Hardcover

A fun end novel to this trilogy, keeping the heart of the series to the end. Though it seems impossible, there is still more new material to be revealed and explored in this installment.

Art, his sister, and the rest of their family and friends are called once more to save the known solar system. Interrupted during Christmas, the Mumbys are informed of a strange, unidentified black cloud that is slowly encroaching on the solar system from beyond Uranus Georgium Sidus. At the same time, two Britons have gone missing upon that planet, and have sent out a strange distress signal. But when it is revealed that the cloud is actually a legion of giant moths and their mysterious riders come to invade the British space empire, it will be up to everyone to bravely join forces one more time.

Many loose plot points come to play a main role in this novel, and all the characters return just as fun as ever. The end wraps everything up quite nicely, if a little quickly. I'll miss these characters and this imaginative take on light steampunk. ( )

Fluffy, but clever. I laughed aloud at one of the footnotes. These books are all somehow inconsistent, but it is possible that the reason I don't really get into Terry Pratchet's books generally is for similar reasons. If you like Terry Pratchet's work, or particularly Terry Pratchet's books for children, you might like these as well.

Mar 2017: Much more fun the second time around, reminded me of Pratchett not at all. ( )

Having defeated giant spiders, moobs, and mind-controlling hats, not to mention finding their millenia-old mother and restoring her to health, you would think the adventures of Art and Myrtle would be over. But they're not! The plucky young boy and his refined elder sister are back, this time to save the British empire and the known universe from giant moths, an insane demi-god, and alien invaders.

For fans of neo-Victorian fiction, Lemony Snicket, Howard Whitehouse, humor, and steampunk, this is an excellent finale to the Larklight trilogy.

Verdict: It is an enduring sorrow to me that there aren't more fans of this delightful trilogy *pout*. I have plenty of Snicket fans, but I am woefully short of fans willing and eager to read Snicketish books. Sigh. If you have the fans, buy them!

ISBN: 978-1599903933; Published October 2008 by Bloomsbury; Borrowed from the library; Purchased for the library

This is the third, and I believe last, book in the Larklight series by Philip Reeve. This was an excellent book. Full of funny space travel, dangerous battles, and the wonderful characters that I loved from the first two books. I listened to this book on audio book, and it was very well done. You wouldn't have to read the first two books to enjoy this book, but the first two do add a lot of background story that would make parts of this book more meaningful.

A message about "Danger to the known world" is received from the depths of space near Georgium Sidus (also known as Uranus by us more uncouth peoples). This is coupled by the appearance of a strange cloud near the planet. Well, off our adventurers go exploring. What they find is something to rival their Mother, another shaper, but this shaper is hell bent on taking over all of known British space.

Most of the story is told from Art's perspective. As with the last two novels, Myrtle takes over at certain parts to give her perspective on things. The whole story is told with the same over-the-top British bent to it as the previous two books. We get to add another wonderful character to the story in Charity, whom Art greatly admires.

The action is non-stop in this adventure, there are numerous battles fought. Slissa finally gets to find her origins. This was another wonderful book. It is full of biting humor and reminds a lot of The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy, but in Victorian times and for younger readers. The pictures sprinkled throughout the book are wonderful too and add a lot to the story (I did listen to it on audio book, but then I acquired the book in hardback to keep on my shelf).

I think that this book should appeal to a wide audience. There are some scary bits, but violence is kept to a minimum and the language is all very polite. I really loved this series and am a bit sad that this is the last book. This book does do a good job of bringing the storyline to a closure though. So if you like adventure, space, British humor, steampunk, or pirates this is the book for you; no matter what your age. ( )