The Midnight Queen

By: Sylvia Izzo Hunter

Narrated by: Julian Elfer

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.

Fantasy with mystery

An alternative world fantasy story which is really a mystery story as well. Summer vacation adventure very nice to listen to during a summer vacation. The story is very nice with unexpected twists. The performance was also very good. Looking forward to book 2.

A fabulous listen!

This listen was even better than I had hoped for. The story was clever and clean. I hope this is just the start of a new magical series. I could hardly wait to get back to it each time. The performance was delightful. This girl loves a nice accent.

Great Potential, Story Falls Short

Very interesting ideas here but the story is predictable, and there is very minimal conflict. Large portions of the book fail to drive the narrative forward. Could have been much better as a shorter story and with a more developed plot. Everything too neatly tied up and ideal at the end too.

Unnecessarily Long, tedious.

Simple story dragged out to the point of becoming uninteresting. Formal language became tiresome and distraction.

Yawn

Would you try another book from Sylvia Izzo Hunter and/or Julian Elfer?

Noooo, this was such a yawn. Just kept going on with nothing really happening and I never felt engaged with any of the characters. Not sure if it was the narrators reading or the story, but probably both. I gave up and I love stories with magic in them!

Has The Midnight Queen turned you off from other books in this genre?

If I hadn't read other better ones it might have done.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I think his reading was slightly dead and cold, he didn't make the listener engage or care about anyone. His reading lacked emotion.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Midnight Queen?

Most of them, the story needed to get to the point.

Any additional comments?

Very disappointing, I thought this was going to be another discovery of witches. It was not!