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[tealin]

I have the good fortune to share a house with someone who works for a book distributor. She gets all sorts of advance readers' copies (ARCs) of the books that she's distributing, usually long before they appear in the store. Unfortunately, she doesn't distribute HarperCollins, which publishes most of my favourite books, but I do get to read the Artemis Fowl and Bartimaeus books in advance. Every so often there'll be a brand new one that catches my attention, and the most recent of these was Fly By Night, by Frances Hardinge.
    It's certainly something. The world it creates is intricately detailed and well-organized, and once you learn how things work (it doesn't take very long) it feels like it could be completely real. It's been described as a 'fictionalized 18th-century England' but the only things that tie it to that reality are the costumes, the idea of coffee houses, and the authorities' fondness for capital punishment. If you take 18th-century England, make it polytheistic, add a long-running multi-candidate debate on royal succession, and throw in some very powerful guilds, then you might get close to the world in this book.
    The star is Mosca Mye, a 12-year-old orphan who, thanks to her late father's tutelage, loves to collect words. Aside from this idiosyncracy, she's pretty much like every plucky and resourceful orphan in literature, except that the story she's a part of does not follow the same narrative rules as Plucky Orphan stories usually do. The central character may be 12 but she lives in a very adult world equipped with more than its fair share of politics, and she gets inextricably entwined in them. There's all sorts of action and suspense and humour and all that, but the most riveting thing about the book is that you never know who the 'bad guy' is. As soon as you think you've got it figured out, the tables turn – sometimes 90°, sometimes 180°, sometimes upside down – and you have to approach the story from a whole different perspective.
    It's mostly about the power of words. You can tell it's a book written by someone who loves language, and I can see it being greedily devoured by aspiring young writers for the imaginative and illustrative way in which it is written, something you don't find much in modern straightforward, cut-and-dry fiction. Beyond the power the words have in telling the story, however, there is the power of propaganda, the power a few carefully-chosen words have to influence popular opinion, the power that comes from control of the press, the power of words that sneak out from under this control – and the powerful effect of flowery words on a compulsive collector thereof, which starts the whole thing rolling in the first place. It's also got a bit of a theological (or, hm, anti-theological) bent to it, though it stops short of being a sermon on secular humanism the way Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials is, and instead promotes independent investigation into what is true ... so I suppose it's more agnostic than atheist.
    Anyway, it's about time I explain the drawings. The strikingly white lady is Lady Tamarind, sister to the duke of the principal location of the book, a city-state called Mandelion.* Being spotlessly, impeccably white is her trademark. Below are Hopewood Pertellis and Mosca Mye. Mosca, as I have mentioned, is the main character, and is often described as 'the ferrety-looking girl with unconvincing eyebrows' – the place where she grew up has some sort of calcareous rain that bleaches uncovered hair and gradually turns things to stone, so she draws on eyebrows with charcoal. Mr Pertellis is (without giving too much away) a teacher, and by far my favourite character, as you may be able to tell. Hopelessly idealistic and naive, he's also the sort of character that female writers seem to be very good at creating... I fear he may have a limited life expectancy.

Colouring things is addictive.
For those who are curious, Fly By Night is being published by Macmillan UK in Great Britain and Canada in October, and by HarperCollins (of course) in the States ... I don't know when they plan to release it, though.

*A sign that I have been reading Too Much Discworld: Mandelion has a river running through it. At one point, something drops in it (I believe it may be a shoe, but that's unimportant). In my mind, I did not picture it sinking right away. Help.

Comments

[thorn-of-blood.livejournal.com]

Ah to be able to read books before they come out. Bliss.

[magicnme.livejournal.com]

Ah, the river of sludge has imprinted itself on your brain, eh?

I adore Mosca's expression!

