Customer Reviews

The Midnight Charter (Agora Trilogy (Hardcover (Roaring Brook Press))

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In a nod to the harsh realities for children in Dickens' Oliver Twist, the magic in the Harry Potter series, and the kind of society-building of Neal Stephenson's Anathem and Bernard Beckett's Genesis, David Whitley presents a superbly paced novel about two children whose brooding, plague-infested city puts a price on everything, including human life. In The Midnight Charter, Agora is a walled metropolis that seems rooted in the eighteenth century in terms of its level of industrial development, but is simultaneously clearly outside of our known history, much as is Harry Potter's magic school. Agora is run by the reclusive Director who commands an army of "receivers" whose job it is to collect and monitor every single contract citizens make. Barter runs the city's economy for everything from food to feelings.

After coming down with the gray-spot plague and being sold to a doctor by his father, a boy named Mark reaches his twelfth birthday, his "title day," and is given the coinciding right to make his own contracts. Becoming an apprentice to the city's most famous astrologer, he decides to work inside the system to gain security and respect. Meanwhile, Lily, only a little older than Mark, has other ideas. She begins the tale as a servant of that same great astrologer, Count Stelli, and living in his dark tower -- where she and Mark first meet -- but, when the opportunity arises, she leaves for a less certain life out among those who barely subsist. Lily wants to prove that charity, not profit, ought to be the basis for a good and healthy society. Although she and Mark live by polar opposite world views, they maintain their connections over the next couple years as the secretive and ruthless Powers-That-Be in Agora manipulate their lives, and those of their friends, and force them to make fateful decisions. Can this young pair change dystopian Agora forever? Can they see things more clearly than their elders? And can they hope to gain the lives they want for themselves?

THE MIDNIGHT CHARTER is supposedly meant for readers ages 11-14, but it will likely appeal to people of all ages who enjoy fantasy with finely-etched characters, a constantly moving plot, clear-eyed and focused writing, and some thought-provoking ideas about the extent to which commerce ought to dominate a society (a fitting topic for us twenty-first century folk living through some serious economic "adjustments"). This novel kicks off what will be, one assumes and hopes, a series of adventures for Mark and Lily. I'm already chompin' at the bit for the anticipated sequel..... (4.5 stars)

The Midnight Charter / 978-1-596-43381-6

Possibly the most intriguing thing about "Midnight Charter" is the city setting itself. The city of Agora is a closed world, with tall walls preventing any entry or exit to the outside world. Within the city, there is no money - only an elaborate barter system where everything is available for trade, including the emotions of the poor and desperate. The system is, however, inherently unstable - how does one hoard wealth and power in a barter-based economy (particularly one that doesn't seem to have non-perishable food goods)? The paintings that one invests in today may be worthless tomorrow with the changing of the fashions; the perfumes that one bought in bulk yesterday may spoil in the heat and become rancid.

Inside this world, two orphans struggle to make their way - Mark, by working within the system in an attempt to survive and thrive, and Lily, by working subversively against the system with a revolutionary alms-house in which the poor and desperate may eat food for *free*, a radical and possibly illegal idea.

Whitley is an intelligent author and regards his readers as such. The world-building occurs at a pleasant pace, without obscuring the story or placing it on hold. Plot twists are revealed in a sensible manner, without overdone build-up or silly, contrived coincidences to propel the plot. I particularly enjoy Whitley's clever use of names ("Agora" for a city afraid of the outside world, "Laud" for a character whose living is made praising his clients, "Lily" and "Lilith" as two very different names for a complex character, and so forth) as well as his remarkable restraint and subtlety in never, ever pointing out how clever his names are.

The only thing that displeased me about "Midnight Charter" is the lack of resolution, or at least the manner of the ending chapters. While I may not be pleased to be left hanging for an obvious attempt at a sequel, I recognize that every series must have a first installment, and I don't hold that against the book. Rather, I was frustrated with the somewhat rushed feel of the final chapters, with an expositionary "please-explain-what-all-has-been-happening" extended scene lifted right out of The Matrix Reloaded a la 'The Architect' and a final page that almost screams for a movie tie-in, with the perfect zooming out to the credits as the heroes gaze about their surroundings in awe and bewilderment. I deeply dislike "Here is your choice" set-ups in books and movies where the protagonists simply accept the simplistic framing handed to them without at least considering alternatives. Having said all that, these complaints are extremely minor, and I will definitely be procuring the sequel just as soon as it gets written.

NOTE: This review is based on a free Advance Review Copy of this book provided through Amazon Vine.

~ Ana Mardoll

I have a hard time leaving a book I have started reading unfinished. Even when I hate the book, I usually still find myself wanting to know what happened. That being said, there were many times when I considered putting this book down.

The story follows Lily and Mark as they go from orphaned servants to important members of Agoran society. Lily has been an orphan her entire life and was sold by her orphange to work. She comes to work as an astrologer's servant, where she comes to meet Mark, a boy who grew up in the slums and was sold by his father to the astrologer's son--Dr. Theopilis when they had both contracted a plague that was sweeping the poor in the city. Agora is a city where everything is about contracts, ownership, and sales. Even emotions can be extracted from a person and sold. Events conspire to lead the pair of friends of opposite paths--Lily works to help the poor of the city while Mark becomes rich and influential. But something bigger is at stake--Lily and Mark are part of a mysterious prophecy meant to determine the future of the city itself.

It feels like we are missing steps throughout the story. We jump from point A to point D to point G, etc. So much time elapses from one chapter to the next that we are always being given summary of the time we missed. As a result, we can't get involved in the story and just settle into it. It also makes the development of the characters and story feel forced and unrealistic because we didn't get to see it happen.

The message of the story, about the need for charity, the importance of human life, and how money can corrupt, feels a little preachy instead of natural. I would have liked it to be slightly more subtle. (Perhaps without Lily literally spelling it out at one point...)

Ultimately, I couldn't get into the story and have major issues with the way it ended. It simply didn't seem to make sense logically [Spoiler]: How can they change the city if they cannot return to it?

Everything about THE MIDNIGHT CHARTER - the plot, the characters, and the setting - is engineered to deliver the author's anti-greed philosophy. It's simplistic, obvious, and exaggerated. As a result, the novel is no fun at all.

Marketing materials compare THE MIDNIGHT CHARTER to Philip Pullman's HIS DARK MATERIALS trilogy. The comparison is pure wishful thinking. Pullman created a rich, varied world, and he drew on a very complex theology (with frequent excursions to the deep literary well of John Milton's PARADISE LOST). Whitley's book is thin gruel in comparison. There's no spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down - no whizzing spoon masquerading as an airplane heading for the hanger - just Whitley's dogged determination to tell us over and over again how brutal trade is, how antithetical to generosity and compassion, how inhumane.

I wasn't politically opposed to the message. I'd love to read a book that made the same point with more grace and subtlety. However, THE MIDNIGHT CHARTER has neither.

For anyone looking for something along these lines - a great book with a mildly industrial setting, maybe featuring an orphan - I suggest the MONSTER BLOOD TATTOO series by D.M. Cornish, starting with FOUNDLING.

I would be VERY curious to see what young adults thought of "The Midnight Charter". Maybe, as an adult, I have forgotten what appeals to that age group. And yet, there are many children and young adult books that I've read lately and enjoyed immensely. I chose this book because the summary mentioned that it was for readers of Philip Pullman. I very much enjoyed Pullman's books and plan to read them again someday. His books had magic, adventure and danger, and a strong underlying message. They can be enjoyed by children and adults.

I didn't find anything magical in "The Midnight Charter". There was certainly danger...but no real adventure (until the last page of the book or so)...and the underlying message wasn't very underlying. It was beat you over the head obvious and made the story incredibly depressing.

None of the characters were compelling to me; I didn't feel that I knew enough about either of them to believe in their words or actions. And even Lily, the heroine of the book, couldn't arouse much interest. I didn't feel the passion behind her words, behind her obsession.

Again and again, I looked at the glowing reviews on the back cover. They mention being inspired, they mention amazing twists and turns...and not being able to put the book down.

For those readers, I am very glad. Because I agree with the book's message that greed is destructive and that caring for others should matter as much, if not sometimes more, than caring for oneself. But - to use a line from the book, "Truth is never more addictive than when it comes to you in the tiniest grains." But to which I would add; the truths in this book would be far more addictive were they delivered with a spoonful of hope.

One thing I can agree with from the back of my copy? This book does have a GREAT first sentence.

I gave up reading Young Adult/Teen fiction long ago, and the reason was because the market in that genre had taken a sad and sorry turn for the worst. Having already read The Hobbit and Harry Potter and Holes and the earlier Artemis Fowls, among others, I had more or less discovered that I had already read everything worth reading in the genre.

