&sq=&lang=&file=File:FlyByNight-FrancesHardinge.jpg) First edition cover (UK) | |
| Author | Frances Hardinge |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Brett Helquist (US) |
| Language | English |
| Series | Mosca Mye novels |
| Subject | Fantasy, Adventure, Fiction |
| Genre | Children's or young adult fiction, Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | UK: Macmillan US: HarperCollins |
Publication date | 7 October 2005 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 304 pp (first edition, hardcover) |
| ISBN | 1-4050-2078-4 |
| OCLC | 61884943 |
| Preceded by | None |
| Followed by | Twilight Robbery |
Fly by Night is a children's or young adults' fantasy novel by Frances Hardinge, published on 7 October 2005 by Macmillan in the UK and on 25 April 2006 by HarperCollins in the US. Fly by Night won the Branford Boase Award in 2006,[1] and was listed in the School Library Journal's Best Books of 2006.[2] It was shortlisted for the 2006 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, as was its sequel Twilight Robbery in 2011.
Hardinge's comic fantasy is set in the grotesque imaginary world of The Realm, which, as she writes in an after note, bears some similarity to early 18th century England. As religion, the people venerate numerous small deities known as the Beloved, each sacred to a part of a day in the year. Children must be named for the Beloved in whose time they are born, though a degree of fraud occurs to obtain a better name. This religion has been restored following a period when a militant movement, the Bird-catchers, sought to impose their own puritanical religion, leading to a civil war in which the Bird-catchers were defeated.
The novel takes place at a time when the monarchy has been overthrown and The Realm has fractured into city states such as Mandelion, where the guilds, especially the Stationers and Locksmiths, act as power brokers. Numerous claimants to the throne are recognized and locally supported, but more by tradition than genuine desire for restoration. Mandelion is currently ruled by Duke Vocado Avourlace, brother of Lady Tamarind, and supporter of the claim of the Twin Princesses. He remains unmarried since being turned down by one of them.
- ^ "Branford Boase Award 2006". The Branford Boase Award. 2006. Archived from the original on 19 May 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2008.
- ^ Jones, Trevelyn; et al. (1 December 2006). "Best Books 2006". School Library Journal. Archived from the original on 8 June 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2008.