Nightshade City Review

Today I will be reviewing Nightshade City by Hilary Wagner. I finished the book over a week ago and have wanted to write and tell you all about it ever since but work and life have been getting in the way a bit lately. This post may end up being a little long, so I won't be sharing another picture of Hilary or the beautiful cover, but I've written about this book before, with pictures, so please see here, here or here if you are curious.

Nightshade City is a Middle Grade adventure story about a subterranean society of rats. I won't go into the plot here, because I don't want to ruin it for anyone, but suffice it to say that there is intrigue, espionage, and political infighting aplenty between the two factions within the rat culture.

One of my very favorite things about this novel is the characters. Their personalities, their voices, their quirks, and their appearances really jump off the page at you. This book is written for children, and the language, voice and writing style is certainly direct enough for them, but there is also a subtle skill with description that really drew me in, even as an adult. Here is an example of what I mean, from when we first mean one of the main characters, Clover:

She was quite lovely, with smooth cocoa skin, and light fur, buff in color and downy soft, more suited for a snow hare than a rat. She had a short, rounded nose and a sculpted, refined muzzle. Eyes the color of citrine offered up various hues of yellowy brilliance, round and open. Despite her beauty, she had an approachable sweetness, modest and shy.

I hope that illustrates my point well enough. Hilary obviously knows her rats. She describes several of them in a similar manner throughout the book, and I must say that one of the things I was most impressed with was her ability to use a different comparison every single time to convey the appearance or color of a particular rat's fur. It's delightful.

Another thing I enjoyed a great deal was the wealth of characters and their truly original names. We've already met Clover, of course, but there is also Juniper, Vincent, Victor, Mistress (or Mother) Gallo, Suttor, Carn, Julius, Cole, Oard, Noc, Lali, Texi, Ragan and Ulrich from the good side. These names are very original and perfectly suited, but I think you'll agree they are slightly outdone by the incredibly clever names of the evil characters. There is Major Lithgo, Major Foiber, Major Schnauss, and of course, the highly detailed and complexly sympathetic leaders, Killdeer, and one of the most memorable villains from children's literature, at least for me, Billycan.

Hilary does an excellent job of sprinkling in just enough backstory in the right places so that we know and understand the characters. We don't get it for everyone, but we do get it for everyone who matters. The pacing is perfect and I love how she weaves three or four different main characters' storylines in such a way that we end up with several great protagonists.

I could go on, instead I will just recommend this book. If you have children who enjoy animal adventures in the vein of Watership Down and The Wind in the Willows, then this book is an absolute must have. If you're just an adult who loves to read and thinks they would enjoy a fun adventure full of adorably charming characters, then I can certainly highly recommend this book.

Nightshade City Cover Lover

I just started reading Nightshade City last night. I'm only through the prologue and the first chapter (I was busy) but I can already tell I am going to enjoy this story. I know I am an adult and this is a MG novel, but there are several things to be excited about. I haven't really read enough to talk about the writing yet, but I will say that I can already tell that this charming story is going to win me over with its subtle prose. I'm loathe to compare it too quickly to The Rats of NIMH or Watership Down, as I'm sure those comparisons are many, but I will say that I can already tell that Hilary Wagner has Richard Adam's skill for taking something simple and making it grand.

What I would rather concentrate on for now is the production quality of the first hardcover edition. The cover is beautiful. As a sort of online friend of Hilary's I have talked about this book more than once and I know most of the photos I've shared don't really do it justice. I've shared the best one I could find here but just in case I would like to describe the scene.

A rat who I can only assume is Juniper graces the front cover, filling a cobbled earthen tunnel choked with roots and shiny brown worms. He bears a torch and dons a leather pouch and a dark blue cape or cloak around his neck. His most prominent feature, his eyes, appear as plain black globes at first, but at a closer glance there is cunning and intelligence behind those milky orbs. Behind the featured rat and curling earthworm is a room that probably is not clearly visible on most online representations of this cover. The revelry occurring in the background says more to me about this story than anything else.

There is a golden room, likely lit by open flame, full of rats in several different states of celebration. Some hold spears. Other hold flagons of ale. But all appear jubilant and hint of a society that is beyond your everyday expectation of rodent culture.

If I had to voice a complaint it might be that the rear cover is simply a close up and reverse of the front, but I'm guessing that there is a poetic reason for this choice within the story. Needless to say I expect the mass market paper back may feature a different cover.

