Nightshade City (Nightshade Chronicles Series #1)

by Hilary Wagner

Overview

Deep beneath a modern metropolis lies the Catacombs, a kingdom of remarkable rats of superior intellect . . . 

Juniper and his maverick band of rebel rats have been plotting ever since the Bloody Coup turned the Catacombs, a once-peaceful democracy, into a brutal dictatorship ruled by decadent High Minister Killdeer and his vicious henchman, Billycan, a former lab rat with a fondness for butchery.

When three young orphan rats—brothers Vincent and Victor and a clever female named Clover—flee the Catacombs in mortal peril and join forces with the rebels, it proves to be the spark that ignites the long-awaited battle to overthrow their oppressors and create a new city: Nightshade City.

This digital edition now includes the first chapter of The White Assassin, the second book in the Nightshade Chronicles.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823426867
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	05/08/2012
Series:	Nightshade Chronicles Series , #1
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
Lexile:	800L (what's this?)
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Hilary Wagner is an award-winning children's book auhor who lives in the Chicago suburbs. Her first book, Nightshade City, was called "a good story well-told" by Kirkus Reviews, which also compared the novel to Suzanne Collins's Underland Chronicles and Brian Jacques's Redwall series. She has written two other Nightshade Chronicles books, The White Assassin and Lords of Trillium. You can visit her website at www.nightshadecity.com.

What People are Saying About This

Rick Riordan

“Fans of Redwall and the Warriors series will love this heroic tale of good versus evil in a subterranean society of rats. . . . Expect great adventures in Nightshade City.”--(Rick Riordan, author of Percy Jackson and the Olympians series)

Editorial Reviews

Wagner's debut novel is a labyrinthine saga about warring factions of rats living beneath a human city. Residents of the grim Catacombs are ruled by High Minister Killdeer, a lecherous drunkard who took control after staging a bloody coup and assassinating the beloved Trilok. Now, 11 years later, Loyalists led by a rat named Juniper are plotting to overthrow Killdeer and Billycan (his sadistic second-in-command), liberate the oppressed rats, and bring them to live in the newly constructed, idyllic Nightshade City. Aided by earthworms adept at burrowing tunnels, the Loyalists invade the Catacombs and pull off their mission in a mostly peaceful showdown. Though an abundance of details and ruminations can bog down the action, Wagner has a talent for characterization, and she fills her sprawling cast with compelling villains and heroes. The outcome feels inevitable, yet readers encounter ample bravado, humor, and pathos along the way. Billycan's mysterious disappearance, Juniper's adoption of a foundling infant rat, and a finale that intriguingly recreates the prologue leave open the door for further adventures in Nightshade. It's a door many fantasy fans will enter eagerly. Ages 9–up. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Gr 4–8—Vincent and Victor Nightshade live in the underground rat city known as the Catacombs, home to unusually long-lived and intelligent rats. Their father, Julius Nightshade, was once a leader of the city, but now the evil High Minister Killdeer and his vicious helper, Billycan, have taken control and terrorize its inhabitants, demanding food as tribute and forcing orphans to serve in their army or kitchens. When Vincent and Victor try to escape Killdeer's clutches, they meet Juniper Belancort, a friend of their father, who now leads the resistance against Killdeer. Along with Juniper's niece, Clover, they are drawn into the struggle to free the rats from Killdeer's reign and bring them to a new home, Nightshade City. The three help develop a plan for the rebel rats and their ally earthworms to tunnel into Killdeer's palace and confront him directly, leading to a variety of underground battles. Wagner has created an atmospheric and action-filled tale, and her balance of strong male and female protagonists is appealing. Fans of Erin Hunter's "Warriors" books (HarperCollins) may enjoy the animal action and touch of romance, and the authentic rat and earthworm abilities add to the strength of the story.—Beth L. Meister, Milwaukee Jewish Day School, WI

School Library Journal

Fans of Suzanne Collins's Underland Chronicles and Brian Jacques's Redwall series will enjoy this fast-paced adventure set deep in the Catacombs, where a community of intelligent rats lives in peace and harmony. Or at least they did, until two vicious rats, Killdeer and Billycan, led a coup that turned the democratic society into a dictatorship and its citizens into mistreated and oppressed subjects. Underneath all this misery, however, there is hope. A gang of rebels is creating a new city and welcoming refugee rats into its safety. The fate of the new city rests heavily on three orphans, brothers Victor and Vincent and Clover, a young female who has been secretly educated despite Killdeer's strict rule against educating girls. Can they help the rebels overthrow the tyrants, and can they do it before poor Clover is married off to Killdeer? The themes of love, loss and loyalty resonate through the novel, and the moments of darkness and violence are ultimately overpowered by hope and redemption. A good story well-told.(Animal fantasy. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews