A sinister cloud has appeared on the edge of the solar system, and seems to be moving closer. The closest planet, Georgium Sidus, has but two human inhabitants: the missionary Reverand Cruet and his daughter Charity. Their last communication: ‘Great danger— imperative that—’And then nothing. Art, Myrtle and family decide to investigate whatever monstrous force of darkness was hiding within the cloud. But how could they know what mothy horrors lay in wait!? Because the evil they discover is far beyond anything their imaginations could concoct. Now, with the Empire in dire peril, it’s up to Art (and his family, truth be told) to muster all their cunning and courage to try to Save It (again).
Mothstorm
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Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Grade 5–8—As the Mumby family gathers to celebrate Christmas at Larklight, their Earth-orbiting home, a dire message arrives alerting them of a "Great Danger" threatening the universe. The family sets off across the solar system to Georgium Sidus (aka Uranus) to find out what is wrong. So begins Art and Myrtle Mumby's latest space adventure. The danger turns out to be the Mothmaker, a malevolent Shaper or creator of planetary systems. It is determined to conquer the worlds, including Earth, created by another Shaper, Mrs. Mumby, and enslave the creatures, including humans, created by her. A series of exciting and entertaining episodes involving various characters and imaginative creatures leads up to a final confrontation between the Mothmaker and Art, Myrtle, and their companions at Balmoral Castle. While the story is told primarily from the point of view of Art, who is prone to use inflated language, Myrtle's diary entries are inserted throughout and include amusing commentary. The unlikely, somewhat awkward romance between the prim and proper Myrtle and Jack Havock is back on, much to Art's chagrin. Mothmaker is a clever blending of genres including science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, and adventure with a liberal dash of British humor and style. One might describe it as a cross between science fiction, action movie, soap opera, and situation comedy. In sum, it's simply a jolly good read.—Jennifer D. Montgomery, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
After two stirring adventures in a row (Larklight, 2006, and Starcross, 2007), Art Mumby is looking forward to a well-deserved holiday. He and his sister, Myrtle, and their remarkable parents are welcoming Jack Havock and the gallant crew of the Sophronia to a Yuletide feast just as a space gunboat arrives. The HMS Actaeon bears old friends Sir Richard Burton and his wife, Ulla, but it also brings shocking news. An intercepted distress signal warns of an unknown peril from an uncharted sphere. Before you can say “Great Scott!” Art, Myrtle, and friends find themselves once again in a sticky situation, this time involving a vast cloud of Giant Moths, an Evil Shaper, and other assorted threats to the universe. Art, aided by inserts from Myrtle’s diary, relates the tale of British pluck triumphing once again. Reeve’s tongue is still firmly planted in his cheek, and this wacky series soars on, providing a galaxy of laughs, imaginative characters, and faster-than-light plotting all tied up with a Victorian bow. Huzzah for the Queen, the Empire, and the Larklight series! Grades 5-8. --Lynn Rutan
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Philip Reeve and David Wyatt are back for another incredible book!,
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This review is from: Mothstorm: The Horror from Beyond Uranus Georgium Sidus! (Hardcover)
I cannot express how much I love these books!
I am utterly impressed with Reeve's detailed, personable characters that are consistent and yet allowed the room to grow. The characters in this series are so delightful and varied... I am always anxious for Art's amusing and surprisingly insightful views on events, and Myrtle's delightfully tedious social commentary and lady-like instructions. Larklight, the first book in the series, became an instant favorite, and while I loved Starcross (book two) I wasn't *quite* as attached to it as I was to Larklight. But, Mothstorm is just as good as Larklight, and honestly I can't think of a way to make either Larklight or Mothstorm more perfect! In the third installment the Mumby family faces their strongest enemy yet and find their entire universe resting on their shoulders. (I don't know how Reeve will top that for another - hopefully another - book, but I have great faith that he will!) Mothstorm is not only action packed, busting with wit (in a fun, friendly way... nothing pretentious, only smart and amusing), but many times I found myself engrossed with the ethical and moral dilemmas the characters had to confront and touched by the troubles they had to go through and the strong relationships they have. I was captivated from the beginning and curious until the end. And while I wasn't sure which way the story would end, or how it could possibly end in the way I was hoping, it did and it all made perfect sense (no fudging with the plots! Yay!). Perfect for readers of any age. Reeve writes in a way that should captivate the young and the old. I can't recommend these books highly enough!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A satisfying conclusion to the trilogy,
By Madigan McGillicuddy "Librarian" (Atlanta) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Mothstorm: The Horror from Beyond Uranus Georgium Sidus! (Hardcover)
The third (and final?) installment in the Larklight series provides more of the fantastic steampunk Victorian sensibility made familiar to us in Larklight and Starcross. Honestly, this book could stand on it's own... but reading the first two in the series would be highly recommended. Some hilarious footnotes accompany the text, and as usual, David Wyatt's illustrations add much to the feel of the book. We are treated to a few of Myrtle's flowery diary pages, but Art is the main narrator.
It's Christmastime in the Year of Our Lord 1851 and the Mumby family has settled in for the holiday. They are interrupted by the minor problem of space-faring pudding worm, which disguises itself as a raisin and eats Christmas puddings from the inside out. The major problem is that Georgium Sidus (aka Uranus) has sent a distress call, and the whole family goes out to investigate. The omnipotence of Art's mother, in actuality a Shaper, or disembodied alien being who created and continues to influence the solar system for the past several millennia, is neatly sidestepped. Encountering an alternate Shaper in another solar system, we see a glimpse of how the world would be if ruled by a despot, rather than a gentle being committed to letting her creations have free will. The brave and intrepid Charity Cruet provides a great balance to the ever fussy and proper Myrtle. She and Art seem well-suited to each other. Space-pirate Jack Havock and Myrtle's romance shows signs of not being over yet, as they find themselves thrown together again. The mysteries of Ssilissa's origins are finally revealed. The quiet girl-lizard pilot on Jack Havock's ship turns out to be a member of the Snilth race, from far beyond our galaxy. The Snilth recognize in Ssilissa's knobby tail the former royal family of their people, and abandon their warlike ways to settle on Pluto with her as their queen. I thought the attempt to rescue Jack's family from the Venusian tree virus could have taken up a whole book on it's own, but everything is rather quickly taken care of in the final chapter. Fans of series will either be happy to see every loose end so neatly wrapped up, or (like me) wish that there were more. The book is coming out in paperback in November, so if you've missed it when it first came out, definitely consider adding this to your list of "must reads" And, it looks as if Larklight is in development as a movie to be released sometime in 2010, so I expect interest in this trilogy to continue.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mothstorm: A Storm of Excellent Writing,
By not4prophet (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Mothstorm: The Horror from Beyond Uranus Georgium Sidus! (Hardcover)
Philip Reeve is a modern-day version of that Greek guy who had everything he touched turn to gold. (I'm blanking on the name at the moment.) Reeve is an wonderfully prolific author, churning out at least two books a year. Unlike most authors who write at that rate, he maintains an extremely high level of quality. "Larklight" is outstanding. "Starcross" is a small step down, but certainly not bad. "Mothstorm" is a step back up.
It begins on Christmas at the house of Larklight. Everyone's home and Jack and his crew have stopped by for a visit. There's a brief food-related adventure. Then there are more visitors, and the news that a missionary and his daughter have vanished on the planet Georgium Sidus. (Refined and sophisticated people don't call it Uranus, thank you very much.) Soon a new adventure is underway. Arriving at Georgium Sidus, our heroes will discover an invasion force of giant moths, a new ecosystem on the planet's watery surface, and a great deal more. While third volumes in trilogies often have trouble sustaining the excitement from the first two books, there's nothing to complain about here. The adventure is as pulse-pounding as ever, with more big action sequences than the first two books. The sibling rivalry between Art and Myrtle continues apace. Myrtle's Victorian manners are used to excellent effect once again. The plot is wonderfully convoluted as Reeve's plots tend to be, but it is not random or unfair. Everything that takes place has a purpose and there's no dues ex machina at the end. There's an excellent setup for "Mothstorm" that goes all the way back to "Larklight", though it's subtle. There's one thing that I want to mention which other reviewers have left out: the illustrations. While novels aimed at this age group frequently have pictures, they rarely serve any purpose. The pictures in this series are an exception. The sketches by David Wyatt are done with pen-and-ink and they aren't large, but they are wonderfully detailed. All the features of the unusual creatures that populate the series are rendered carefully and the illustrations contribute positively to our mental images as we read. Some of the pictures depict massive battles, others a single characters, and others still a piece of the setting, but none of them are wasted. Besides which, they are stupendously amusing. The picture at the bottom of pages 10 and 11 is fall-on-the-floor, laugh-till-it-hurts funny. Page 25 has another winner. So does almost every page, for that matter.
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