In a broken-down medieval kingdom where reading is forbidden, 12-year-old Mosca Mye is drawn to a traveling con artist who "brought phrases as vivid and strange as spices, and he smiled as he spoke, as if tasting them." Hardinge's stylish way with prose gives her sprawling debut fantasy a literate yet often silly tone that calls to mind Monty Python. Plucky Mosca rescues the con man—called Eponymous Clent—from the town stocks, accidentally burning down her uncle's mill in the process. Their journey unfolds against a wickedly complex political backdrop, a fragmented civilization largely run by guilds of locksmiths, boatmen and printers (the only ones allowed to decide which books will survive). Mosca and Clent find themselves embroiled in intrigue between the guilds, an entry point to a sly bit of allegory involving a secret printing press and "dangerous" pamphleteers ("Truth is dangerous. It topples palaces and kills kings.... And yet there is one thing that is more dangerous than Truth. Those who would silence Truth's voice are more destructive by far," a teacher reads aloud). Along with an infusion of high-camp fantasy, Hardinge firmly plants in the novel the heroine's serious love of reading, which informs nearly everything Mosca does ("I'd been hoarding words for years," she says in an introspective moment, "buying them from peddlers and carving them secretly into bits of bark so I wouldn't forget them"). And the setting is detailed and complex enough to inspire many sequels. Ages 10-up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(May)

Mosca Mye, twelve years old and ready for a change, wants to leave Chough. It may be the only home she knows, but it is perennially damp and there is no chance for education. One of the few people in the literal backwater who knows how to read-courtesy of her now-dead father-Mosca has in mind the Ragged School in Mendalion, the closest large city. When smooth-talking Eponymous Clent shows up and gets affixed to the stocks for telling lies, Mosca sees an opportunity. It is, of course, an accident that her uncle's mill catches fire, but the rest of the caper, from stealing the keys to the stocks to snatching a fearsome goose named Saracen, goes quite smoothly. Soon accompanying a grudging Clent, she is on her way to the city and more complication and adventure than she bargains for. Hardinge constructs a mesmerizing story-based on life in England circa 1700-of a kingdom fractured by religious strife and censorship and a girl with the dangerous gifts of literacy and a drive for betterment. The characterization is superb, from the verbally gifted but almost fatally obtuse Clent to the mad Duke and his preternaturally calm but scheming sister. Mosca, equal parts Nancy Drew and Becky Sharp and wholly herself, is determined, bright, and self-serving, loyal only to her dreams, her terrifying goose, and-finally-the hapless Clent. The wheels-within-wheels plot and wonderful setting, fantastic only in the most realistic way, give a propulsive movement to a tale that is at once stirring and amusing. It will provide excellent fare for upper elementary, middle, and junior high school readers who like adventure, sophisticated humor, strong female protagonists, and challenging vocabulary.-Ann Welton.

Taught to read by her scholar father, orphaned book lover Mosca Mye is an anomaly in a culture where literature is highly suspect and tightly controlled. When silver-tongued poet-spy Eponymous Clent passes through her village, the word-starved 12-year-old stubbornly installs herself as his traveling companion, serving as his uneasy accomplice in a mission that exposes the cutthroat intrigues roiling the surface of her troubled fantasy realm. Plot elements featuring intellectual and religious oppression carry a cumbersome philosophical load, tempered by a richly constructed backdrop incorporating Mosca's belligerent pet goose, eccentric floating coffeehouses, and a folk religion honoring household deities such as He Who Keeps Flies Out of Jams and Butterchurns. The relish for words, words, wonderful words sometimes seems more Hardinge's idiosyncracy than her protagonist's, especially as dense political upheavals begin to supersede Mosca's personal goals. Even so, the character's ferocity and authentic inner turmoil, both reminiscent of Philip Pullman's Lyra Belacqua, may buoy patient readers through this overlong but charismatic first novel.

Gr 5-9-Mosca, 12, and Eponymous Clent, a traveling wordsmith of dubious repute, become immersed in the intrigues of the city of Mandelion, where rival guilds vie for power with a "pixilated" Duke and his scheming sister. Initially awed by her confusing new surroundings, Mosca gradually pieces together important truths about the realm and her place within it. Through rich, colorful language and a sure sense of plot and pacing, Hardinge has created a distinctly imaginative world full of engaging characters, robust humor, and true suspense. Readers get to know the realm and its people through the interactions between Mosca and a well-drawn cast of supporting characters. While she tries to judge right from wrong within the complex plots that ensnare her, she finds that few of the people she meets are as simple as they first seem. Vying religious beliefs also play a part in the fate of the realm, and the details develop neatly as the adventures progress. Plot twists, lively dialogue, and the antics of Mosca's fierce pet goose add plenty of humor. The conclusion addresses the value of words in a satisfying manner. This sophisticated tale is not for everyone. Some readers may struggle to keep track of the complex politics, history, and religion in Mosca's world, but those who appreciate the inventive plots of Cornelia Funke and Jonathan Stroud or Lloyd Alexander's colorful prose should thoroughly enjoy this highly original adventure.-Steven Engelfried, Beaverton City Library, OR Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Mosca Mye's ability to read sets her apart in an imaginary eighteenth-century realm where books and knowledge are tightly controlled. After rescuing captured con man and fellow wordsmith Eponymous Clent, she follows him to the capital city and becomes embroiled in revolutionary intrigue. Mosca's love of words is a powerful theme, augmenting this complex novel of schemes and secrets.