Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #290562 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Amanda Craig, Independent on Sunday, July 9, 2006
As baroque and bonkers as anything dreamt up by Mervyn Peake or Joan Aiken

Synopsis
This is a breath-taking adventure story, set in reimagined eighteenth-century England. As the realm struggles to maintain an uneasy peace after years of cival war and tyranny, a twelve-year-old orphan and her loyal companion, a grumpy goose, are about to become the unlikely heroes of a radical revolution. Mosca Mye has spent her childhood in a miserable hamlet, after her father was banished there for writing inflammatory books about freedom. Now he is dead and Mosca is on the run, heading for the city of Mandelion. There she finds herself living by her wits among cut-throat highwaymen, spies and smugglers. With peril at every turn, Mosca uncovers a dark plot to terrorize the people of Mandelion, and soon merry mayhem leads to murder ...With an unforgettable cast of characters and an inspiring message at its heart - sometimes the power of words can change the world!

Customer Reviews

Fast Paced, Exciting Adventure
I bought this to read to assess its suitability for my nine year old daughter. I loved it. I think she might struggle a little, not because of the story, which fairly whips you along and which is fast paced and really exciting with loads of wonderful twists and turns, but because of the language. The language is quite mature and rather old fashioned. It fits the story beautifully and Hardinge writes like a dream, but for anyone under about twelve or thirteen I feel it would be rather hard going.

The story revolves around the orphan girl, Mosca Mye who deserts her horrible aunt and uncle in favour of roaming the country with a balladeer who turns out to be a con man and a spy. She tags along with him to the city of Mandelion and becomes involved in conspiracy theories and a fight for the rule of the city. Mosca is a great character, fiery and independent and funny. I loved this book.

Stunning fiction for all ages
I cannot recommend "Fly by Night" highly enough for the interested reader of school-age and older. Everyone I've encouraged to read this has found it fulfilling, exciting and delightful, and has mentioned putting the book down with a feeling of sorrow that Mosca's adventures were over so swiftly. In addition, it's an excellent read for children, challenging and engaging without ever being incomprehesible - and never falls into the trap of assuming that the reader is stupid merely because they are young. A great birthday or Christmas gift for any child with a keen imagination.

You'll need a dictionary for this one!
The storyline is great and the characters are well-developed with a tongue-in cheek sarcasm which will be lost on most children but I don't know any primary-age child who wouldn't get bogged down with the language after the first few pages. Yes, the use of imagery and description is first-class, but it detracts from the story and becomes too much too quickly. This is language for language's sake and very hard for a child to follow. I don't think this book was really intended for children, most of whom would not have any idea what "mellifluous" and "mendacity" mean, and would be unlikely to use them in their own writing.