Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Larklight Audio
Fiction
For ages 10 and up
Unabridged audiobook (CD)
Performed/read by: Greg Steinbruner
Recorded Books, 2007 ISBN: 978-1428134522
Art lives with his annoying sister Myrtle and their scientist father in Larklight, a house which floats in space. They have quite a happy, if isolated, life until the day when a Mr. Webster comes to call. To their horror, the children discover that Mr. Webster is an enormous spider who seems bent on their destruction. Art and Myrtle are able to flee Larklight but their poor father is left behind to face who knows what fate at the hands of the terrifying Mr. Webster.
Art and Myrtle then land on Mars, a very inhospitable place full of unknown dangers. Indeed the two children almost end up being eaten by enormous moth larvae when they are rescued by Jack Havock and his crew. Jack is a pirate who has acquired a terrible reputation but who is fact just a young man trying to make a living in a hostile world. With Jack?s help Art begins to find out who Mr. Webster is. The truth is terrifying for it would appear that Mr. Webster and his spider associates belong to a race of creatures that specialize in destroying civilizations to make room for their own. Will Earth and her colonies go the way of the empires on Mars and Mercury and what does Mr. Webster hope to get from Art and his sister?
Packed with wonderfully bizarre adventures and characters, this is a tale which will have fantasy fans clamoring for more. Set in an alternative Victorian world, ?Lamplight? is a tale full of adventure, history, and science, and it is dusted very lightly with just a touch of romance.
Greg Steinbruner gives a stellar performance of this highly unusual story getting into the spirit of things and giving each of the characters a very individual feel and distinctive personality. This is a performance that is hard to step away from once it has begun.
