The Midnight Charter - David Whitley

The Midnight Charter is the first in a promised fantasy trilogy. It is author David Whitley's first novel, and as debut releases go there is a fair amount of pressure following this book around. For a start he is only 24 years old, but even more poignant for such a young author is that this book is published by Puffin. Which means that it has been released in 20 countries in 13 languages (well, you don't expect a company like Puffin to do things by half do you?). And when you add together a young, talented writer with a major book publisher, you certainly create a level of expectation. So how does the book actually fare? PREMISE The Midnight Charter ...  Read the complete review

THE MIDNIGHT CHARTER ******************** The Midnight Charter is the first book in what is likely to become an incredibly popular trilogy by author David Whitley. It is aimed at teenagers/ young adults, but is easily challenging and stimulating enough for adults as well. This first book is being published in 20 countries and translated into 13 languages, which in itself shows the publishers' high expectations with regards to people's response to this book. THE CONCEPT ************ The Midnight Charter is based on a concept of a city where money does not exist. The city is surrounded by walls and, although there are rumours to the ...  Read the complete review

Aimed at children/young adults, The Midnight Charter is not normally the type of book I would read, but it was so highly recommended by a friend that I just had to give it a go. Despite being aimed at a slightly younger audience, there are some dark undertones and plenty more in this story to appeal to an older audience. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A bit about the author ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ David Whitley was born in 1984 so is a mere 25 years old as I write this review - not a bad age to have your first published novel! He had shown some potential before this by being shortlisted for the Kathleen Fidler Award aged 17 and winning the Cheshire ...  Read the complete review