September 1, 2011

Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan


I discovered this novel by chance on goodreads.com.  I was already reading Brennan's other novel Warrior and have enjoyed it so far so I thought, Hey - what the heck?  I'll try this one too.  Wow, I'm glad I did! 

Midnight Never Come is a novel of Fae and Human entanglements but the story was different than anything else I had read before.  It takes place during Queen Elizabeth I reign in England so there is a historical aspect but the novel is more about the story than the history.  The novel begins with an imprisoned young Elizabeth being visited by an ambitious usurper named Invidiana.  Elizabeth strikes a deal with the fairy who has promised her the throne. 

Both women become Queens and political intrigue becomes a well known part of their rule.  Lune, a Fae courtier who has fallen out of favor with the Queen tries everything in her power to be in Invidiana's good graces again - including becoming involved in Elizabeth's affairs.  Michael Deven, a newly appointed Gentlemen Pensioner for Elizabeth, knows there is something unknown dictating Elizabeth's affairs but he can't figure it out.  How these two become involved and the paths they take - one against and one for - is one of the best story lines I think I have read in a long time.  The story twists and turns and what you think will happen doesn't and the ending you think you have figured out isn't true.

There are couple of things that did keep me from giving this 5 stars, however.  First, the writing, although engaging, has a couple of weird and rather repetitive quirks.  I was able to overlook them in favor of the story but they did annoy me at the time and annoy me still.  And second, there are certain parts of the book that are presented without explanation and with too little description.  Again, I was able to overlook them, but the story would have been superb if these had been given the time they deserved.

Overall, 4 stars.  Recommended for teens and adults .


1 comment:

Thanks for joining our discussion of this book!

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