Words stand at the center of the story, making Fly By Night a short of homage to the power of words and the power of literature. A story that initially seems like a fun fantasy adventure becomes a thoughtful look at the way we use words to shape the world around us, and the way those words can be wielded for good or for ill by both the powerful and the lowly. However, be that as it may, the people are serious about the Beloved, and the different belief systems of the realm soon becomes important as Mosca and her new guardian find themselves embroiled in city politics. Their areas of concern can be incredibly specific, and also a little bit strange. Readers will know that Hardinge’s work tends to have atheistic underpinnings, so the Beloved, while interesting, are also treated a bit humorously.

Hardinge immersed me in her world from the very start, when readers learned that Mosca Mye was born into a kingdom where the people pray to the Beloved, gods of sort who each have a dedicated time of day and year, and who are each responsible for a different aspect of life. Fly by Night is, in short, a fantasy sure to delight readers young and old. Any lover of fantasy will devour the descriptions of people, places, and things, all told with keen observation, and just a little cheek.

Loosely based on 18th-century England, the book is alive with imagined religions, politics, and intrigue. The story breathes with inventiveness on every page, from the floating coffeehouses, to the panoply of kings and queens waiting for a triumphant return to the fractured kingdom, to the fighting goose. Fly By Night is a treasure, a book so quick-witted and lively that it seems a marvel it could be Frances Hardinge’s debut.

Fly by night by frances hardinge