Mothstorm (Larklight, Book 3) by Philip Reeve (5/5 stars)

This is the third, and I believe last, book in the Larklight series by Philip Reeve. This was an excellent book. Full of funny space travel, dangerous battles, and the wonderful characters that I loved from the first two books. I listened to this book on audio book, and it was very well done. You wouldn't have to read the first two books to enjoy this book, but the first two do add a lot of background story that would make parts of this book more meaningful.

A message about "Danger to the known world" is received from the depths of space near Georgium Sidus (also known as Uranus by us more uncouth peoples). This is coupled by the appearance of a strange cloud near the planet. Well, off our adventurers go exploring. What they find is something to rival their Mother, another shaper, but this shaper is hell bent on taking over all of known British space.

Most of the story is told from Art's perspective. As with the last two novels, Myrtle takes over at certain parts to give her perspective on things. The whole story is told with the same over-the-top British bent to it as the previous two books. We get to add another wonderful character to the story in Charity, whom Art greatly admires.

The action is non-stop in this adventure, there are numerous battles fought. Slissa finally gets to find her origins. This was another wonderful book. It is full of biting humor and reminds a lot of The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy, but in Victorian times and for younger readers. The pictures sprinkled throughout the book are wonderful too and add a lot to the story (I did listen to it on audio book, but then I acquired the book in hardback to keep on my shelf).

I think that this book should appeal to a wide audience. There are some scary bits, but violence is kept to a minimum and the language is all very polite. I really loved this series and am a bit sad that this is the last book. This book does do a good job of bringing the storyline to a closure though. So if you like adventure, space, British humor, steampunk, or pirates this is the book for you; no matter what your age.