Once, my mother complained she had to climb on top of the chair to escape after being subjected to his bloody ambush. Woe betide any toes or unsuspecting ankles coming to use the computer. I suspect I find him particularly amusing because I have a Saracen of my own, an Amazon parrot that occasionally struts across the floor (he can fly, but for some reason chooses to walk during these little displays, perhaps the better to parade), bound for the lower rungs of a desk chair that he considers a back-up lair. Hardinge is particularly clever in avian characterization, keeping him very goose-like and leaving the details of his skirmishes behind flying feathers and howls of anguish. I must say how much I love the irascible, bullying goose. There was a froth of white wings, and a splash…” “Saracen, who had been swaggering to and fro in some uncertainty, was delighted to see Mosca on her feet and screaming at somebody.

The story begins with Saracen, who has been holding a village hostage with his belligerent behavior, and indirectly, Clent and Mosca for the damages he’s caused.

“‘Be it even so, now is the time for calm calculation… and not for sending your web-footed apocalypse on a one-goose rampage…'” ‘Creative panic!'”īut at least Saracen is on their side, although Mosca needs to be cautioned by Clent against unleashing the power of the goose. Troubles again! Unfortunately, Mosca Mye, Eponymous Clent and the goose Saracen have run into so many complications with their latest scheme that they’ve run through the first, second, and third back-up plans. This time, it seems as if there's no way out. With each trip around the clock, past deeds catch up with them and old enemies reappear. But wherever there's a plot, there's sure to be treachery, and wherever there's treachery, there's sure to be trouble-and trouble is what Mosca, Clent, and Saracen the Goose love best. When Mosca and Clent are separated by this quirky law, they hatch a plot to escape. Each resident, visitor, and passerby is allowed out in public only during one of these phases, with the segregation dependent on their name. The city is well-mannered and orderly by night, chaotic and debaucherous. In this strange, aptly named gateway town, visitors may neither enter nor exit without paying a steep price. Having successfully wreaked revolution upon the City of Mandelion, the pair find themselves escaping catastrophe by the skin of their teeth and seeking refuge in Toll. Mosca Mye and Eponymous Clent return in the sequel to Fly By Night, from award-winning author Frances Hardinge

Fly trap frances hardinge