[buttfacemakani.livejournal.com]

ahh your art makes me want to read the books x). they're all great! :)

deeply weary

[(Anonymous)]

never would Americans know English, country, people and language. nor would they understand the difference between expression and alphabets.
pray, what do you know about England in the eighteenth century except fashion? 'a ferrety-looking girl with unconvincing eyebrows' - it is enough to make you weep - a powdered woman who likes to dress up like a bride, thinking herself mystic and shimmering, and you call this an amazingly detailed book. take the clothes, accents and fashions out of old England and mix in some of your cursed ingredients. you should know that England history is made up of more than ruffs, frilled sleeves, a self-satisfied cool tone of voice and long puffed-up words. I cannot make you understand that the Englishman is not complete without a straight backbone, his own soul be it clean or foul, and the perfect features, the manner of speech to go with it.
I remember you saying, in one of your self-introductions, that you have the IQ of a twelve-year-old; and that you are very pleased with it because you think it is a funnier stage to think in and for drawing animation.
I would say that, be twelve years old as long as you are happy; it must be a good age for making advanced cartoons, judging by your drawings, but leave hills and souls aged centuries alone.
P. S. I do not wish to brand you as Americans, but you share their eyes and views so well.

[sourfly.livejournal.com]

Sounds interesting, I like your taste in books. The only reason I started reading Terry Pratchett books two years ago was because of your site.

Artemis Fowl and Bartimaeus! Gosh I envy you!

[chocolatepot.livejournal.com]

I must read this book. I'm putting it on my list right now.

And the pictures are lovely. I adore them, as usual. :)

[wicked-warrior.livejournal.com]

If I had more time I would surely try those books :P
Love the pictures, really clean colours... i wonder how you do the colouring under the pnecils ^^

[morbid-bunny.livejournal.com]

Words cannot describe my utter jelousy of you getting to read ARCs. My mum and I are trying to nab an ARC of Inkspell off of Ebay, but are having absolutely no luck whatsoever. Meh. I'm such a bookworm ._.

But Artemis Fowl! Really now! THAT isn't fair in the least. I love Arty ._.

Anywho. Putting this book on my "must read" list.

Brilliant art, as always. Mosca is utterly adorible!

[salamandersoup.livejournal.com]

You know, you could probably get anyone to read anything, Tealin. Just plop in a few fancy drawings and an eloquent summary, and you've got hordes of newly recruited fans. The Pratchett trick worked on me, too. :)

Tall, thin, bespectacled, cravat-wearing young men. Can it get any better? And I love Mosca's swishy hair, too. Brilliant, as usual!

[polingly.livejournal.com]

Ooo, I will have to be looking out for that that one. I agree with those before me; you have an absolute talent for making me jump up and down in excitement over a book. (And yes, I too started reading Terry Pratchett because of your art...and I'm currently reading Going Postal to my sibs, and infecting them with this enjoyable disease as well. ;) )

Anyhoo, do you mind if I friend you? I love all of your artwork, and have been haunting your page for about a year now probably.... :D

[anathelen.livejournal.com]

What has it come to that I've started listening to people on the internet? I rented the Iron Giant off of Netflix and watched it today becuase... well... your site told me to. I might be deluding myself, but I think see the animation style's influence in the earlier drawings on your site - something in way eyes and legs are drawn.

Since I've FINALLY finished 'Great Expectations' (Dickens, now there's a man who had a way with language, to the point where you want to reach backwards through time and shake him senseless till he gets to the point!) I am going to embark on my first Discworld book, borrowed off a friend because you've been pushing them so heavily and I really can't stand looking at your thumbnail teasers any more without knowing the people behind them. I have a feeling I'll like Discworld.

[gabbysun.livejournal.com]

By now I have learned that anything you recommend must be good and, oh, that also I would like to propose marriage to your art style so when it is available I will probably be getting it. Yay!

[gabbysun.livejournal.com]

P.S. I just read this book and trawled back through miles of entries to find this particular one just to say I agree with everything you said. And Pertellis is A+ materal. xD I suspect he's typical bookworm infatuation fodder, really.