The fonts, both the beautiful gold letters of the title that graces the front cover, and the typeface within, are both lovely. Unfortunately the copyright page doesn't tell us which font was used to set the type for the text. Perhaps I can get Hilary to stop by and tell us what it is.

Finally we come to the blurb on the back cover. This may be the most exciting thing about this edition. The blurb is written by Rick Riordan. You might have heard of him. One of his books was turned into a little movie recently. Here is what he has to say about Nightshade City:

"Fans of Redwall and the Warriors series will love
this heroic tale of good versus evil in a subterranean
society of rats. The world of the Catacombs is
so compelling readers will wonder if it really
might exist under our city streets. Expect
great adventures in Nightshade City."

Can you imagine having someone like Rick Riordan write that about your novel? Awesome.

Well done Hilary. I'm really looking forward to getting into this story and enjoying the entire ride!

Hilary's blog.
Nightshade City's website.
Holiday House books.

Look What I Got Last Night!

I don't have much for you guys today but I do have this announcement about the packages I received last night! See all the books that arrived?

Catching Fire, Mockingjay, and Nightshade City are the books I ordered from Amazon with the gift card I got when I got my buddy Cleve to sign up for Gamefly. Get a friend to sign up for an awesome video games by mail service and get free books? Hell yes.

I'm a little ticked that Nightshade City's title didn't show up properly in this photo because it's a beautiful cover and Hilary Wagner is the best ever. It's very exciting because this is the first time ever that I have actually held a real life book in my hand that was written by someone I know, sort of. Hilary is the nicest person you could ever meet. Be sure to visit her blog here and become a follower. You can also read the post where she shared her query with me and The QQQE readers, here.

Linger was sent to me by none other than the lovely Candace Ganger (Beth), because she hearts me (Tim) and wanted to get some crap out of her way before she moved (after). That's what the pink post-it says. "Thanks for taking some crap off my hands, Tim". Candace and I have nick names for each other because we are both slightly mentally ill. Or at least I am. I don't know her well enough to know for sure. Now I have to run out and buy Shiver because my daughter Kylie really wants to jump right into that series.

I had wanted to read Nightshade City right away but my younger daughter Madison has now claimed that one. That's okay. Catching Fire will get me through the weekend.

What are you all reading now? Don't you love having free books show up at your door?

NIGHTSHADE CITY

Today is going to be a little bit different than some of the other guest posts but don't worry, it's in a good way! As you all know today's guest is the amazing Hilary Wagner. Please visit her blog and become a follower, you won't regret it.

So, the difference today is that Hilary wants to share some thoughts about queries and advice in general before we wade into her query.

I'll let her take it away:

On queries in general: Before I began writing my query, everything I read about the query letter terrified me to my very core! Basically, you're led to believe that this one page letter can make the difference between landing an agent and getting published or seeing all your hard work languish on your laptop forever. Sadly, it's true! On that note, I had to get over my fear and write my query the way I wanted to write it. I tried a few of the "formulas" at first, but quickly realized they did nothing for me apart from making my query bone dry and boring. So, I threw all the academic things I learned about the query out the window and started writing no holds barred. This is what I came up with. Is it a brilliant, mind-boggling feat of query genius? Uhhh...no! But it did the trick and that's all any of us can ask for!

Advice: That's a tricky one. I'm not a huge fan of giving advice, because what works for me, may mean disaster for someone else. I suppose all I can tell anyone in good faith is to always write from your heart and tackle your query the same way. Don't try and be tricky or overly clever and don't try to come across as more than you are. People see right through that. Just be you. Write about your wonderful story and show everyone why it deserves to be read and shared with the world. Your story is exceptional. Your query should be too, because your hard work deserves nothing less than that. Don't let it down.

Now there is a little difference to how she wants to share her query too. She is going to highlight in red the sections that she will then discuss in blue. It makes sense to me so I hope it makes sense to all of you as well. If I find the courage to add anything I'll color it green, with envy, for how awesome NIGHTSHADE CITY sounds.

Her query:

Nancy Gallt Literary
Attn: Ms. Nancy Gallt, Founder & Agent

Dear Ms. Gallt,

As a girl, still at the age when toys were the appropriate gift, I hated getting dolls. I did not want to pretend to be their mommy or make up pleasant conversation surrounded by tea and biscuits. I found them more than a little annoying, with their perfect noses and pristine curls.

We are told as writers to grab our readers within the first few pages of our MS. In my mind, the same thing goes for the query. When I say grab, I don't mean strangle either! Ha, ha. It just has to keep an agent of editor reading.

