Larklight:A Rousing Tale of Dauntless Pluck
in the Farthest Reaches of Space
by Philip Reeve
illustrated by David Wyatt
Published: 2006
Genre: Steampunk, Action, Scifi, YA
Paperback: 416 pages
Rating: 5
Teaser:
I felt giddy with excitement as I lurked behind the knots of pipework, waiting to see the rogue alchemist whom Jack Havock must employ.
But to my surprise, blue Ssilissa was the only other being in the chamber. I watched with growing amazement as she pulled on a a heavy leather apron and gauntlets, and lowered smoked glass goggles over her eyes. Then she stooped over the alembic, and opened the thick access doorway in its top - but what she did there I could not see, for a blinding light filled the wedding chamber and a strange sort of music began.
-chapter 6, page 79
Description from the amazon:
Arthur (Art) Mumsby and his irritating sister Myrtle live with their father in a huge and rambling house called Larklight…that just happens to be traveling through outer space.
When a visitor called Mr. Webster arrives for a visit, it is far from an innocent social call. Before long Art and Myrtle are off on an adventure to the furthest reaches of space, where they will do battle with evil forces in order to save each other—and the universe.
A fantastically original Victorian tale set in an outer space world that might have come from the imaginations of Jules Verne or L Frank Baum, but has a unique gravitational pull all its own…
My two-bits:
In-a-word(s): old ones
Such a delightful YA steampunkish book!
vacuums of the future
This action story weaves outer space, aliens, sea-like creatures, steampunk and victorian culture which suprisingly work well together!
Those who love the gadgets and gizmos of steampunk will love the glimpses of them in this story.
I was tickled by the illustrations in this book. They had the right amount of fantasy, whimsy and vintage victorian.
Ready for book 2, oh yeah!
Series:
Larklight
Starcross
Mothstorm
