled with intuition of knowing just what the clock needs to run smoothly.

Danny Hart enters the picture and he has plenty going on in his life. He’s the youngest mechanic to graduate from the training program. His dad has been absent for the past 3 years trapped in the stopped city of Malden and no one has figured out how to free the city yet. Also, the lad survived a nasty accident himself and he’s suffering from PTSD. Lastly, he has finally come out of the closet, now that being gay is no longer a hanging offense. Few people are understanding, including his mom. Luckily, he has a stalwart friend in Cassie, a lass who has been his friend since childhood. As you can see, I was totally caught up in Danny’s character and definitely wanted to follow him around and see what he could accomplish in this book.

When Colton, the clock spirit in Enfield, first appears, he doesn’t tell Danny what he is. Danny guesses early on in their friendship but this presented yet another problem. Few people believed that the clock spirits were real so it wasn’t something he could readily explain to folks. Then as their romance begins, he finds it even more difficult to chat about Colton to folks. The romance is light, sweet, fumbling, and has a few misunderstandings between the two. I look forward to seeing where the author takes their relationship in the next book.

Danny becomes convinced that someone is sabotaging the tower in Enfield and so the hunt for clues begins. I enjoyed this little mystery and I only began to suspect the culprit late into the story. I was delighted that the tale hid the true nature of this person for so long. That made the reveal that much more delicious to me as the reader and it hit a hard punch to Danny when he figured it out.

As for side characters, I felt they were nicely developed and weren’t simple stand ins. Mrs. Hart is obviously grieving for her lost husband and is ready to move on. I think she’s a bit afraid to care too deeply as her son is in the same line of work and has already escaped one nasty accident. Cassie is a mechanic herself, though she tends to enjoy automobiles most. Daphne greatly intrigued me. She has a facial tattoo, wears men’s work clothes, and is rumored to have a parent from India. I hope there is more about her in the next book. I was charmed by Matthias, an older friend of Danny’s who went through a hardship and now is a teacher instead of a mechanic. He often took Danny under his wing in a paternal uncle-ish sort of way.

All together, it’s a great start to the trilogy. I saw that some folks stuck this book in the steampunk genre but I wouldn’t call it steampunk. I don’t recall a single thing being steam-driven. Regardless of what genre you place this book in, it’s going on my top shelf.

I received a free copy of this book via The Audiobookworm.

The Narration: Gary Furlong was a great pick for this book. I loved his rich, older voice for Matthias. He had the perfect on-the-cusp-of-manhood voice for Danny. His female voices were believable and varied (the ladies didn’t all sound the same). show less

Well, it might be weird to say but I've been sucker punched and I liked it and I'll probably come back for more. City of Dusk was slow to start. It came out of the gate a bit sluggishly. It appeared to be unassuming, and quiet frankly it ended up being a bit tedious at first BUT when it all started coming together, and built up momentum, I couldn't look away. It's a shame that that point didn't come until ~ the 70% mark but it did happen so there's that. I then noticed at around the 90% mark show more that it had a lot to answer for and very little real estate to do it in.... a bad omen that usually indicates we're about to be dangled off a dramatically steep cliff. BUT even though this one took quite some time to get through, I wasn't too upset with the slight cliffhanger ending. I usually loathe first installments where the entire book is one looooong intro to set up the next book BUT City Of Dusk did answer quite a lot in the end, all while setting up book #2... good save!

There was a lot to admire in this book. The writing was well executed, especially when comparing it to a bunch of other recent reads. I know, it might not be fair to compare differing book's attributes but it is hard not to. Interesting to note, this read ultimately came to rest firmly towards the top of the heap with respect to the writing style and the character development.

The world building, slow yet detailed, was another accolade for City of Dusk. It had a lot of information that needed to be conveyed and it managed to skirt the all too easy pitfall of mass info dumping... a fact that yours truly fervently appreciated.

The characters, on the otherhand, were the stars of the show in my opinion, each was distinct and multifaceted. They were relateable even though it is sometimes a difficult accomplishment in a book that has a Magically Realistic premise. I am sure each reader will have their own favorite but personally... I loved them all... another accolade.

Overall:
This read was truly enjoyable. It had an extremely diverse, rich, and relateable cast of multihued characters... a surefire way to get me to gush lovingly. The writing was solid and even though it was a tad slow for a good portion of the book, the pace picked up later on and once it did it bloomed exponentially. SO if you are having trouble getting into it fully and are questioning if you should chuck it into the DNF pile, my 2 cents are that you should keep at it, it's worth the time and emotional investment in the end.

~ Enjoy

*** I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily. *** show less

This is not an easy book to read. It is an excellently created world with believable characters that the reader comes to care for. They aren't perfect people standing on pedestals above their followers. They become the kind of characters that the reader whispers to, asking them not to make that choice, asking them to hold on just a bit longer, asking them not to leave in the middle of the story. I will issue a tissue warning for this book. Beliefs make demands on their followers; sacrifices show more are made for those beliefs.

I will note that some of the scenes are hard for me to read, including scenes of torture and fairly explicit violence. However, those scenes were necessary for the story and for the impact upon both the characters and the reader.

The world remains well-drawn steampunk, with the stage expanding from London and India to throughout Europe and into Africa. The innovations are believable and fit well into the era.

This conclusion to the Timekeeper trilogy is highly recommended with the caveat that the reader must read the books in order to understand and enjoy this book. So what are you waiting for? Go get Timekeeper and start reading! show less