Darkwhispers

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Buy on Amazon Buy on BN.com Buy on Bookshop.org
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app

1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 16 Mar 2021 | Archive Date 28 Feb 2021
W. W. Norton & Company | Norton Young Readers

Talking about this book? Use #Darkwhispers #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!


Description

In this spirited sequel, the Brightstorm twins venture to hidden lands in search of a missing explorer and the secrets he uncovered.

The ragtag crew of Captain Harriet Culpepper is off on another adventure! Ermitage Wrigglesworth, the notable explorer and author, has been reported missing in Stella Oceanus to the east. Twins Arthur and Maudie are eager to answer the call of adventure to find him, but their old nemesis and newly discovered aunt, Eudora Vane, is also on the hunt. As Lontown’s most famous explorer families set sail aboard their sky-ships, it soon becomes clear that Eudora’s not just after the missing explorer. There’s a secret she’s chasing, something Wrigglesworth had discovered before he vanished, something that definitely shouldn’t be in Eudora Vane’s hands. The Aurora’s crew will have to journey to uncover Wrigglesworth’s secret first, and will discover new lands and new friends along the way.

Return to Vashti Hardy’s “marvelously imagined” world (Publishers Weekly) in this sweeping and propulsive follow up to Brightstorm, hailed by the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books as “a novel of grandeur and action.”

About the Author: Vashti Hardy is a children's book author who lives near Brighton, England, with her husband and three teens. She has an honors teaching degree and an MA in creative writing from the University of Chichester.

In this spirited sequel, the Brightstorm twins venture to hidden lands in search of a missing explorer and the secrets he uncovered.

The ragtag crew of Captain Harriet Culpepper is off on another...


Advance Praise

Praise for Brightstorm:

"Enjoyable… Arty’s determination and Maudie’s engineering skills both prove vital in the journey across the varied terrain of Hardy’s marvelously imagined world and its surprising allies, from desert kings to thought wolves." - Publishers Weekly

"A narrative with overtones of both Charles Dickens and Philip Pullman… A ripsnorting yarn." - School Library Journal

"A novel of grandeur and action." - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Hardy has drunk from the same cup as Philip Reeve and Philip Pullman. This is a skillful, gripping and hugely enjoyable account of the bonds that keep families together despite the most awful adversities." - Literary Review

"[A] pacy tale of lies and greed versus loyalty and derring-do." - Guardian

Praise for Brightstorm:

"Enjoyable… Arty’s determination and Maudie’s engineering skills both prove vital in the journey across the varied terrain of Hardy’s marvelously imagined world and its...


Available Editions

EDITION Hardcover
ISBN 9781324015956
PRICE $18.95 (USD)

Available on NetGalley

NetGalley Shelf App (PDF)
Send to Kindle (PDF)

Average rating from 7 members


Featured Reviews

Vashti Hardy has done a spectacular job of world building in this series. The technology of the airships and the places to which they travel create the kind of world many young readers will probably want to travel to themselves. I appreciate that Darkwhispers doesn't shy away from handling the difficult task of talking about death and grief. The author allows his characters to feel real emotions and sometimes just not be okay. I also love the family dynamic between everyone aboard the Aurora. I'm really hoping future books take us back to Erythea and the people we got to meet there. Obviously we have not yet seen the last of Eudora and I still look forward to seeing her get her comeuppance, Very much looking forward to the next book in the series!

Was this review helpful?

I received an electronic ARC from W. W. Norton & Company through NetGalley.
This sequel could stand on its own but also works well to build on the first adventure. Arthur and Maudie now live with Harriet Culpepper and her crew. They are planning for the next adventure when Eudora Vane crosses their paths again. This time it's a challenge for all of the families to work together to locate a missing explorer. With a Hardy book, there is always more going on than the obvious portions of the plot. Readers come along on this adventure to search for new lads and meet new friends. The characters continue to reveal more about themselves throughout the story. The descriptions of the various locations make readers feel they are walking there also. There is a death toward the end and though handled sensitively, readers will join the grief other characters feel. Touching ending with one more interconnection.
Looking forward to the next adventure.

Was this review helpful?

Hardy has done a masterful job of world building with characters you just want to cry for and cheer on. I had not read the first book in the series, Brightstorm, and when I started this book I kinda felt a little lost so I stopped and borrowed Brightstorm from my local library. I am really glad I did because it added so much more depth and understanding of the characters and I was way more invested in them and the adventures than if I had only read this second book. If you have a sensitive middle grade reader beware as these two stories will really pull at their heart strings and they may need a few hugs, I know I did.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC to read for a an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

2nd in the Brightstorm series, Darkwhipsers follows Arthur and Maudie as they adventure out looking for Ermitage Wrigglesworth, who disappeared into the Wide while searching for the mythical fourth continent. Maudie is the inventor and engineer, but Arthur is observant and good at reading people. Arthur thinks that Ermitage left clues behind. He thinks that he saw a bear-like creature with gills, and he suspects that people on an island in Stella Oceana are covering up the truth about Ermitage. He’s right about all of it. Now Arthur is an accidental stowaway on the Culpepper ship, stolen by Eudora Vane, and things are about to get stranger and more dangerous.

I would suggest reading Brightstorm first if possible. This adventure can stand on its own, but there are references to Thought Wolves and South Polaris from the first book without a lot of recap, and that might bother some readers. Plus, the first book is worth the read.
Fans of A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat and Girl with the Dragon Heart by Stephanie Burgis will enjoy this imaginative world.

Was this review helpful?

Readers who liked this book also liked: