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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?).
melerihaf's review against another edition
5.0
I listened to this book on tape while I was in withdrawal from a medication on Christmas Eve. This book got me through. It was clever and funny and written just like a Victorian novel. Just because it has robots and aliens...But yeah. So much fun.
deannah's review against another edition
3.0
This was a fun book to listen too--an alternate fantastical history. (Does it qualify as steam punk? I am not sure).
aimee70807's review against another edition
3.0
A beautifully imagined world (especially with the illustrations), but I'm always disappointed with books where all of the drama is exterior, with no real character growth. Airborn is vastly preferable.
raehink's review against another edition
4.0
Art and his sister Myrtle, who live in an extremely fun steampunk world, battle to save Larklight, their mansion in space. Great fun. Wonderful illustrations.
caroline_reads's review against another edition
DNR beyond 84 pages. Enjoyable and fun, but for children in KS2 rather than YA fans.