Nearly everything I picked up to read after the age of 13 or so in the YA genre disappointed me, even the books so laden with praise and even a few awards that you'd think they'd be good.

So, with that said, I don't know what brought me back to reading YA Fantasy for the Vine, but I'm glad my foray back to it lead me to The Midnight Charter, because for ONCE, while reading this book:

1. My intelligence was not insulted. David Whitley did not try to get all cute and clever with me. He didn't try to hide the plot twists, or try to make them amazing and surprising.

2. My maturity was not insulted. Things weren't "dumbed down."

3. My time was not wasted. The story I found between the bindings was fresh, creative, original, and important, with a special emphasis on that last adjective.

4. My opinions and beliefs were not insulted, even though the comparison to Phillip Pullman made me wary and prepared for dogmatic speeches (because whether I agree or disagree, I hate authors who attempt to force their opinions down my throat.)

And thus The Midnight Charter avoided the four biggest pitfalls of most YA Fantasy of late. Whitley told the story as it was, and even though his own opinions on the subject of consumerism and such are quite clear, the book showed rather than told of a utopia/dystopia where everything (and by everything he really does mean nearly everything) can be bought and sold.

It also featured semi-realistic dialogue. The characters are real. Not the most amazingly complex, well-developed characters, I might add, but they are rounded. I could describe them to you with more than just their physical appearances. I understand them, at least the main ones.

The other themes arise naturally from the interactions of the characters--themes about friendship, family, etc. They aren't forced down onto the page in perfect, quotable statements. Even Harry Potter didn't manage to go a whole book in the series without having some statement about family or love or friendship stick out like a sore thumb.

But The Midnight Charter does more than just evade the Dark and Ugly Pitfalls of Fantasy Literature (which, by the way, I've come to learn, trap just as many adult-level novels as YA and Teen ones.) It goes beyond. My favorite things about it, quick-reference style:

1. It's marvelously thought-provoking. I contemplated the utopia/dystopia presented by Whitley. I drew comparisons to our own modern day society, especially the notion of "intellectual property." The subject of Whitley's social commentary is impressively relevant.

2. Despite the social commentary factor of the book, as of this novel the social commentary (it's the first in probably a trilogy, I imagine) factor does not take away from the story. Rather, it enhances it, gives it a purpose and drive beyond providing entertainment for bored teenagers.

3. It reads quickly and is a delight to read.

And even though I kept waiting for the typical YA ending to ruin the blissful hours I spent reading The Midnight Charter, the disappointment that I've felt so many times never came.

In the end, I'm quite taken with the book and looking forward to the sequel. My only concern is that the sequels will become dogmatic after all, but I'm feeling optimistic.

It's not the most dang-awesome book I've ever read, but it is the most dang-awesome book I've read in a while, and it's given me hope that the new generation of writers for younger folks (Whitley's a young guy) will return some honor to a publication-writing industry marred by quite a bit of consumerism itself.

And thus, in conclusion, I award The Midnight Charter its well-deserved 4.51 stars, and Whitley a standing ovation for daring to bring a well-written, good story to the bookstore shelves near you.

Reason for Reading: I was actually under the impression the story was dystopian however the plot itself was intriguing, dystopian or not.

While this book is labeled as dystopian on many book sites, there is no indication that this world is our future earth at all. In fact, it is almost certain to be an alternate world somewhere, unless revelations are made in the following books I would label the story as fantasy or science fantasy. Agora is a walled-in city, people are told that beyond Agora there is nothing and this is the excepted truth. Agora is run on the barter and trade system where everything is available for trade including people's emotions and people themselves. Upon ones' 12th birthday one becomes a free person and must sell themselves into service, marriage, etc. to whatever advantage this may bring. This is a society that cannot run well as since everything is available for trade, everything is only worth what someone is willing to trade for it and an artist's work can be fashionable one day, worthless the next. Keeping one's best appearance in society is very important so as not to loose favour and thus your status. Wealthy merchant one day could easily become worthless pauper the next. The book features two young 12 year old's who have gone out into the world. Mark was sold by his father to a doctor as the boy had the stone plague and the father thought he might have a chance with the doctor. Lily, an orphan, was sold to a book binder's but tossed out on her 12th birthday. Since she had been working in the astrology section she managed to secure a place for herself as servant to a well-know astrologer in the city. The doctor is the son of the astrologer and this is how they meet.

