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Summary
Summary
Click here to download and listen to an excerpt from Larklight
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 unexpectedly, it is far from an innocent social call. Before long Art and Myrtle are off on an adventure to the farthest 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...
An adventure as big as the universe!
Reviews
"Reeve's humor is oh-so-British and utterly entertaining...and Wyatt's full-page pen-and-inks and spot illustrations enhance the sense of delight. The climax is an absolute hoot, and leaves the door wide open for any number of sequels."- Publishers Weekly , starred review
"The glory of Empire meets Star Trek in this space fantasy-picaresque that Edgar Rice Burroughs would have loved. ...Art, the quintessential boy, narrates this rip-roaring adventure, allowing his very ladylike sister's diary to fill in the holes when they are separated, and the interplay between the two is priceless in itself. Jolly good fun, all around."-Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"This wildly imaginative sci-fi pirate adventure has tongue-in-cheek humor and social commentary on accepting those who are different, among other things. ...Reeve's cinematic prose describes his fantastic universe while also conveying a Victorian sensibility. Whimsical, detailed black-and-white illustrations enhance the text. Readers will eagerly suspend disbelief; they will be riveted by the exciting plot's twists and turns as our heroes face death-defying adventures and narrow escapes, all at a frenetic pace. As Art would declare, 'Huz
Author Notes
Philip Reeve worked in a bookshop and produced and directed several theater projects before embarking on a career as an illustrator and a writer. His first novel, Mortal Engines , was shortlisted for the Whitbread Children's Book Award and won the GOLD Nestle Smarties book prize. He lives in Devon, England, with his wife and their son.
David Wyatt has illustrated books and covers for authors including Terry Pratchett, Philip Pullman, Diana Wynne-Jones, Alan Garner, and J. R. R. Tolkien. He lives in Devon, England.
Reviews (6)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Reeve (the Hungry City Chronicles) evidently has a fascination with giant, mobile structures, but here he turns his considerable talent to a whimsical story of Victorian houses floating in space, a Jules Verne-like concoction filtered through the sensibilities of Douglas Adams. Art and Myrtle live with their scientist father in a "shapeless, ramshackle, drafty, lonely sort of house" called Larklight. After fleeing an attack from space spiders, the siblings, adrift on a lifeboat, find themselves on the moon, then aboard the ship of legendary pirate Jack Havock. Readers travel a lot of very strange ground, from the Changeling Trees of Venus and their poisonous pollen, to the offices of the Royal Xenological Institute. Art and Jack discover that the spiders were in fact man's precursors in this universe, and the mad Dr. Ptarmigan is working to help the arachnids reclaim it. Larklight itself is a key piece of the puzzle, as is Art's mother, who was presumed dead and who turns out to be alive and much, much older than anyone suspected ("I was a Dinosaur for a while so invigorating!"). Reeve's humor is oh-so-British and utterly entertaining (the moon is "actually a bit of a dump"; Uranus has been renamed Georgium Sidum because "it provides less opportunity for cheap jokes"), and Wyatt's full-page pen-and-inks and spot illustrations enhance the sense of delight. The climax is an absolute hoot, and leaves the door wide open for any number of sequels. Ages 10-up. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Intermediate, Middle School) Art Mumby and his prim older sister Myrtle reside with their father in the nineteenth-century British manor of Larklight, leading quiet, proper lives-except for one unexpected detail. In this alternate universe, Britain has colonized the solar system (and its often squishy, spiny, or rainbow-colored inhabitants) as well as the planet, and Larklight drifts through the ""aether"" of space. Then elephant-sized space-spiders attack, capturing Art and Myrtle's father, and the two escape to stiff-upper-lip their way through space thugs, rescue plans, and startling discoveries about why the spiders are after them. Abetting this madcap quest are teenage pirate Jack Havock and his motley crew of extraterrestrials. Reeve has a gift for conveying both the pathos and the humor of every predicament: as Art notes of a female crewmate, ""It must be quite lonely enough to have hatched from a mysterious space egg and be the only creature of your kind in the known aether; how much lonelier to love someone of a different species, to whom you are just a blue lizard."" Reeve (with the aid of expressive line drawings scattered throughout), details his surreal, appealing universe with verve and wit. A genre-defying work that melds deadpan comedy, anti-colonial political satire, sci-fi epic, and pirate caper with aplomb, this deliciously imaginative romp will more than satisfy fans of Reeve's Hungry City Chronicles. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Arthur (Art) and Myrtle Mumby's space-fantasy adventure begins at Larklight, an ancient structure that orbits Earth. Attacked one day in 1851 by spiderlike creatures, they escape, only to be marooned on the moon, where they are captured by a moth and encased in jars containing voracious larvae. Freed by a band of extraterrestrial pirates led by young human Jack Havock, they fall into many wild adventures and encounter a mad scientist helping the spider creatures destroy life in the solar system. Robots, aliens, famous explorers, and hoverhogs also play a role in this rollicking heroic romp, which resonates with Victorian England's mores. Reflecting Victorian custom, chapter subheads are long and descriptive, with Wyatt's amazingly detailed illustrations furthering the effect. Both the story line and the language demonstrate Reeve's respect for his readership. Kids can look forward to more adventures, though narrator Arthur is off to have a nice buttered muffin and a cup of tea first. --Diana Herald Copyright 2006 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 6-10-Philip Reeve's novel (Bloomsbury, 2006) combines historical fiction, fantasy, and science fiction into a charming story that young listeners will devour. Art and his sister Myrtle are British youngsters living with their father at Larklight during the reign of Queen Victoria. However, in this alternate Victorian era, Britain controls not only most of Earth-including the American colonies-but also Venus, Mars, and the moons of Jupiter. Larklight is a home that hangs just beyond the moon. Art is happy living in the suburbs of the solar system, but his priggish sister longs for the excitement of London's social scene. When giant spiders attack their home and their father disappears, the siblings are tossed onto a lifeboat and float through the ether until they are rescued by young space pirate with a grudge against the Empire. This Victorian Star Wars trio hurtles through space battling robots, aliens, and a loony scientist. Narrator Greg Steinbruner's British-accented narration helps American listeners understand the wordy English prose, but be sure to have a copy of the book available so listeners don't miss out on the quirky illustrations. The story is complete in itself, but more adventures are promised.-Tricia Melgaard, Centennial Middle School, Broken Arrow, OK (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Guardian Review
