The Midnight Charter by David Whitley

The Midnight Charter by David Whitley is an intriguing YA book with some deep ideas behind it, though it doesn’t quite meet its potential in terms of the story itself. The book is set in the city of Agora, a walled-off dystopia whose workings revolve around a barter-for-everything system: Food, art, labor, even emotions, are commodities of trade. The system has stood for some time, but as the story opens, the needed disruption (otherwise there wouldn’t be much of a story) is about to occur. That disruption takes the form of two orphans and a secret document whose prophecy is about to unfold.

One orphan is Lily, who through the course of the novel begins to undermine the whole philosophy of Agora through the novel idea of “charity.” The other — sometimes set against, and sometimes acting in concert with L... Read More

The Children of the Lost by David Whitley

The Children of the Lost is David Whitley’s follow-up to last year’s The Midnight Charter, which I reviewed as a weak three: strong in ideas but weaker in characterization and plotting. The Children of the Lostis a stronger book, though it also has its flaws. One thing I feel compelled to point out upfront, however, is that The Children of the Lost ends in a true cliffhanger of an ending, and so those who find such endings annoying may want to hold off until the third book comes out (I assume next year).

The Children of the Lost shares most of the same characters from The Midnight Charter, including the two major ones: Lily and Mark, along with other familiar ones such as the Director (who ... Read More