The book was a bit slow to get into, but once it got going I was quite intrigued with the unusual storyline. The two teens end up being thought as possibly the ones mentioned in an ancient prophecy, the Antagonist and the Protagonist, who will eventually either bring about the ruin of the city or prove the city's worth. Lily is obviously watched closely as she starts a charity house looking after all the poor debtors who roam the streets homeless and starving. Charity and compassion are something never heard of before in Agora and both she and the rising astrologer Mark bring great attention to themselves by the unseen Director himself.

Lily and Mark are both well-flesh, faulty characters who one likes right away. Though on opposite sides politically, they are friends and the reader roots for both of them. The story is quite compelling with certain unexpected twists and turns. The only let down is the cliff-hanger ending which leaves one anxious for the second book which fortunately at this time has already been published.

A fantastic adventure novel that involves fantasy and historical elements. It was quite a tale that I won't be forgetting any time soon. I highly recommend reading this novel because there are so many elements to the plot and characters that you will be taken by the story being told and not want to put it down.

Final Verdict: Definitely read this book, the audio was fantastic if you like to listen to books.

I've read enough books - both for adults and youth - that within a chapter I usually know exactly what is going to happen. If it is a series, I know what will happen over and over and over again. From page one of this book, I had no idea what would happen next. I have even less idea of what will happen in book two, which is why I'm anxious for it to come out.
I am amused that the criticisms of the theme of the book seem to take opposite views: One half say that Agora's system of trade is nothing ususual - it's just life. The other half says that the author is too heavy-handed in describing how horrible it would be to live in a world so full of greed. To me, the system did look very much like real life, which is horrible for many people. Yet it is not entirely clear that the tension of the book will be resolved by going entirely to the other side. Perhaps the author is that simplistic, but he has not proven himself to be so far. Will the "Libran" focus mean that Agora finds some balance between self-interest and altruism, between the capitalist system and a welfare state? I have no idea, but I'm willing to read the next two books to find out.

There are a couple of newcomers on the longlist for the Carnegie Medal 2010 and working through the names I didn't know I picked up The Midnight Charter. This is a truly interesting and original book. Set in the city of Agora where there is no money but a barter system in which anything can be traded, status, wealth and position depend on what you can trade. Those who fail to do this are left with nothing and are called 'debtors', They are outcast with no way back, charity does not exist.

This idea appealed to me right away. In basing his world on what is essentially capitalism taken right to the extreme, David Whitely avoids the usual clichés of magic and fantasy, exploiting the very-nearly-real idea to excellent effect. But at the same time the world does contain surprising fantastical elements, rather than simply being a twist on the normal world. For example, debtors who are desperate enough can sell their own emotions or memories to the highest bidder. It is an original approach, and one that for me really does work.

In this setting Whitely brings together two children called Mark and Lily. The tale begins with Mark recovering from a deadly plague to find he has been sold by his own father and he now belongs to the doctor who cured him. They live in the ancient observatory of Count Stelli, the doctor's grandfather. But the Count is angry that a plague victim has been brought under his roof and evicts his grandson. Lily, the count's serving girl, desperate to escape a life of drudgery offers to trade places with Mark who, longing for a refuge, accepts the deal. So, at the last minute, Lily goes with the doctor while Mark becomes the Count's servant.

But Mark makes himself useful to the Count, becomes his apprentice and is trained as an astrologer. He seems to have a knack for the work and quickly becomes a famous prodigy. Lily, in the meantime, starts working with the doctor, trying to help the poor debtors in the slums. In Agora this activity is just about illegal and soon attracts the attention of the law. When Lily finds out about the evil influences that have infiltrated the city's government and discovers references to a mysterious document called The Midnight Charter, she believes she has found the key to both her own and Mark's future.

In the early chapters you need a little patience while the scene is set. I like to get the atmosphere of a new world like this, although more impatient readers might be tempted to skip, I say don't. The complex political game is a pattern which needs time to play out, and from about half way through the book picks up speed which reaches a fantastic pace that the reader can't help but be carried along by, to the thriller ending.

The Midnight Charter is aimed at 11+to adult readers and I checked for a sequel and found that the next book, called The Children of the Lost, will be out next year - I look forward to it. Definitely one to watch.