April 16, 2007

How to Save the World

When we last met Scott Westerfeld's Midnighters, there had been dramatic rescues, ever-more-spine-tingling battles against ancient evil darklings, and an astonishing discovery--another living midnighter in their small Oklahoma town of Bixby. Not to mention conspiracies to eradicate the previous generation of midnighters, which is why Madeleine is the only one left.


The midnighters--people born at the stroke of midnight--have access to the Secret Hour, an extra hour at midnight when time freezes and the midnighters alone roam the town...well, not quite alone, because there are also the darklings: ancient predators who were long-ago banished to the "blue time," as Bixby's teenage midnighters call it.


Throughout the trilogy, the five teenage midnighters, each with their special powers--Rex, the seer; Dess, the polymath; Jonathan, the flyboy; Melissa, the mindcaster, and Jessica, the flamebringer--have been fighting off increasingly aggressive attacks by darklings during the secret hour. And in Midnighters #3: Blue Noon, it becomes clear that the darklings are waiting for something. Something BIG. And when, one unforgettable day, the blue time comes in the middle of a morning pep rally, the midnighters start to get an idea of what the darklings might be so eager about.


This is another suspense-filled, creepy volume and an excellent ending to the trilogy. The way the books are structured, with constant references to time, dates of reckoning, etc., creates a fast-paced sense of urgency that makes it VERY difficult to put the book down and go be productive.


Also, don't miss TadMack's excellent review of this volume.

No comments: