Fly By Night

This is why I keep on reading; for all the sludge you find yourself wading through, every so often you turn up a genuine diamond. 'Fly By Night' is set in a world something like 18th century England, dominated by myriad household gods but still haunted by a religious reformation that’s been

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overturned but whose influence still casts a shadow. Our heroine is Mosca Mye, a plucky young orphan who escapes from her evil uncle by the simple expedient of setting fire to his barn, picks up an itinerant wordsmith by way of adult guidance and, with no other companion than her evil-tempered gander Saracen, sets out to find her way in the world, cheerfully creating havoc wherever she goes and ending up embroiled in a revolution that involves, amongst other things, a ragged school, an illegal printing press, warring trade guilds, a mad Duke and his sinister sister, floating coffee houses, and a highwayman who finds his destiny changed by the power of the printed word. Exciting, engaging, literate, and wholly wonderful.

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From what I can tell, Frances Hardinge appears to be the spiritual successor of Diana Wynne Jones. Not that their books were even faintly alike in themselves, but their works are children’s books that are not only widely read but also almost universally – and enthusiastically – loved by

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adults. I’m not a great reader of children’s books (or even so-called Young Adult) myself, but once in a blue moon I do come across a writer whose charm I find irresistible. Apart from Wynne Jones, that has basically been Patricia Wrede (whose Enchanted Forest series I really should finish some day), and now I can add a third name to that list, namely Frances Hardinge.

Fly By Night is, as far as I can tell, her first novel, and that does show on occasion: the plot is somewhat too all over the place, the points of view could have been controlled more tightly and time and again it is maybe a bit too much in love with its own verbal cleverness. But those are not even minor niggles, those are things most readers will not even notice as they are being swept along by the adventures of the girl Mosca in a world somewhat reminiscent of a post-Revolution France transplanted to early Industrialization England.

The first thing to notice about Fly By Night is the sheer inventiveness of its author; she keeps throwing off brilliant ideas left and right like she had an endless supply of them (and I won’t exclude that she has); there is such an exuberant imagination at work here, with such deep and joyful delight in the pleasures of an exuberant, prolific fantasy that restlessly jumps from one spot to the next, barely staying long enough in one place to create yet another wonderful, magically scintillating marvel before moving on. The reader, unless their imagination is as hyperactive as Frances Hardinge’s, will occasionally have problems keeping up, and will eventually become short of breath as they stumble after her – but in all likelihood they won’t care because of all the strange and wonderful delights they will encounter along the way. This starts right at the prologue where our freshly-born heroine is named Mosca because she was born on the name day of Goodman Palpitattle, “He Who Keeps Flies out of Jams and Butter Churns” – the novel pretty much had from that moment on, and didn’t let me go – exhausted and panting, but smiling a broad, happy smile – until the end.

The plot zips along at a similar speed – from the moment she and her goose friend Saracen escape the drab and dreary (not to mention very, very damp) village where she was born by freeing the charismatic scoundrel Eponymous Clent and flee towards the big city, there is high tension and exciting adventures, and once they arrive in Mandelion thing really get underway. The term “rollicking” seems to have been invented specifically for Fly by Night, for nothing really else quite describes the kind of edge-of-your-seat-breathlessly-turning-the-pages-wide-eyed-wonder one experiences in reading it. As you might have glanced from this, I liked the novel rather a lot. And the author it reminded me most of was actually not a children's author at all, but German Romantic writer E.T.A. Hoffmann, in so far as reading Fly by Night put me into a state of euphoric dizziness that felt very similar to what I get when reading books like Prinzessin Brambilla or Meister Floh. Needless to say, this is very unlikely to have been the last book of Frances Hardinge that I have read, in fact I am very keen to find out what her other books are like.

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This is fantastic. It is, in fact, probably the best YA fantasy novel I've ever read. It's a book lover's book: it's about the love of, um, books. It does deal with religious topics, but unlike a lot of fantasy novels that do similarly, makes it clear that the reader should make up his or her own

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mind about the issues presented. It's got an awesome main character, who is dynamic and strong but still flawed -- the fact that she's young shows through her inexperience, for example. It's a story about growing up, learning who to trust, and the importance of a) thinking for yourself and b) reading. I can not recommend this book highly enough.

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This book was so fantastic! I honestly read it just because the cover was so quirky, but it turned out to be a very enjoyable read. The whole thing was really quite delightful- a homicidal goose, floating coffee houses, and unconvincing eyebrows?!