I certainly can't argue with that. The prevailing wisdom in everything that I've ever read on queries is that the first sentence is the most important. As Hilary points out it is pretty much the same as with your novel.

Instead, I loved animals, particularly of the rodent variety. I would sit in my room for hours, stuck in between my toy rats, mice and moles, spinning their next exotic escapade in the odd and mysterious world in which they dwell. Animals have emotion and depth, offering much more than companionship, especially when given a voice on paper. NIGHTSHADE CITY combines this voice, with the realm of fantasy, character driven fiction, and our continuing, albeit creepy, fascination with the cryptic, four legged creatures that overrun our great cities and homes. Outwardly just vermin, but are they?

I added this question to peak interest. Trying to say clearly these aren't your run of the mill rodents--they are special.

This is perfect. It is just the right kind of teaser, giving a negative connotation to the rats, but then hinting at the much more exciting (and adorable) truth. I should point out here that I have not read NIGHTSHADE CITY. The Rats may be ferocious ... or noble, or somewhere in between, but to me the idea of the brothers standing up for what's right against the Ministry SOUNDS adorable.

It may not be in the novel but the point here is to hook the reader, if I was the agent and I got the wrong impression, albeit a good one, and it made me request pages then the query still did its job.

The rats of Trillium City are underground and have been so for years. Little do the weary humans of the steely city realize, an ancient throng of strangely intelligent rats exist right under their very feet, thriving in the intricate Catacombs excavated lifetimes ago.

Barely escaping alive, rat brothers, Vincent and Victor Nightshade, flee their underground home, the Catacombs, dodging mandatory recruitment by the Ministry run Kill Army. They make it to the surface, disappearing into the dark, human metropolis of Trillium City, where they stumble upon a hidden rat made tunnel, and trek down to a concealed world, buried farther in the earth than even the Catacombs. Founded by a group of rebel rats, the covert city’s residents are set on derailing the corrupt Ministry of the Catacombs, and freeing its many citizens from death and torment at the hands of the narcissistic Killdeer, the charming and decadent leader of the Ministry, and Billycan, a peculiar and slightly demented ex-lab rat, who commands the Kill Army with a bloodthirsty fondness for butchery. When the Nightshade brothers join up with Juniper, the ardent leader of the newborn city and despised adversary of Billycan, they soon unearth the demons that have haunted Juniper since his youth and learn how their father, Julius Nightshade, really died. Working with Juniper and his rebels, a fearless Ministry seamstress, and a relic tribe of earthworms, Vincent and Victor Nightshade battle for retribution and redemption against Killdeer and his army, realizing their future and releasing ghosts from their past.

Here's where things got tricky for me and reading this now it still bugs me. My story has several twist and turns, but I had to narrow it down to one little paragraph. If I had to write my query again, I'd probably shorten this part even more. Don't even get me started on my synopsis! Ha, ha!

I'm not going to critique Hilary's query, mostly because I think it great, but I see her point. I struggle with this too. How do you boil down a complicated plot that you spent months concocting into something that fits on a single page, hooks a reader and still give the entire gist of the premise of your novel? Less is generally more with queries but as she said about advice, trust in yourself. The same rules won't work for every project.

Writing fiction since childhood, I’ve written NIGHTSHADE CITY, an 89,000 word novel, focusing on fighting for what you believe in, the true meaning of family and refusing to let a few decide the fate of many.

I saved my word count until the end. If they don't like your query they aren't going to care about word count anyway, so use the earlier paragraphs to sell your story. I added very little info about me. I wanted them to care about my story! I figured if they liked my MS, maybe they'd care about me later!

As you guys know from reading my blog I call this housekeeping. There is some debate out there about where to put it. When I begin querying again I will be placing it at the end like Hilary. I think she makes an excellent point about hooking right away. There are some valid arguments about putting it in the beginning, or even after the first paragraph, but I like it best here at the end.

The only caveat I would add is to make sure you research each agent that you query separately. If they want something SPECIFIC please adhere to their expectation. No need to shoot yourself in the foot before you get it through the door.

Thank you and take care,

Hilary L. Wagner
www.nightshadecity.com

So that's it! Are you excited to read NIGHTSHADE CITY as I am? Are you so happy that you now know a blogger who's book actually comes out THIS YEAR? I am.

Thank you so much for sharing this with us Hilary! You rock hard like the walls of the catacombs.