Regular readers of this blog know that I’ve been wont to occasionally mention this writer named Scott Westerfeld. (Wow, laid out like that, I look quite the obsessive, don’t I?) Anyway, for those of you who haven’t been paying attention, Westerfeld is this fabu young adult author of a whole bunch of science fictiony-fantasy-adventurey books. And one that isn’t science fictiony, but still cool. (Literally. It’s about people who define what’s cool.) One of his most popular series, Midnighters, has a new volume being released this week. It’s the dramatic conclusion (maybe? hopefully not?) to the series.
Anyway, last week, I had this lovely little package in the mail from Australia and inside was an ARC of Midnighters 3: Blue Noon. Scrawled on the title page was a note to ahem, “my most dedicated spokesblogger.” See? I’m a spokesblogger. All official and whatnot. Watch me spokesblog.
Whatever. The important part is I got to read the book a week before the rest of you all did. Ha ha! Hopefully, this week has given those of you who have not yet read Midnighters #1 and #2 the chance to do so. If not, rest assured. I have spoiler-proofed this blog for those of you who haven’t listened the first seven hundred times I told you to read this man’s books.
Midnighters is a series about these five children, all born at the stroke of midnight, who live in a town called Bixby, Oklahoma. Now, Bixby isn’t like other towns. No no, in Bixby, at the stroke of midnight, the whole town freezes. The people, the clocks, the leaves falling from the trees. Everything, that is, except for the five midnighters. They alone can access the “secret hour,” the 25th hour of every day that happens between the first moment of midnight and the next.
Alone, that is, except for the monsters.
Ooh, and they all have special powers, too. Some of the powers only work in the secret hour, and some of them have special powers all the time. (This part never seemed fair to me, but that’s the way it goes). For instance, one of the midnighters, Melissa, possesses the power called “mindcasting.” Basically, she’s a psychic. She can taste your thoughts, and if she touches you, she can force you to think particular things. She has this power all the time, and it’s turned her into a total lunatic. She actually reminds me quite a bit of Rogue, because she’s so isolated by her powers. She has to wear gloves and stuff all the time, too. Another one, Dess, is called a “polymath” and is a mathematical genius. Like the guy from A Beautiful Mind, except for not crazy, because all the crazy is used up on Mindcaster Melissa. Another one can fly — but only in the secret hour. A fourth can read secret symbols, and see how the real world is touched by the world of the secret hour. I thought that would be the power I’d want to have, but as the series progressed, I began to see the downside to it.
Like I said, no spoilers.
The first book, Midnighters 1: The Secret Hour is all about figuring out what special power it is that the new girl, Jessica Day, has. This book was fabulous. Couldn’t put it down. And her power rocks.
The sequel, Midnighters 2: Touching Darkness, is everything one could hope for in a sequel. Jessica’s power has scared the crap out of the monsters living in the secret hour, so they’re stepping up their campaign against the Midnighters, who are beginning to wonder why it is that there’s no one else in town that was born at midnight. Why them? Why all the same age? Where are the older midnighters? They know there were some… sometime, because they left their history (lore) all around town. What happened to them? And what are the darklings (the monsters) planning? It’s actually something really nasty (when the mindcaster learns of the plan, she suggests suicide by quick-acting poison, because she’s a ray of sunshine like that), that totally freaked me out when I read about it. I learned later that it almost didn’t make it into the book. Very glad it did.
In the newest installment, Midnighters 3: Blue Noon, the protagonists are still dealing with the aftermath of the climax of the second book, one which has left at least two of the midnighters fundamentally and forever changed. But they barely have time to deal with their issues, because all of a sudden, the rules of the secret hour begin to change, and they have to figure out why, and what’s more, how to stop it, before everyone in town dies. It’s completely action-packed and thrilling and filled with fight scenes, chase scenes, dark magic, monsters, secret codes, mind reading, flying…
And before I lose the interest of the vast majority of people who read this blog, ROMANCE. That’s right kiddos, two very touching adolescent romances take place against the backdrop of this page turner, at least one of which I’m sure will leave your heart doing that lovely pitty-pat thing that’s so desired in the genre. There are two people in this book who love each other with a clarity and power that is altogether breathtaking. And for those of you who prefer “a little monster in your man,” it doesn’t disappoint on that score, either. And the ending! Well, let’s just say I didn’t see that coming. Say what you will, Scott’s a risk-taker. One of the things I admire most about his books is that he forces his characters to make really difficult choices, choices that are right but not necessarily good, and he forces them to cope with the often unpleasant ramifications of the choices they’ve made. Endings are satisfying, but they aren’t always completely happy.
So what are you waiting for? Run out now. Collect all three. Join the Scott Westerfeld fan club. The line forms behind me.
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