I was taken by this book, from the very first scene, in which our heroine is introduced as a small baby, tightly swaddled and hung from a hook in the study where her father is writing a great work of history. The setting is an ingenious fractured reflection of England in about 1700, with the memory

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of civil war and religious persecution still raw and troublesome; but the scenery is also strongly reminiscent of Pratchett's Ankh-Morpork, with lots of mud, shady inns, disreputable footpads, and scheming patricians and guildmasters. This book is not for the reluctant reader: it is for the reader who likes long words, even if they don't quite know what they mean. The vocabulary is riotously rich, the descriptions vivid and baroque, the plot entertainingly serpentine. MB 30-ix-2020

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Mosca Mye grows up far from anywhere with her father, a bookish but emotionally somewhat remote man. After his death it falls up to her aunt and uncle to look after her, but Mosca decides to run away one night and free an incarcerated con man with a way with words on the way, and for both of them

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to travel together, accompanied by her companion, the fierce goose Saracen. But as it usually goes in these kinds of stories, that's not at all how events unfold, and Mosca becomes a central figure in a story of mayhem and murder, intrigue and conflict.

Frances Hardinge's debut novel is a wildly imaginative affair, and her love of words shines from the page, obvious in her fizzing prose and sparkling plot. Her characters are drawn with affection and she even makes the villains relatable. The wryly humorous narration masks a darker heart at the centre of the novel, one that is just as relevant today as it was more than ten years ago when this book was written. You could do a lot worse than giving this book to your child, which may just inspire a lifelong love of reading, and chances are you will enjoy it too. I certainly want to find out how Mosca's adventures with her goose continue, in the sequel Twilight Robbery.

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Mosca is an orphan with nothing but a goose and literacy to her name. Desperate to escape her straitened life, she hitches her fortune to that of Eponymous Clent, a traveling conman with a gift of the gab. But no sooner have they arrived in the capital than Mosca acquires bits and pieces of

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dangerous knowledge, and must decide who to throw her lot in with: Clent, who may be a spy for the Stationers' Guild? the revolutionaries, who already hate her for betraying one of their own? or the lady, who Mosca is drawn to in a way she does not understand? The twists and turns of characters' loyalties and lies are quite dizzying, and it all culminates in a thrilling riverboat shoot-out and a beautifully thought-out section in which Mosca ponders the power and importance of propaganda, belief, and truth.

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Odd. Much like an Edge Chronicle book

Fly by Night, a well written Fantasy book, is geared towards Middle School students. The plot is complicated with enough characters and twist to keep readers engaged. Students who enjoy the Fatansy genre will appreciate the plot and array of characters. On the other hand, reluctant readers would

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struggle to understand the plot and lose track of the characters that drift in and out of the story. They would also struggle with the language of the book, which is written in Old English.
I would recommend this book to the middle school fans of the Fantasy genre who are strong readers.

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Mosca Mye, a young girl in big trouble, finds herself on the run when she joins up with Eponymous Clent, a wanted criminal. Mosca and Clent's adventures will keep the reader guessing in this tale of censorship and political intrigue set in a medieval-style imagined land. In a kingdom where reading

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is forbidden and words are potentially treasonous, Mosca quickly becomes entangled with a secret printing press and a forbidden school. Unsure of who she can trust, Mosca needs to use her head to survive. I found this one to be particularly delightful to read because of the authors clever turns of phrase and colorful details. I loved the floating cafes, haunts of writers and other miscreants. Overall a great read.

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first line (of the prelude): "'But names are important!' the nursemaid protested."

first line (of the "A" chapter): "It was often said that only divine flame could persuade anything to burn in Chough."

This is the first book by Frances Hardinge, whose Verdigris Deep (published in the U.S. as Well

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Witched) I greatly enjoyed. Fly by Night is a children's historical adventure with wonderful writing, appealing characters, and a tight, interesting plot. I really liked it and think I'd like to have Ms. Hardinge's babies...or, barring that, at least read her latest, Gullstruck Island.

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I listened to the Audio version first and was so charmed by the author's intricacies of phrasing and the obvious passion for words that I bought the hardcover - because this is one to savour.

The girl was kinda dumb to believe that a criminal would be kind to her, and not try to con her out of anything, but other than that, i thought it was good.