There have been some memorable opening lines in children's books in recent years, and one which instantly springs to mind is: "It was a dark, blustery afternoon in spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-out bed of the old North Sea," from Philip Reeve's debut novel, Mortal Engines . A good opening line isn't a copper-bottomed guarantee of a good book to follow. Readers of Reeve needn't have worried, though. The books in the ensuing quartet went on to win critical acclaim, numerous fans, and many awards, including the 2006 Guardian children's fiction prize. And now, for slightly younger children, we have Larklight , Reeve's new offering, "decorated throughout by David Wyatt" (who was responsible for the stupendous silhouette illustrations in Geraldine McCaughrean's Peter Pan in Scarlet ). The high ratio of pictures to text, the illustrative style Wyatt employs, and the alternative Victorian world of Heath-Robinson-like contraptions cannot help but lead to comparisons with Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell's award- winning Far-Flung Adventures . The hardbacks are even in the same unusual format. Larklight also brings to mind, in look and feel, those very British science fiction films of the 1960s, such as The First Men in the Moon and The Time Machine The story, however, is pure Reeve. On the copyright page, we are informed "The pages of this volume are impregnated with Snagsby's Patent Folio-dubbin to preserve them against the depredations of space moth and paper bats". The caption to an illustration of the instructions in a lifeboat reads: "Passages from the BIBLE provided may be read to keep spirits up, or until the air has expired." The endpapers of the book are cod advertisements for everything from McNamara's Exhaust-Trumpet Enamel Restorer to Whilkins Efficacious Linctus. There's no doubting a lot of fun was had creating this epic. It's inventive, reassur ingly old-fashioned and, most importantly, the pages are also impregnated with Reeve's Patent Master Storytelling Techniques. I was quickly won over. This unlikely romp is narrated by one Art Mumby, an interesting choice of name when one assumes that an author steeped in Victoriana must be well aware of the extraordinary Victorian gentleman Arthur Mumby; he of the secret mistress (later wife) Hannah Cullwick, and their rather strange collection of photographs. Reeve's Mumby, however, is a young lad who lives with his sister Myrtle in Larklight, a house (of sorts) orbiting the Moon. Once Larklight is invaded by the many-legged Mr Webster (note the name), they flee and begin a series of adventures with the notorious - and surprisingly young - pirate Captain Jack Havock. Mumby's universe doesn't quite follow the physical laws of our own, and the history of space travel is also somewhat different. Venus would be quite habitable by humans (if it weren't for those troublesome spores) and breathing on the Moon, which was claimed for Queen Anne by Captain Frobisher in 1703, is straightforward enough. In a wonderful nod in the direction of HG Wells, Reeve has humans observing the Martians from across the gulf of space, before the Duke of Marlborough finally brings "civilisation" to their planet. There is a moment of revelation concerning the villainous Sir Waverley Rain which is straight out of Men in Black , but I strongly suspect that Reeve has never seen the film and came up with the idea quite independently. A nod in the direction of Star Trek , however, was obviously intended. Satisfying, enjoyable and engaging. Mr Reeve has done it again. Philip Ardagh is the author of the Eddie Dickens adventures and the Unlikely Exploits series (Faber). To order Larklight for pounds 11.99 with free UK p&p call Guardian book service on 0870 836 0875. Caption: article-ardagh.1 This unlikely romp is narrated by one Art Mumby, an interesting choice of name when one assumes that an author steeped in Victoriana must be well aware of the extraordinary Victorian gentleman Arthur Mumby; he of the secret mistress (later wife) Hannah Cullwick, and their rather strange collection of photographs. [Reeve]'s Mumby, however, is a young lad who lives with his sister Myrtle in Larklight, a house (of sorts) orbiting the Moon. Once Larklight is invaded by the many-legged Mr Webster (note the name), they flee and begin a series of adventures with the notorious - and surprisingly young - pirate Captain Jack Havock. - Philip Ardagh.
Kirkus Review
The glory of Empire meets Star Trek in this space fantasy-picaresque that Edgar Rice Burroughs would have loved. Staunch British citizens Art Mumby and older sister Myrtle live in Larklight, a free-floating home just on the other side of the Moon. When giant white spiders invade and attack their father, the two escape, propelled into a series of adventures that bring them into contact with Jack Havock, teen pirate, his crew of xenomorphs upon the aether-ship Sophronia, Sir Richard Burton, agent of Her Majesty's Secret Service on Mars and Thunderhead, the vast intelligence that is the Red Spot of Jupiter. Reeve brilliantly creates a world where the environs of space are governed by credibly 19th-century assumptions: Interplanetary travel takes place in wooden vessels; the aether has enough oxygen for our dauntless characters to breathe; and a panoply of whimsical aliens populates the solar system. Art, the quintessential boy, narrates this rip-roaring adventure, allowing his very ladylike sister's diary to fill in the holes when they are separated, and the interplay between the two is priceless in itself. Jolly good fun, all around. (Fiction. 10-14) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
