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The Midnight Queen cover art

The Midnight Queen

By: Sylvia Izzo Hunter
Narrated by: Julian Elfer
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Summary

In the hallowed halls of Oxford’s Merlin College, the most talented - and highest born - sons of the Kingdom of Britain are taught the intricacies of magickal theory. But what dazzles can also destroy, as Gray Marshall is about to discover.…

Gray’s deep talent for magick has won him a place at Merlin College. But when he accompanies four fellow students on a mysterious midnight errand that ends in disaster and death, he is sent away in disgrace - and without a trace of his power. He must spend the summer under the watchful eye of his domineering professor, Appius Callender, working in the gardens of Callender’s country estate and hoping to recover his abilities. And it is there, toiling away on a summer afternoon, that he meets the professor’s daughter.

Even though she has no talent of her own, Sophie Callender longs to be educated in the lore of magick. Her father has kept her isolated at the estate and forbidden her interest; everyone knows that teaching arcane magickal theory to women is the height of impropriety. But against her father’s wishes, Sophie has studied his ancient volumes on the subject. And in the tall, stammering, yet oddly charming Gray, she finally finds someone who encourages her interest and awakens new ideas and feelings.

Sophie and Gray’s meeting touches off a series of events that begins to unravel secrets about each of them. And after the king’s closest advisor pays the professor a closed-door visit, they begin to wonder if what Gray witnessed in Oxford might be even more sinister than it seemed. They are determined to find out, no matter the cost.…

©2014 Sylvia Izzo Hunter (P)2014 Audible Inc.

What listeners say about The Midnight Queen

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  • Overall
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Excellent

An interesting alternate history in which magic is prime rather than science and technology. The story begins in what seems to be 19th century Oxford, where post-graduate student Gray Marshall becomes involved, through no fault of his own in machinations, treachery, high treason and a lost princess.
The characters are well-rounded and interesting and the alternative history plausible.
The narration is overall good, each character well-defined, though with some very strange pronounciations - Samhain pronounced as it is spelt, Sam-Hain rather than the more usual Sa-WAIN, but I decided to accept it as the way it is pronounced in this world.
The story is complete in itself, but I do hope there will be more by this author.
A very good find.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Lovely

A wonderful story with endearing characters. It took me a few chapters to get into it but by the time I got to the end I was sad to be parted from my new friends. I sincerely hope there are sequels to this lovely tale.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Bored

Tried twice. Struggled to last a couple of hours. Sleep was more useful

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

An original and most enjoyable fantasy story

An intriguing story, delightfully narrated. It was unexpectedly enjoyable and I particularly liked the idea of a rather different European history than the one we know.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A Cacophony of Ideas.

I really wanted to like this, and listened all the way through it in the hopes that the premise would be fleshed out and explained.
It took far too long to 'guess' that it was an alternate history, a 'what if..?' story, by which time I was bored with the lack of imaginative background which had no clear depth or colour. It could have been set at any time in history, although, whose, I really dont know. A king called Henry suggest Tudor, The use of France suggest Medieval, and the Oxford colleges suggest victorian. The language is supposed to represent Regency, and yet, whilst its a good story, had the author sought to write it in a time of her own choosing, and in a world of her own invention, it would have stood up far better as a fantasy piece than it does. Written as an historical romance, it just doesnt work. The only thing holding it up IS the storyline and characters, but only if you are a teenager.
The reading was ok but I wont be bothering with the second book.

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3 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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I just my òpinion

I liked the characters and the concept, but found it a bit long-winded at times.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

subtly magic

not sure at first, but worth the commitment. detailed story and light and intriguing, taking time to draw you in.

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • CS
  • 01-12-15

Unexpectedly Impressed

I picked this through one of the linked recommendations and was very pleasantly surprised. The writing is erudite and engaging, the narrator actually seems to know what most of the words mean (which in itself was a nice suprise) and the story bumps along quite nicely.

It's a relatively plausible plot, a little formulaic (young person finds out they have powers/aren't who they thought they were, goes on a journey with a host of unsuitable companions to try and save the day) but it hangs together well and I enjoyed it.

Well worth a listen.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Slow to start but a great book

If you could sum up The Midnight Queen in three words, what would they be?

Slow starter warms-up

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Midnight Queen?

I think the background story when we got to it

What does Julian Elfer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

He brings the family to life

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good but nothing exceptional

It was ok, got me hooked at some points.
What I appreciate the most is the way of talking. It's really appropriate to the period, industrial era English.
Interesting story, good characters but not something that i want to pursue, even if the next books could be more interesting, going into the magical system.

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