Mixed Pickles - the Book log 2012

I really shouldn't - but Philip Reeve is such a great story teller.  Within moments of opening one of his books, you are absorbed into his reality, which he fully furnishes and makes wholly believable.  In "Larklight" we are in a Victorian world as seen through the eyes of a "Boys Own paper" hero with an annoyiong older sister, a deceased mother, and a semi-detached scientific father.  Only difference is, they live in a Jules Verne/H.G. Wells outer space domicile, in a breathable aether that fills a universe full of planets easily reached by alchemical engines.  But in this comfortable, British Space Empire of Kieller Dundee marmalade and Victorian engineering ingenuity lurks a great danger in the form of ten-legged spiders from Saturn.  Oh.  And pirates. 

Thank goodness for the British Secret Service, and backbone, and stiff upper lips.

Even when writing for a younger audience than those that the "Mortal Engines" books are aimed at, Reeve never patronises.  He never insults, and he never stoops to slipping in "adult" jokes, though there are nudging references for the more savvy of his junior readers.

Beautifully, and amusing, illustrated throughout by David Wyatt.

Unputdownability:  like a Saturday morning serial, you can't wait for the next episode.