Set in an alternate England somewhat reminiscent of the Regency era, where Magic is taught to young men at Oxford’s Merlin College, Sylvia Izzo Hunter’s debut novel wastes no time introducing the protagonist, Graham (nicknamed Gray) Marshall, and the situation which propels his plight through The Midnight Queen. Specifically, some of his college friends encourage Gray to join them in a night time escapade, a heist of sorts, which ends in tragedy and Gray receiving a forced dismissal from the school. Gray is taken by Appius Callender, the Professor who sent Gray and his friends on the ill-fated mission to Callender’s estate where Gray is something of a prisoner and indentured servant. The only thing that gives him respite during his dreary days is young Sophie Callender, the Professor’s middle child.
Gray soon learns Sophie is not his true daughter, Sophie’s mother having married Appius years prior. Also in Callender’s Hall are the Professor’s eldest daughter Amelia (whom Sophie calls ‘Miss Callender’), his youngest daughter Joanne, and the housemaid and guardian of Sophie, Mrs. Wallis. When a visitor arrives, Gray’s suspicions about the Professor are raised even more. He comes to realize the Professor is part of a plot against the King of England.
While Gray is initially our point of view character, as soon as Sophie is fully introduced, we begin to see the story from her point of view. Her ‘father’ shunned any magical tutelage in which she expressed an interest, because teaching young ladies the arts of magic were against society’s better judgment. Well, she’ll have none of that, and fortunately for her, neither will Gray. Although Sophie has been reading texts on the history Magic from the Professor’s library, Gray joins her and helps her learn more about magic and its history. Soon enough, they realize how fond they are of each other and when they additionally realize the full scope of the Professor’s plot, they are whisked away from the Professor’s estate and journey back to Oxford with the hope and goal of thwarting his plan.
So that’s the bare bones of what happens in the novel, but to suggest that The Midnight Queen is merely a period piece / fantasy of manners / romance / conspiracy mystery is selling the novel and Hunter quite short. Sure, it is essentially a mash up of those four things, but there’s quite a bit of character development, world building, and fun storytelling throughout its short, but densely packed pages. It isn’t even in the explicit details of the world and magic that provided for the depth of the world but rather those elements only hinted at by the characters and the narrative. Although superficially, the church depicted in the story initially has a vaguely Catholic feel, there are actually multiple gods worshipped as the Roman and Celtic pantheons/religions dominate. I liked how Hunter made Sophie the co-protagonist in the novel and provided an alternate view (from Gray) of the events as they unfolded. This may be an odd comparison, but it was a bit like when Karen Hill (as portrayed by Lorraine Bracco) began speaking her side of the story in GoodFellas.
Hunter pulls off the affected and mannered speech very well, both in dialogue and narrative. Early in the narrative, Gray has a stammer that could indicate a genuine speech problem or simply nervousness. The more he interacts with Sophie; however, the less prominent his stammer becomes. Sophie also has a difficulty of her own to overcome, a block is placed on her magic while she was under the Professor’s roof. As the novel’s plot progresses, we (and Sophie herself) learn Sophie is much more than she initially appears to be.
While there is a great deal to enjoy in the novel (the game of rewriting history and geography, the character of Sophie as a whole is a lot of fun and more than just a ‘plucky heroine’, I also enjoyed Joanna’s precociousness more than I expected), I did feel the pacing a bit uneven. Gray’s introduction grabbed me, but some points along the way the plot fell into a bit of a lull. I suppose it is a parallel to the times Hunter is trying to evoke, but there seemed to be a bit of forced awkwardness as Sophie and Gray’s relationship grew.
The comparisons I’ve seen to The Midnight Queen are to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, but in reality, that is only superficial because both novels deal with a magical alternate London of the past in an academic setting. More practically, I felt a kinship between The Midnight Queen and Kate Elliott’s Cold Fire / Spiritwalker books, Lev Grossman’s The Magicians, and to a lesser and superficial extent, Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials novels, at least The Subtle Knife. All told, Sylvia Izzo Hunter has crafted an impressive debut novel and begun a provocative series.
Recommended
© 2014 Rob H. Bedford
http://sylviaizzohunter.ca/
Excerpt: http://www.tor.com/stories/2014/08/the-midnight-queen-excerpt-sylvia-izzo-hunter
Noctis Magicae, Book 1
Ace, Trade Paperback September 2014
Review copy courtesy of the publisher, Ace
I had not heard of or seen this until Sylvia was on the Functional Nerds.
Thanks, Rob!
It is a good one, Paul. I do think you would like it.