Century Paperback – 7 Mar. 2005

This is the story of Mercy and Charity, two young girls who live with their father in a large house called Century. The girls have never questioned their day to day routine - or rather night to night, as they sleep during the daylight hours and are awake during the night. Each day to them is much like the one before; they have breakfast, they have lessons and Mercy takes a walk around the grounds under the moonlight. But one day things beging to change. The catalyst for setting everything into action is when Mercy finds a snowdrop underneath her pillow - a sign of the spring, something the girls have not experienced for what seems like an eternity. Mercy also sees ghosts aound the house, but one particular sighting unsettles Mercy the most - the lady under the ice in the pond. From here, Mercy then meets a stranger, Claudius, who tells her that things are going to change. He gives her the hope of seeing her dead mother again, for one. So, what is the secret that surrounds Mercy and her world? And, if she discovers this, can she endure the changes that it will ultimately bring?This is an excellent story for both young adults and children alike. There is plenty of suspense and mystery, and the storyline is very original. There are touches of magic, but this is not the most important aspect of the book. Instead, it is perhaps an examination of relationships and what it means to have a personal history. Singleton has done an excellent job at developing the characters, making them seem real and complex.CENTURY has plenty to recommend it, along with the touch of magic, there is also a touch of horror (I saw an influence from "Frankenstein"). A recommended read - although it is a short book, I am sure it'll stay with you after you have finished it.

My all-time favourite book in the world. Gothic, supernatural and incredible, Century appeals to adults and teenagers alike. I loved it as a girl and I love it possibly even more now. I must've read it over ten times. It's a short read and it's jam packed with absolute, intense brilliance.If you can buy it, DO buy it.

I'm quite shocked at the amount of positive and glowing reviews this book is getting. I've been looking forward to reading this book for quite a while now, although it's been sitting on my shelf for quite a while before I got around to it.I know it sounds quite bad but I bought this based on the cover. It's really spooky and the blurb really intrigued me. I was trying to figure out what it could possibly be about and mentally exploring the house.The characters are quite well written and the main character, Mercy, was a great character. Who could see ghosts and regularly did so. She had a younger sister, her grouchy old father, a tutor/governess and the housekeeper. They're stuck in a house where they sleep during the day, going to bed at sunrise and getting up at sunset.I hear you all thinking that it's another vampire book, that appeared in their hundreds after the success of Twilight. Wrong. I thought it too. There's no vampires in this. I promise. There's definitely no sign of drinking blood.The first fifty or so pages are good. It shows Mercy and everyone going about their day to day lives, whilst everything appears very repetitive. The children don't get older. They don't remember when their birthdays are. They have no concept of the passing of time. Each day blends into each other, in the perpetually darkened house.Enter the mysterious Claudius. This, in my personal opinion, is where the book completely lost any semblance of what it was supposed to be. It's like the author had an absolute mish mash of ideas, none which really fit together, or could be woven into a sense making story - but she decided to anyway. What she should have done is expanded each idea a little more and maybe got a better book out of it in the end.I can honestly say, I have no idea what happened after Claudius appeared. There was a whole mess of ideas and thoughts thrown at the reader, and it felt like the author was trying to cram too much into a short book. I kept reading and managed to pick up the occasional thread of storyline but by the time I finished the book, I was more frustrated than anything else.Because the book is so difficult to follow, I found the ending didn't really have the punch it was supposed to have. There's a feeling of relief that it's over and you can put it away and forget about it. Will I be picking up another book by the same author? No unfortunately not. And I'm disappointed in myself for saying that. It's a nice quick and easy read, but incomprehensible.

Brilliant little book that I have now read several times. It gets better with each reading. A few bits might be too scary for young readers. It feels deeply meaningful. Note: There really is a book called The Enchanter's Daughter if you look it up (though I haven't read it yet). Overall I love it.

This is the first in what I think of as a trilogy, Century, Heretic and Sacrifice (and perhaps Poison Garden as a coda) of increasingly metaphysical and complex adventures. This one though is essentially about grief, or mourning, and as the father of a fairly recently bereaved twelve year old, I thought it was worth a try (I myself having read it when it some years ago). Despite some longeurs, it proved to be a testing and appropriate read. It is very much about death, though there are enough other elements to make Mercy's quest exciting. And the look of delight on my daugher's face at the denouement was worth every bit of what was sometimes a bit of a struggle. This may not be a book for everyone, but the author's skill and insight has much to recommend it to those who want something a bit different from the kind of quests that most YA fiction seems to be about. And though they are not in fact a trilogy, you are in for a treat as Heretic and finally the wonderful Sacrifice come along.