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bibliocat4's review against another edition
3.0
I loved all the strange characters in this book and the young narrator "stealing" bits from his sister's diary!
trickstertao's review against another edition
4.0
This is a fantastic little steampunk novel. The scale of travel grand, the style classic and the scientific means obscured. I found the narrator's constant footnotes a great way to take a biased author and make him even more opinionated. Aside from the plot that is 1 part silly and 1 part classic adventure there are tiny little added gems. The history of the world in this book is so full that every now and then there are throw away lines about how the idea of aliens clashes with their sensibilities because of religion. If you're looking for hard steampunk try [book:The Difference Engine]. If you want something a bit more akin to a pulp adventure then this is it.
ozshark's review against another edition
4.0
Larklight is a steampunk novel written by Philip Reeve and first published in 2006. Philip Reeve is a famous children's/ young adult author, most known for his Mortal Engines series. Steampunk is a genre that blends science fiction/fantasy elements with technology inspired by steam-powered inventions of the 19th Century. Consequently, what we end up with is a novel that feels old-fashioned and yet futuristic at the same time. Larklight is the first book in a trilogy, set during the 19th Century, yet imagining a world where space travel and exploration are possible and indeed common place.
Larklight mainly concerns the adventures of Art and Myrtle Mumby, two very British children who live with their father in orbit of the moon. Art is a normal young boy, hungry for adventure, annoyed by his sister, yet protective of her as well. Myrtle is a young girl taken straight out of the pages of Pride and Prejudice, very concerned with how to be a proper lady and wishing she could be part of high society.
When they receive news of an impending visitor, little do the Mumby's realise that this will set into motion a chain of events that will take them across the far reaches of the solar system. Along the way, they encounter giant white spiders from Saturn, space pirates and a plot to overthrow the entire British Empire. As well as this Art encounters "sights too stomach-turning for even the bravest British boy to contemplate"!
This is an excellent novel, full of adventure, humour and blending the old fashioned with the futuristic wonderfully. As Larklight is mainly just a good old-fashioned adventure, there aren't many themes to explore, although it does address the meaning of family, the importance of being yourself and to not judge others just based on the outside.
Highly recommended. Huzzah!
Note: this review is much longer than usual as it is an example for my class to follow
Larklight mainly concerns the adventures of Art and Myrtle Mumby, two very British children who live with their father in orbit of the moon. Art is a normal young boy, hungry for adventure, annoyed by his sister, yet protective of her as well. Myrtle is a young girl taken straight out of the pages of Pride and Prejudice, very concerned with how to be a proper lady and wishing she could be part of high society.
When they receive news of an impending visitor, little do the Mumby's realise that this will set into motion a chain of events that will take them across the far reaches of the solar system. Along the way, they encounter giant white spiders from Saturn, space pirates and a plot to overthrow the entire British Empire. As well as this Art encounters "sights too stomach-turning for even the bravest British boy to contemplate"!
This is an excellent novel, full of adventure, humour and blending the old fashioned with the futuristic wonderfully. As Larklight is mainly just a good old-fashioned adventure, there aren't many themes to explore, although it does address the meaning of family, the importance of being yourself and to not judge others just based on the outside.
Highly recommended. Huzzah!
Note: this review is much longer than usual as it is an example for my class to follow
charlottejones952's review against another edition
4.0
I have to admit, that this took me longer to read than most books because the first half was quite slow paced. It took me a while to get into the world of the story and to connect with any of the characters. My favourite thing about this book was definitely the characters and creatures created by Philip Reeve. I particularly liked Jack Havock, the young pirate, as I found that the reader got given the most back story on him and his past, and this really fleshed him out as a character and made the reader sympathise with him a lot more than with any of the others. On the other hand, Myrtle was really irritating throughout most of the book and was a bit contradictory in parts as she claimed to want to be a proper lady but then was very impolite and insensitive at some points. However, I felt that she really grew as the story progressed and I really liked that some of the chapters were from her point of view.
I have never read anything else by Philip Reeve, and although, like with a lot of children’s fiction, he seemed to use too many exclamation marks, I found the descriptive writing style really suited the book.
This novel was mostly told from Art’s point of view, but in the second half, his chapters are intertwined with chapters containing passages from Myrtle’s diary. This allowed the reader to get to know each of the characters and the way that they were feeling and reacting to their situation from their own perspectives and I really enjoyed that.
I really enjoyed this book towards the end and although parts of it were a bit slow-paced, I found the action-packed ending really finished the story off well and all of the plot points were tied off perfectly. Knowing that this is the first book in a series, I was a bit dubious going into it whether or not it would finish in a way that meant you would have to read the sequels to get all of the relevant information to finish the story, but I feel that this would be great as a standalone novel.
I have to say that the illustrations in this book really make this a more fantastical read as they completely fit in with the text and enhance the story beyond just the words.
Overall, I would give Larklight by Philip Reeve 4 out of 5 stars and would definitely recommend it to younger children and YA readers that enjoy adventure, steampunk and science-fiction.
I have never read anything else by Philip Reeve, and although, like with a lot of children’s fiction, he seemed to use too many exclamation marks, I found the descriptive writing style really suited the book.
