Larklight: A Rousing Tale of Dauntless Pluck in the Farthest Reaches of Space
by Philip Reeve
|
|
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of Larklight: A Rousing Tale of Dauntless Pluck in the Farthest Reaches of Space.
discuss this book
friend reviews (0)
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
lists with this book
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 312)
Reviewed by Lynn Crow for TeensReadToo.com
When eleven-year-old Art Mumby finds out that a visitor is arriving at his run-down home, Larklight, which floats in space beyond the moon, he hardly expects to be thrust into a frightening adventure of pirates, plates, and a millenium-long conflict upon which the fate of the solar system rests. He tells the story of this adventure in LARKLIGHT (occasionally giving his older sister, Myrtle, a chance to narrate via her diary), and the story is nothing...more
When eleven-year-old Art Mumby finds out that a visitor is arriving at his run-down home, Larklight, which floats in space beyond the moon, he hardly expects to be thrust into a frightening adventure of pirates, plates, and a millenium-long conflict upon which the fate of the solar system rests. He tells the story of this adventure in LARKLIGHT (occasionally giving his older sister, Myrtle, a chance to narrate via her diary), and the story is nothing...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in September, 2007
So much fun! There isn't any other word for the book: just, fun. I'd pretty much recommend this without any qualifications.
More light-hearted than the Hungry Cities Chronicles. I'm not sure if it's better. I think I like it better, though I don't love any of the characters as much as I loved Hester, because I was really quite annoyed by the way the books ended -- I couldn't have told you what should have happened...more
More light-hearted than the Hungry Cities Chronicles. I'm not sure if it's better. I think I like it better, though I don't love any of the characters as much as I loved Hester, because I was really quite annoyed by the way the books ended -- I couldn't have told you what should have happened...more
Like this review?
yes
(2 people liked it)
add a comment
Read in January, 2008
I seldom feel a compulsion to post a review of books I've read - if only because I am usually much too lazy - but Larklight is absolutely MARVELLOUS. I have been scouring the shelves for children fantasy and very few books these days convince me to stay with it and turn its pages to the end in one sitting, seeing how I have become more jaded, but goodness, Larklight blows the mind away. Its merits is all the more outstanding because it is written in the first person and the only other book in fi...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
4th-5th graders who love fantasy and science fiction
I am not, I keep telling myself, a science fiction fan, but I thoroughly enjoyed this "rousing tale of dauntless pluck", because it has the arch sensibility of a Victorian novel with a little "Futurama" thrown in. Art and Myrtle Mumby are proper Victorian children who love their Queen and revere the Empire, who live with their father in Larklight, a rambling house that is located, not on the "sceptered isle" but in space somewhere beyond the Moon. Yes, the British...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in February, 2008
recommended to Kathryn by:
Quasar (thank you SO much!)
2 March 2008
Huzzah! What a glorious tale. I loved it! Certainly one of my new-favorite books; besides being oodles of fun to read, it was thoughtful, imaginative, charming, adventurous, surprisingly well written with delightful illustrations. I would never have believed that a Victorian outer-space adventure with aether-ship pirates, giant talking spiders, plots against the Empire (oh no! God Save the Queen!) and hoverhogs could fit together so perfectly, conveyed by the pen of a brave...more
Huzzah! What a glorious tale. I loved it! Certainly one of my new-favorite books; besides being oodles of fun to read, it was thoughtful, imaginative, charming, adventurous, surprisingly well written with delightful illustrations. I would never have believed that a Victorian outer-space adventure with aether-ship pirates, giant talking spiders, plots against the Empire (oh no! God Save the Queen!) and hoverhogs could fit together so perfectly, conveyed by the pen of a brave...more
Like this review?
yes
(3 people liked it)
12 comments
Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
Practically anyone!
I honestly think this is one of my new favorite books! Absolutely wonderful! Funny, creative, cute, charming, endearing, fast-paced, and sweet!
Delightful characters fill the book from cover to cover. The plot is both intriguing and pretty complex without being too confusing or obvious. The illustrations add to story and seem very fitting to the style of writing.
The book is filled with wit and heart. I adored it!
***
So, I already love it! Just about 100 pages into it, and it's deligh...more
Delightful characters fill the book from cover to cover. The plot is both intriguing and pretty complex without being too confusing or obvious. The illustrations add to story and seem very fitting to the style of writing.
The book is filled with wit and heart. I adored it!
***
So, I already love it! Just about 100 pages into it, and it's deligh...more
Like this review?
yes
(3 people liked it)
8 comments
Read in January, 2008
I wish I could give this one 10 stars! A truly wonderful example of historical fantasy (if that's a proper term!) The basic premise here is that Sir Isaac Newton, along with discovering gravity, also discovered the secrets of Alchemy. A discovery which allowed for space travel. So, fast forward to the 18th century and British empire now includes most of the known Solar System. Our main character, Art Mumby, lives with his scientific father, his mother and (at least according to Art) his thorough...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in May, 2007
This marvelously steampunk-ish YA novel is set during an alternate Victorian era in which many of the Victorian conceptions of outer space are correct: Venus is a jungle planet, Mars is populated with an ancient and fallen civilization, etc. People travel by means of aether-ships, which run on alchemical engines, and steam-powered automata act as household servants.
The endpapers of the book on their own are well worth checking out -- they're filled with advertisements for "Pure Icthyomo...more
The endpapers of the book on their own are well worth checking out -- they're filled with advertisements for "Pure Icthyomo...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2008
It's the 1850's, and the British Empire is under threat from White Spiders!
The Empire stretches from Venus to the Moons of Jupiter, as any schoolboy knows.
This book is a lot of fun!
It's full of Steampunk invention. I am fond of the advertisments on the inside covers - they are beautifully of the universe in the book.
Here and there there may be references to other works of scientifiction, which add to the fun if recognised, and fit in well even if not.
It's a romp. It's mostly a Boy's own...more
The Empire stretches from Venus to the Moons of Jupiter, as any schoolboy knows.
This book is a lot of fun!
It's full of Steampunk invention. I am fond of the advertisments on the inside covers - they are beautifully of the universe in the book.
Here and there there may be references to other works of scientifiction, which add to the fun if recognised, and fit in well even if not.
It's a romp. It's mostly a Boy's own...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2007
loved, loved, loved this one. it’s victorian sci-fi. what? you’ve never heard of the genre? possibly because there’s not a lot out there. in this story, art and myrtle live in an odd, victorian-esque home that is orbiting out near the moon. one day, giant white spiders unexpectedly invade their happy home and they are sent throughout the solar system on a riveting adventure, all told in victorian, british language that adds to the atmosphere of the story. we meet jack havock, space pirate ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in April, 2008
Art and Myrtle are residents of Larklight, their mother's ancient family home, which currently orbits the Earth! Okay, it's not so wierd. I mean, British spaceships wander the galaxy... Martians are proud and fallen race... Venus is a jungle... Art & Myrtle's father has been kidnapped by giant, smart space spiders... all in the course of a normal day for all of us, I'm sure. Wait, SPACE SPIDERS?!
This book is awesome! It's set in the Victorian Era (1800s), only the British are conquer...more
This book is awesome! It's set in the Victorian Era (1800s), only the British are conquer...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
recommended to Kathryn by:
Noone, I just foud it on a library shelf
recommends it for: Anyone really
recommends it for: Anyone really
Larklight is a book that although takes place in the past has many futuristic ideas in it. It's about a boy names Art, his sister Myrtle, and some pirate. All of whom have to save the galaxy from giant white man controlling spiders. Otherwise known as The First Ones.
In it, the Myrtle and Art's mother was kidnapped by The First Ones (even though you don't know it until the end. Their father has also been kidnapped, and he's been assumed dead- like their mother.
I didn't like Myrtle much, becau...more
In it, the Myrtle and Art's mother was kidnapped by The First Ones (even though you don't know it until the end. Their father has also been kidnapped, and he's been assumed dead- like their mother.
I didn't like Myrtle much, becau...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2008
Great "Victorian-era" literature for kids. Successfully mimics the tone & style without being too hung up on old grammar or excessive period-specific language. Reads like a wonderful combo of Dickens, Verne, & Piers Anthony.
At its heart, Larklight is a science fantasy, a la Star Wars, where the more fantastical elements are explained as technological advances, or merely abilities of aliens we have yet to learn here on Earth. But the premise: science fantasy taking place du...more
At its heart, Larklight is a science fantasy, a la Star Wars, where the more fantastical elements are explained as technological advances, or merely abilities of aliens we have yet to learn here on Earth. But the premise: science fantasy taking place du...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2008
I'm afraid I didn't adore this book like Jenn did, but it was definitely a fun read. I liked how there weren't a lot of digressions and enough mystry to keep things interesting. I didn't like Myrtle much, but maybe I'm too much like her and she improved over the story. The mother was very cool, but a liar, so she was iffy. The dad was a wimp and Jack was a bit immature. Art was brave and fun, but so nausiating with the whole "the British empire is the best and no one else has any moral...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in May, 2008
This is one of the most unreadable books I have ever (almost) read. I actually could not finish it, which is rare for me. I put it down about 3/4 of the way through, knowing that the reading the rest would just be like wadding up time and tossing it in a waste basket. The premise is original, but only in the sense that the author has taken a few different themes (pirates, scifi, historical fiction) and smooshed them together into this little fat book. Sometimes good things that are good on t...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
if you liked Peter & the Starcatchers
I wish I could say I tore through this, but somehow it dragged for me. More character development would have been nice. The best part was Jack's story, he was the only main character with an interesting past.
Brother and sister Art and Myrtle Mumby flee their extraterrestrial Victorian home, named Larklight, which is under attack by giant space spiders. They get picked up by the dreaded pirate Jack, who turns out to be not so fierce, and to be about the same age as they are. Together, they u...more
Brother and sister Art and Myrtle Mumby flee their extraterrestrial Victorian home, named Larklight, which is under attack by giant space spiders. They get picked up by the dreaded pirate Jack, who turns out to be not so fierce, and to be about the same age as they are. Together, they u...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in November, 2007
I'm re-reading this before I read the sequel...
favorite line, "Among my mother's books I had once discovered a volume of stories by a gentleman named Mr. Poe, who lives in Her Majesty's American colonies. There was one, The Premature Burial , which game me nightmares for weeks after I read it, and I remember thinking that there could be no fate more horrible than to be buried alive, and wondering what type of deranged mind could have invented such a tale. But as I lay there immob...more
favorite line, "Among my mother's books I had once discovered a volume of stories by a gentleman named Mr. Poe, who lives in Her Majesty's American colonies. There was one, The Premature Burial , which game me nightmares for weeks after I read it, and I remember thinking that there could be no fate more horrible than to be buried alive, and wondering what type of deranged mind could have invented such a tale. But as I lay there immob...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in May, 2008
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 sensib...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in December, 2007
After the Mortal Engines quartet, I didn't think I could love Reeves' writing more. I was wrong! Larklight is a rousing, energetic read with a witty, enjoyable narrator following his adventures in the alternate universe where Victorians were far further advanced than they are in our world. I loved the descriptions of the different creatures, the British patriotism, and the fabulously crazy characters. I wanted to not read this book so that I would still have it to look forward to, so it took me ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
This book was a really neat one, a sort of Victorian-era sci-fi. That is, it was set in the 1800s, but in this version of the 1800s, Earth had space travel capabilities, Mars is populated by Martians, and it is far from uncommon to meet alien races.
There were lots of neat characters, space pirates, exciting adventures, and exotic, otherworldly locales, and I loved the semi-Victorian writing style! All in all, I thought it was a very imaginative, clever book. The inside back cover says the aut...more
There were lots of neat characters, space pirates, exciting adventures, and exotic, otherworldly locales, and I loved the semi-Victorian writing style! All in all, I thought it was a very imaginative, clever book. The inside back cover says the aut...more
Like this review?
yes
(2 people liked it)
3 comments
