 First edition (UK) | |
| Author | Frances Hardinge |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Tomislav Tomic |
| Cover artist | James Fraser |
| 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 | 4 March 2011 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 544 pp (first edition hardcover) |
| ISBN | 978-0-330-44192-6 |
| OCLC | 1062192796 |
| Preceded by | Fly by Night |
| Followed by | None |
Twilight Robbery is a children's or young adults' comic fantasy novel by Frances Hardinge, published on 4 March 2011 by Macmillan in the UK, and, under the name Fly Trap, by HarperCollins in the USA. It was shortlisted for the 2011 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. It is the sequel to Fly by Night, featuring the same protagonist Mosca Mye. It is set in the same grotesque fantasy world of The Realm, which Hardinge describes as bearing some similarity to early 18th century England. The people follow the cult of numerous small deities, known as the Beloved, each sacred in just a few hours in the year. Everyone is named according to the Beloved in whose time they are born.
The novel is mostly located in the town of Toll, which has the only surviving bridge over the Langfeather gorge. Toll's unique character comes from its division into Toll-by-Day and Toll-by-Night, the two towns time-sharing the same physical space. Residents are assigned to day or night according to their name, aligned to the Beloved they are born under, and must wear a badge showing their classification. Twice a day, at dawn and dusk, the bugle sounds for the 15 minute day/night changeover. The Jinglers lock one population into their sleeping quarters, and then release the other. Doors and trade-signs, even the street pattern, are reorganised at the changeover by use of moving panels.
Toll charges a steep entry toll and separate exit toll, only affordable by the well-off. Exit from Toll-by-Night is twice the day charge. Visitors who pay for entry may stay three days in Toll-by-Day, regardless of their name. If they do not pay for exit, they become residents, and must live in Toll-by-Day or Toll-by-Night according to their name.
Toll has been stable through the political upheavals in the Realm, and its bridge has survived. Most dayfolk superstitiously believe that a charm called the Luck, held in a room at the top of the Clock Tower, keeps them safe. Frances Hardinge based this idea on a number of British places which have legends of a Luck, an object whose loss or breakage would presage disaster.[1]
- ^ Hardinge, Frances. "Pushing your luck". Twisted City. Retrieved 19 October 2019.