So this was a fun read, a good bet for kids who like Inkheart. I especially liked the way Mosca, the "heroine," was such an opportunist, selling out the floating school, and then Eponymous Clent, and then the Stationers ... a welcome change from the ol' stout-hearted, wholesome and brave girl I've

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come to resignedly expect in books like this.

One low point is the wrapup -- in about ten pages, Mosca leaps from wanting the printing press for her own selfish means to being a First Amendment, information-wants-to-be-free pioneer. Huh? Block that jump!

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The premise is a little more interesting than the actual book. The protagonists aren't particularly likable. The plot is a somewhat intriguing, but not terribly exciting. I suppose my expectations should be lower for a young-adult book, but I've read many that have been excellent. This was mediocre

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and disappointing.

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Amazing. Astounding. Breath-taking. WOW! To be honest with you, I didn't have high expectations about this book. When I read the cover it sounded so-so. But it was a hard cover, brand-new, and $6.99 at chapters. The first couple chapters really didn't seem that great, but then I started to get into

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it. The next day, I didn't get any housework done because I was reading it all day. I couldn't put it down! It is a fresh, wonderful story. Highly recommended!

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The half I read was sprinkled with interesting bits, but on the whole it just moved very, very slowly and lost my interest. Best used as a year-long bedtime story to bore kids to sleep.

When Mosca Mye accidentally burns down her uncle's mill she runs away with Eponymous Clent, an erudite, literate man with reasons to leave town quickly himself. They end up in Mandelion and are caught up in intrigue and racketeering that involves the area's two workingmen's guilds, an illegal press

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and a conniving duchess. Very British, limited youth appeal, but language is often used quite richly.

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The idea is interesting, but the main character rarely had her own thought until more than halfway through. While it serves to show that she was controlled most of her life, it served up a mostly dull book. About 3/4's the way, that changed, but not enough to redeem this.

A mistreated orphan burns down her aunt and uncle’s mill and runs away with the dangerous stranger visiting her village. Further crimes, and goose attacks, ensue. There’s both death and slapstick as Mosca Mye tries to find her place in the world in the midst of political intrigues, floating

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coffeehouses, unlicensed printing presses, brain-addled princes, and more. That probably sounds uneven in tone, but it’s more that both the death and the slapstick all happen at the same high-drama pitch. The made-up politics of Birdcatchers, Locksmiths and Stationers competing for influence are only slightly more ridiculous than real religious/political disputes.

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I should have liked this book more than I did. I wanted to. The characters are utterly charming, the imagined world is terrific, and there's a decent plot meandering about here and there. Plus a magnificent guard goose!! I'm a big honking geek fan of Joan Aiken, Diana Wynne Jones, Lloyd Alexander -

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this is a contemporary novel that's right in the sweet spot of that tradition.

And yet. I kept getting bogged down and wandering off to other pursuits. Its not a good sign when I wander off in the middle of a fight scene to read a magazine. I think Hardinge is one to watch, I've really liked some of her work. I even think this one is a mostly good read. But there's something amiss with the pacing. I'm not saying its too slow, I've liked slow books, I've liked fast books. But for whatever reason, in this one I couldn't find a rhythm.

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It took me weeks to read the first third of Fly By Night. It’s a clever, sharply written fantasy novel about Mosca, a 12 year old orphan who burns down her uncle's mill, abducts a goose and frees a “poetic practitioner” from the stocks in exchange for a job as his secretary. I liked Mosca,

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approved of Saracen the goose, but I did not care for anyone else. I appreciated the prose and thought the alternate-historical-England worldbuilding of reminiscent of Joan Aiken’s books, but I was not emotionally invested. I kept putting the book down and reading other things.

However, I persevered, and ended up reading the last two-thirds in the space of an afternoon. In the city of Mandelion, Mosca becomes caught up in a world of political instability, illegal printing presses, murder and spies. The story twists in unexpected ways, and manages to pull all the narrative threads together beautifully.

“I am content to be hated, and bloody, and outnumbered. For in this sickened world, it is better to believe in something too fiercely than to believe in nothing.”
Words, words, wonderful words. But lies too.
“No, it isn’t!” shouted Mosca the Housefly, Quillam Mye’s daughter. “Not if what you’re believin’ isn’t blinkin’ well True! You shouldn’t just go believin’ things for no reason, pertickly if you got a sword in your hand! [...]”

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