Historical Fiction and Fantasy combined

This last two weeks a hit another rut in reading, but it was mainly due to the fact that I spent more time sleeping than I did awake. I felt blah for days and the bouts insomnia did not help. So picking up and reading a book was not an exciting prospect when you are tried and sleepy most of the day. Thank god that is over. But this also played a part in why it took me a minute to get into the latest book once I finally opened it.

Midnight Never Come
By: Marie Brennan
Write up:

England flourishes under the hand of its Virgin Queen: Elizabeth, Gloriana, last and most powerful of the Tudor monarchs.

But a great light casts a great shadow.

In hidden catacombs beneath London, a second Queen holds court: Invidiana, ruler of faerie England, and a dark mirror to the glory above. In the thirty years since Elizabeth ascended her throne, fae and mortal politics have become inextricably entwined, in secret alliances and ruthless betrayals whose existence is suspected only by a few.

Two courtiers, both struggling for royal favor, are about to uncover the secrets that lie behind these two thrones. When the faerie lady Lune is sent to monitor and manipulate Elizabeth's spymaster, Walsingham, her path crosses that of Michael Deven, a mortal gentleman and agent of Walsingham's. His discovery of the "hidden player" in English politics will test Lune's loyalty and Deven's courage alike. Will she betray her Queen for the sake of a world that is not hers? And can he survive in the alien and Machiavellian world of the fae? For only together will they be able to find the source of Invidiana's power — find it, and break it ... .


It was not only my blahness that made it a bit difficult to get into this at the beginning. It was also due to the fact that the first 60 pages or so of the book was really just building up to the action and providing exposition on fae. The author obviously did lot of researching into fae legends and myths because it seems to threw everything she knew into the first act of the book. The book is split into six acts, the first two being the shortest, but they also contained the most of the knowledge dumb and the build up. So it was a bit slow to start with all the time is spent giving some back story and detailing the various fae creatures that were in the Onyx court and all that. But there was enough to keep me going with the book. The main mystery of the book is introduced from the start and is built throughout the first two acts. And the combination of Elizabethan historical novel with a fantasy twist involving fae...was enough to draw me in.

But midway through act two things start to fall into place and it is good, action packed reading from them on. The book begins with Queen Elizabeth in the Tower of London awaiting what she believes is her death by her sister Queen Mary. While there, she is visited by a creature of the fae Invidiania, who promises to help her not only live...but take the throne and rule in her own right. All in exchange for providing some help to get a throne of her own, of course. Years later Elizabeth is on the throne of England, and below London lays another court, the fae court of Invidiana ruler of all of the Faerie. The book goes back and forth between the two courts following the two main characters Lune of the Fae and Devan a mortal of Elizabeth's court as they try to use their skill to gain favor and advancement with their sovereign. At least that is how they start...but they soon find themselves in the middle of more than they bargained for when they cross paths and discover that there was more to the pact between the two Queens...and it was detrimental to both worlds. Invidiana is a cruel tyrant who find pleasure in tormenting her subjects ad well and manipulating the mortal Queen to do her bidding. Lune and Devan soon find out that her manipulations go far beyond court games and politics. They set up to find out who Invidiana is, what deals she made with who, and more importantly how to break it and free not only the mortal Queen, but both their worlds from Invidiana reign.

I liked how pieces from the main mystery of the book kept falling into place, and seeing how those clues where in the book from the start and were just laying there for use to discover. It showed that this story was well thought out and planned. The mystery, suspense and danger kept building and building right up until the end. And when it did when it was very satisfying, but left enough untold to leave more story to tell. I also enjoyed the romantic aspects to the story, it was not overpowering to the rest of the tale and it ended up playing a part in the final solution.

Overall I liked it despite it's slow start. B