Larklight: A Book Review

Title: Larklight: A Rousing Tale of Dauntless Pluck in the Farthest Reaches of Space AKA: The Revenge of the White Spiders! or To Saturn's Rings and Back!

Author: Philip Reeve

Genre: Steampunk :D

Reading Level: 9 and up

Summary: Arthur (Art) Mumby 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 known universe.

My Review: This reminded me a bit of a light hearted episode of Doctor Who. Which coming from me is a huge compliment. Probably the reason it reminds me of Doctor Who is because they're both British...is that a legitimate reason? Do all British sci-fi books/movies/tv shows have a similar feel? I'm not sure. But I did enjoy this book. It was very zany, and very fun. I wouldn't actually say any of the characters we're memorable, because most of them I did not care for. I liked Art well enough and his narration throughout the story was very humorous. His sister Myrtle got on my nerves and I wouldn't have minded seeing her chucked out of an aether ship. But the real gem would have to be the story because I thought it was fantastic. I loved their travel's through space, and learning about all the different creatures, and how they worked their aether ships. Mr. Reeve's creates some really interesting alien life forms, one of my favorites being the changeling tree's.
Since this book is set in the mid 1800 it's very funny how Mr. Reeve's captures the thinking of that time period. There was an undertone of prejudice coming from some of the characters toward alien life forms and way of life, and British empires need to civilize the creatures they considered savage. Those part's struck a cord in my brain, I've noticed in a good majority of modern historical fiction I've read the main characters are always so forward thinking and without prejudice, and it always felt a bit false, even though I know not everyone was prejudice back then. Also, what's with spiders? Why must they always be evil?!! I personally love spiders. Anyway it was a fun ride, and I really think Hollywood should consider this in their future line up of books into movies.
Content: Bleeped out bad words. That was somewhat humorous.
Rating: 4 star's out of 5
Recommend: For young steampunk and sci-fi fans, and anyone who likes British humor.