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The City in the Middle of the Night: International Edition
- Narrated by: Jennifer O'Donnell, Laura Knight Keating
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
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The City in the Middle of the Night: International Edition
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Summary
"If you control our sleep, then you can own our dreams...And from there, it's easy to control our entire lives."
January is a dying planet - divided between a permanently frozen darkness on one side and blazing endless sunshine on the other. Humanity clings to life, spread across two archaic cities built in the sliver of habitable dusk. But life inside the cities is just as dangerous as the uninhabitable wastelands outside.
Sophie, a student and reluctant revolutionary, is supposed to be dead after being exiled into the night. Saved only by forming an unusual bond with the enigmatic beasts who roam the ice, Sophie vows to stay hidden from the world, hoping she can heal. But fate has other plans - and Sophie's ensuing odyssey and the ragtag family she finds will change the entire world.
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What listeners say about The City in the Middle of the Night: International Edition
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- byron
- 16-04-24
Love the the collective memory
Being a bit written for teen girls, it was a great vision of how a truly alien race could be completely different from humans. Only complaint, finish the story!!! What happens to everyone??? I want to know !
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- J. Humphries
- 23-05-23
Beautifully imagined and described world
I found this story mentioned in the reviews of another story I recently read about a totally locked planet, and thought it would be interesting to read two such stories close together.
Whereas the other story focuses on the challenges of sustaining life on such a planet, this one also explores the search for beauty and balance and humanity. The science and consistency behind it may not quite be there - for example I was confused about how there could be places one could see the day and the night at the same time if the planet is so massive that the gravity is stronger than Earth's - it must be both significantly smaller and yet significantly heavier, I guess? - but the world that is painted is brilliantly imagined, the different societies that have formed feel novel and yet plausible, and the mysterious alien creatures that we learn more about as the story progresses are fascinating. When there is communication between a creature and a human, it is written just so beautifully and makes me want to be there in the story, so I can experience it too.
I was not seriously drawn back to recommencing this story when I took breaks... Until the last parts. Once we actually finally got to the Midnight City, and interesting explanations about the world and the backstory started to be revealed, I was hooked. Until then, the story was fine, but just didn't grip me in the same way that some stories do.
The story ends very abruptly. I don't know if it was to potentially set up a sequel, but yeah, I must say I agree with a different review I read that said that it almost feels unfinished. It's difficult to say any more without giving away spoilers, but I would have preferred to know what happens next over the coming days or weeks, rather than just having to guess or assume. I think that what happens next is supposed to sort of implied by some things that were discussed in previous chapters, as well as the impression given to us by the last line, but I feel like it could have used at least a line or two more to confirm that we're not making incorrect assumptions as to how it will probably go from here.
All the main characters are flawed but likeable, and go through character growth and their journeys make sense. Nobody does anything I would consider ludicrously out of character, which pleased me. Both of the protagonists can be a bit dumb but that's not unrealistic, some people really do have blind spots that cause them problems.
As for narration, I enjoyed the use of two narrators for the two perspectives, but struggled a tad with both of their inflections at times. The fact that it was both of them makes me wonder if it was the production studio's guidance, somehow, rather than the two voice actors, but several times I didn't realise it was the end of a chapter, paragraph or even sentence because the way they spoke made it sound like there was no punctuation at the end and the line was supposed to continue. So yeah that was slightly jarring at times, but not a massive issue overall, I guess. Both voices were quite calm and muted, even when the action was quite intense, which made it a calm, relaxing listen, but also meant that it perhaps lacked some of the drama and excitement that there could have been if they were more evocative.
Anyway, the story is good, good enough that I wish there was a sequel, or at least a few more chapters. The author has done an excellent job imagining this world and tying it all together. I recommend this book, and sticking with it until the end.
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