Black Powder and Moonlight ebook | Melanie Winter | 9780987211033

Disappearing children, ghostly Moon Drinkers, a dark menacing stranger and a young Muddle detective determined to find her friends, combine in this unique, funny and imaginative adventure.

The tranquility of Muddlemarsh is shattered when Kite, a young Muddle pilot, disappears one night closely followed by a young Beadle, Alexander, and Dot, a bright young Myrmidot.  Poke, the Muddle detective, will not rest until she finds her best friend Kite and sets out to investigate the mystery. 

Do the strange, eerie beings who seem to appear from nowhere have something to do with the children vanishing? And are they somehow connected to the tall, menacing stranger who stalks the Muddles?

In the midst of the chaotic Muddle world, where no one is what they seem to be, it is up to the brave young Muddles to save the day. But no one in Muddlemarsh is prepared for what is in store.

The first book in the Moon Shiver series.

For readers 9-12.

Review

Black Powder and Moonlight and The Moon Drinkers are the first two of four books in a series called The Moon Shiver.  In these books we meet again the three peoples who live in The Land, a world created in another series by Alan Skinner (Blue Fire and Ice, Furnaces of Forge).

The Land contains three societies, the Beadles, Muddles and Myrmidots. These peoples are vividly imagined: the Beadles are very good at organizing, the Myrmidots make ingenious gadgets, and the unpredictable Muddles enjoy coffee and being distracted.  The Muddles also have one fascinating trait called the Mix: when a special cloud passes over the sun, they automatically swap parts of their bodies with other Muddles.

In Black Powder and Moonlight one member of each group is captured by Wissen, a suitably horrible villain who plans to use the Mix to create a person formed from the characteristics of all three.  Kite, Alexander and Dot however, with a little help from Poke and the other Muddles, work together to escape, and to foil his evil plan.  In The Moon Drinkers the Muddles learn that mysterious beings, the stuff of legends, are not necessarily dangerous, even if first appearances deceive.

The Moon Shiver series is full of delightful characters: the Muddles inhabit a world which is charming in its rustic simplicity and relaxed pace of life, and it is easy to like such easy-going, kindly individuals.  The books are well worth reading, but it would be advisable to read the first two books together, because although the Moon Drinkers appear to be the main point of the plot at the beginning of Book One, their story is incomplete until Book Two.
Armadillo.com

Melanie Winter has qualifications in science and health, and spent her professional life in the fields of healthcare. Her alter ego is a very talented writer and games designer with a passion for books and words.