This should not be happening to me! I am one of Her Majesty Queen Victoria's loyal subjects, and I should not be treated in such a fashion! I should be preparing to go to Earth - to London - and enter into proper society. Art is who-knows-where in the galaxy, and I am a captive of Sir Waverly on Mars. Webster and his band of spiders aboard Larklight. Mother was lost some time ago, aboard the Semek.

I do not know what to do, or who else I can turn to. Old-fashioned pen-and-ink illustrations by David Wyatt add to the book's charm. Their adventure is filled with space pirates, aliens, and giant spiders, and ultimately Art and Myrtle come to save the British Empire and discover something about their long-lost mother that they never knew. After that, Art and Myrtle embark on a dangerous yet exciting journey, which is documented by Art, along with pages interspersed throughout from Myrtle's diary. Life is quiet, with the biggest thrill being the arrival of the delivery boat every few months, until a message comes announcing that there will be a visitor coming to Larklight. Art Mumby lives with his father and his older sister, Myrtle, in Larklight -a sprawling, old house floating in space.

In an alternate universe, the Victorians have achieved space travel, and rule over the territories of Mars, the Moon, and a handful of Jupiter's satellites. Later, while I was facing the Potter Moth, or fleeing for my life from the First Ones, or helping man a cannon aboard Jack Havock's brig Sophroma, I would often think back to the way my life used to be, and to that last afternoon at Larklight, before all our misfortunes began. Publishing Information :Bloomsbury: New York, 2006 A Rousing Tale of Dauntless Pluck in the Farthest Reaches of Space

Larklight book