This novel was mostly told from Art’s point of view, but in the second half, his chapters are intertwined with chapters containing passages from Myrtle’s diary. This allowed the reader to get to know each of the characters and the way that they were feeling and reacting to their situation from their own perspectives and I really enjoyed that.
I really enjoyed this book towards the end and although parts of it were a bit slow-paced, I found the action-packed ending really finished the story off well and all of the plot points were tied off perfectly. Knowing that this is the first book in a series, I was a bit dubious going into it whether or not it would finish in a way that meant you would have to read the sequels to get all of the relevant information to finish the story, but I feel that this would be great as a standalone novel.
I have to say that the illustrations in this book really make this a more fantastical read as they completely fit in with the text and enhance the story beyond just the words.
Overall, I would give Larklight by Philip Reeve 4 out of 5 stars and would definitely recommend it to younger children and YA readers that enjoy adventure, steampunk and science-fiction.
ariereads's review against another edition
3.0
A lot of fun - and I really liked the cheeky references to classic sci-fi, especially H.G Wells!
dashie's review against another edition
5.0
Why haven't any of my Goodread friends read anything written by the amazing wordsmith?!?!
RE-EVALUATE YOUR CHILDHOOD YOU LEMON FLAVOURED CHICKEN DRUMLETS!!!!!!
RE-EVALUATE YOUR CHILDHOOD YOU LEMON FLAVOURED CHICKEN DRUMLETS!!!!!!
wealhtheow's review against another edition
2.0
It is the mid-nineteenth century, Queen Victoria is on the throne, and the British Empire stretches into the stars. With their absent-minded father for their only human company, Arthur and Myrtle live in a ramshackle house named Larklight floating in deep space. But then giant spiders invade Larklight and kidnap their father, and Art and Myrtle barely escape. They join up with a pirate crew led by the notorious Captain Jack Havock and have a number of thrilling adventures whilst evading the spiders.
I really, really wanted to like this book. The illustrations are charming, and the combination of steampunk and ya should make this book a slam-dunk. Reeve has created a universe filled with sentient storms on Saturn, a plague that turns people into trees, ships powered by alchemical weddings...It's imaginative, though a little heavy-handed. But it just didn't work for me.
The main problem I had was the characters. From the very start, Art continually jibes at his sister for being so prissy and priggish. Turns out, the author didn't like the sister much either. Myrtle is unbelievably awful, in this very specific way that only female characters are. She keeps asking Art what's going to happen next and demanding he reassure her--even though she's years older! They get rescued from certain death by pirates, and she complains that the pirate ship is dirty. She gets kidnapped by obvious villains and thinks that just because they have nice linen they must be good. Running from more certain death, she refuses to run across the villains' lawn because it has a "keep off the grass" sign. She whines constantly. She saves the day literally completely by accident. And then she and the Peter Pan-type character fall into each others' arms, for no reason I can discern.
If I hadn't been so annoyed with Myrtle, the plot would still have frustrated me. It's a series of set pieces, all culminating in a deus-ex-machina. I don't think I was worried for even a single paragraph. Disappointing!
I really, really wanted to like this book. The illustrations are charming, and the combination of steampunk and ya should make this book a slam-dunk. Reeve has created a universe filled with sentient storms on Saturn, a plague that turns people into trees, ships powered by alchemical weddings...It's imaginative, though a little heavy-handed. But it just didn't work for me.
The main problem I had was the characters. From the very start, Art continually jibes at his sister for being so prissy and priggish. Turns out, the author didn't like the sister much either. Myrtle is unbelievably awful, in this very specific way that only female characters are. She keeps asking Art what's going to happen next and demanding he reassure her--even though she's years older! They get rescued from certain death by pirates, and she complains that the pirate ship is dirty. She gets kidnapped by obvious villains and thinks that just because they have nice linen they must be good. Running from more certain death, she refuses to run across the villains' lawn because it has a "keep off the grass" sign. She whines constantly. She saves the day literally completely by accident. And then she and the Peter Pan-type character fall into each others' arms, for no reason I can discern.
If I hadn't been so annoyed with Myrtle, the plot would still have frustrated me. It's a series of set pieces, all culminating in a deus-ex-machina. I don't think I was worried for even a single paragraph. Disappointing!
dkeane2007's review against another edition
4.0
An entertaining young adult novel that takes the British empire into space. I laughed the whole way through it.
wanderonwards's review against another edition
4.0
3.5/5
A fun alt-Victorian steampunk space adventure. I originally read this years ago and could see how middle grade me would have loved this book. However, this time around I didn't really care for either Art or Myrtle until most the way through the story and disliked the frequent, casual references to colonialism and British exceptionalism (I know, this story is entirely fictional and was published in 2006 - but if the characters can breathe in open space just fine, why not also change some of the social constructs of the time?).
A fun alt-Victorian steampunk space adventure. I originally read this years ago and could see how middle grade me would have loved this book. However, this time around I didn't really care for either Art or Myrtle until most the way through the story and disliked the frequent, casual references to colonialism and British exceptionalism (I know, this story is entirely fictional and was published in 2006 - but if the characters can breathe in open space just fine, why not also change some of the social constructs of the time?).