Unless there is another Aiken book that starts with a boy meeting an annoying girl on a train, I've actually read this before, although I don't remember much about the plot. You'd think an evil werewolf, a missing king, and wantonly murdered cat would be memorable, though, wouldn't you? Maybe I should stick with her earlier books...I feel like a remember the earlier books, which I read in elementary, pretty well, but maybe I was more focused on the characters than the setting. I don't remember the alternate history being as complex in them as it is here. There was the ongoing thread of Hanoverian plotting, with revolutionaries trying to assassinate the Stuart king so they could get Bonnie Prince Georgie on the throne, but I don't remember all the stuff with England being divided into four kingdoms and the whole politico-geography of Europe being very different. Maybe it was just that those earlier stories were from the point of view of kids who were marginally aware of politics. Speaking of kids, wasn't there like a ten-year age gap between Simon and Dido when they met? Now she's practically grown up (view spoiler)[or old enough to get married at least, and I thought this was one of the lamest last-minute insertions of romantic interest ever (hide spoiler)]
While I don't regret buying this in hardcover, I suppose I should reveal that I bought it used. Something went missing between Nightbirds on Nantucket and The Cuckoo Tree, not least much of Dido's toughness, and Aiken's ability to shake out a straight plot, without reverting to subplots, supernatural or merely surreal, that don't seem to further the primary plot At all. A flock of sheep? A werewolf? Russian bears instead of boots? ....um, what? And Aiken's swapped out the Hanoverians for the Burgundians, without any particular explanation, unless I missed it in one of the previous books.
Do You like book Midwinter Nightingale (2009)?
Not quite as good as the others, which is a shame - I felt so much could've been done with the whole werewolf angle. Plus antagonists who manage to do themselves out of the picture or are killed by freak accidents aren't quite exciting enough.
—Molly
I was sorry to only give this book three stars, but it just didn't inspire me to the same irrational glee as all the previous Dido Twite tales (excepting Wolves of Willoughby Chase of course - which doesn't even have Dido in it, but that's another review). Perhaps it is because we see less of Dido in this story than in her previous adventures, and that her role is significantly more passive. Simon's not a bad cove (a right good 'un, as Dido herself might say), but he's no competition for Dido in spirit, humor, and cheekiness. If you want to read Joan Aiken (and you should) start with Black Hearts in Battersea and you won't be disappointed.
—Ashley
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase was a big childhood favorite, so when I saw this book in my little library, I thought it would be fun to revisit Joan Aiken. Unfortunately, the magic did not repeat itself. I found this novel confusing, with several points of view and simultaneous plot lines. Reading other reviews here has now clued me in that this book is apparently one of several based on adventures of the character Dido, but I never got the helpful background information to help me assimilate myself in this world, so I just never got it. Too bad.
—Jennifer Hughes
