Larklight

At first, Larklight sounds like a perfectly normal vacation house.  Myrtle's playing the piano and Art wants to see the delivery boat come in.  By the end of the third page, however, the mention of the gravity generator alerts you to the fact that something is not right.  Then the words "space damp" and various other clues tell you that this is definitely not Earth (4).

Here is an example of Phillip Reeve's dry wit and humor:  "I remember thinking that there could be no fate more horrible than to be buried alive, and wondering what type of deranged and sickly mind could have invented such a tale.  But as I lay there immobilised in a jar on the wrong side of the Moon with only a ravening caterpillar for company I realised that Mr. Poe was actually quite a cheery, light-hearted sort of chap, and that his story had been touchingly optimistic" (58).

There's an illustration of a skeleton on page 53, if you dislike that sort of thing.

Really, the only thing this book has going for it is the humorous circumstances which seem to be aiming for Hitch Hiker's Guide randomness.  Of course, there's no improbability drive, so the wild and wacky things which happen in this book are a little more restrained.

On the whole, Myrtle is a very disagreeable person.  I wouldn't like to talk to her, and though she has spunk, she is incredibly rude, annoying, and haughty besides.

Now all that I wouldn't mind in a character, but Myrtle pretty much does nothing exciting/adventurous/important during this entire book.  She cleaned Larklight, complained, was rude to the moon natives, complained, cleaned the Sophronia, complained, got kidnapped, got rescued, went to London, watched the city's destruction, and stomped Mr. Webster.  The only action that was really necessary for her to do was the arachnid squashing I mentioned last.  (Ulla could just as easily have told Richard Burton.)

Granted, many of these things in this book may not have happened without Myrtle, but the spider squishing is really the only exciting thing she actively did.  Oh, and singing.  Scaring away the cacti will be generously counted for her acts of heroism, but they still only number two.  One is a major plot point, and the other isn't really.



Stars:  7 for humor and ludicrous circumstance.

Violence:  5, for when people/aliens/sentient beings are sedated, shot, whacked, etc.  This is not described in detail.

Romance:  4.  Ssil secretly loves Jack, and so does Myrtle.  Jack likes Myrtle, too, and there's a kiss scene at the end of the book.  Art describes it by apophasis, as follows:  "And I cannot bring myself to describe what happened next.  It is one thing to write of giant spiders and man-eating moths, but there are some sights to stomach-turning for even the bravest British boy to contemplate, and the soppy way Jack and my sister ran to cuddle and to kiss each other is one of 'em" (392).

Language:  All the swear words have only one letter (the rest are replaced with a dash).  Some examples are d--n, d--n-d, bl---y, h-ll, and G-d.

Appropriate for:  10-12