The Midnight Guardians

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Keira isn’t just any guardian, she’s the prophesied child “of sun and moon”, destined to bring about the end of the house of Gammen which rules over the Mogdoc Empire. My family and friends are getting tired of me asking if they’ve seen Midnight Mass yet. Set on a small fishing village miles from modernity, Midnight Mass is what you get when you take Stephen King, Lost, Guillermo del Toro and Nietzsche, and put them in a blender. It’s full of creepiness, but the writing is top notch. Each character is well-rounded, so by the time things start to go crazy, you’re genuinely invested. Tom Stokes, 27, student, London Time (BBC One) What we aim to do is to make people who want to travel in Europe hesitate to take the plane, to make a 90-minute flight a thing of the past.”

Midnight Club review – this teen horror - The Guardian The Midnight Club review – this teen horror - The Guardian

With the spirit of Narnia, but a heart of its own. The Midnight Guardians is totally enchanting . I gobbled up every word.” Aisha Bushby If you peer down the hill from Matt Haig’s immaculate townhouse in Brighton, you can see the sea, which today is shimmeringly blue under a hot sun. “We bought the house for that view,” he says as he answers the door, which is painted turquoise. Bright, alive, vibrant. Haig – novelist, self-help guru, periodic endurer of depression and anxiety – needs these colours, that view, this sun, even the statement-making front door. His fears were unfounded. Canongate rescued him. He realised the key was to write for himself and not worry about critical expectations or the division between literary and commercial fiction. The Humans gave him confidence and confirmed his new publisher’s faith in him; Reasons to Stay Alive, which was derived from a blog he wrote in 2014, established him firmly in the public mind as a teller of stories and an open, uninhibited, ego-free chaperone through the maelstrom of life.No amount of screen presence can detract from the narrative being an overstuffed mess in need of a purge. Every episode, we spend time in the worlds created by the characters when they tell stories at night, but none (save perhaps Anya’s doppelganger nightmare The Two Danas) is as interesting as the events taking place at Brightcliffe. The series at first manages a balance between the two layers of fiction, but maddeningly tips the scale to luxuriate in the heavy-handed allegories of the stories they tell. After watching Sumpter deliver a devastating speech to his estranged mother that expertly walks the line between melodrama and melancholy, to subsequently see him flattened in a lame sci-fi concept is infuriating. Bring a large pan of water to a boil, add salt (about 2 tsp for every litre) and stir. Add the spaghetti, stir and set your timer for two minutes before the end of the recommended cooking time.

The Midnight Guardians | BookTrust

I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction, even historical fantasy, but this was a pretty engaging and interesting read.

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The whole novel has the air of a skilful exercise designed to confront depression and anxiety. What’s the best that could happen in your life, and what’s the worst? What can you change, and what can’t you? These are big questions that are difficult to respond to with elegance and depth, and sometimes in moments of Nora’s elation or suicidal lows, the narration lapses into the trite and obvious – “the prison wasn’t the place, but the perspective”; “the paradox of volcanoes was that they were symbols of destruction but also life”. Contrary to the fantastical premise, the novel turns out to be a celebration of the ordinary: ordinary revelations, ordinary people, and the infinity of worlds seeded in ordinary choices.

The Guardian Matt Haig: ‘I have never written a book that - The Guardian

This book set in WW2. Even though it has magic in it, it didn’t take away the importance of what happened then. Which I appreciate more than anything! When Col’s childhood imaginary friends come to life, he discovers a world where myths and legends are real. Accompanied by his guardians – a six-foot tiger, a badger in a waistcoat and a miniature knight – Col must race to Blitz-bombed London to save his sister. The Midnight Guardian Series are young adult paranormal action/adventure novels appropriate for pre-teen and teen readers.Montgomery's latest is an enthralling, Narnia-flavoured novel with the folkloric feel of a Christmas classic." Guardian Persis, a wonderful creation, keeps a clipping of the damning newspaper report on her desk, dismissing critics with ease. “For millennia, we have been told what our role must be: wife, mother, daughter. We are all those things, but we are so much more. Men like you think you can stop us. Go ahead and try. Have you ever tried to stop the monsoon?”

Midnight Library by Matt Haig review - The Guardian The Midnight Library by Matt Haig review - The Guardian

Right from the start, The Midnight Guardians truly had everything I love about Middle Grade books: it’s wondrous and full of magic, with lovable characters you find yourself rooting for from the start, quests and adventures, so much hope, and an endless amount of imagination. More than that, even: imagination—and kindness—as the one thing that makes it possible to save the people you love most. I found that, while there were some bits about the war I liked, I still felt a bit underwhelmed by the historical aspect in general, hence my 3.5 star rating. It did deal with child evacuation, the blitz and the jews having to leave Germany really well though. A beautifully written story with a huge scope for discussion, perfect for 9+ or for reading to younger children. One is about the garlic, which – whether whole but crushed for a gentle flavour, sliced for a stronger one, or chopped for the fiercest flavour – should sizzle gently. It should just shimmy in the oil: you don’t want it to colour or burn, or it becomes a bitter bully; you want it only to soften and release its scent.

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A mix of Stephen King, Lost, Guillermo del Toro and Nietzsche ... Midnight Mass. Photograph: Eike Schroter/Netflix A tale of enchantment and friendship … a ll the warmth of a timeless story, told between friends round a winter fire … funny and true in the way all good stories are.” Thomas Taylor Hope shines the brightest… When Col’s childhood imaginary friends come to life, he discovers a world where myths and legends are real. Accompanied by his guardians – a six-foot tiger, a badger in a waistcoat and a miniature knight – Col must travel to Blitz-bombed London to save his sister. But there are darker forces at work, even than the Nazi bombings. Soon Col is pursued by the terrifying Midwinter King, who is determined to bring an eternal darkness down over everything… I think that this fantasy novel will help children aged 9+ to greater value their own ‘Guardians’ and creativity, whilst also teaching them about the history and consequences of War - both factually, and emotionally. Alongside death, this story does cover quite sensitive topics, and so feels best suited to pupils in Year 5/6. It would be hard for any reader to find Bella as fascinating as Edward does, with her character, never very distinctive, now smothered by his adoring gaze (“the English language needed a word that meant something halfway between a goddess and a naiad”). But taken together, the two narratives at least depict mutual attraction. Midnight Sun could be read as Meyer’s attempt at a do-over, following criticism of Twilight for romanticising a coercive relationship. Edward’s habit of breaking into Bella’s bedroom to watch her sleep, for example, was held up by some highly literal commentators as modelling unhealthy boundaries to impressionable young women, who were still learning how to navigate their own relationships with vampires. (As Meyer pointed out in a recent interview: “Really the problem is that he’s murdered a ton of people.”)