#larklight

The Mistmantle Chronicles by M. I. McAllister

On a night of riding stars, a tiny squirrel is found abandoned and close to death on a distant beach. Adopted and raised by a kindly, eccentric squirrel, Urchin has no idea of his powerful destiny or of the way he will influence the island of Mistmantle.

The rule of the good King Brushen and Queen Spindle is threatened by an evil plot from within the court. When their young prince is found murdered, the isle is thrown into turmoil. Behind the scenes, the wicked Lord Husk and Lady Aspen are determined to take control. But to underestimate the power of the islanders and the ancient prophecies is a big mistake...

Larklight by Philip Reeve

Arthur (Art) Mumby and his irritating sister Myrtle live with their father in the huge and rambling house, Larklight, travelling through space on a remote orbit far beyond the Moon. One ordinary sort of morning they receive a correspondence informing them that a gentleman is on his way to visit, a Mr Webster. Visitors to Larklight are rare if not unique, and a frenzy of preparation ensues. But it is entirely the wrong sort of preparation, as they discover when their guest arrives, and a Dreadful and Terrifying (and Marvellous) adventure begins. It takes them to the furthest reaches of Known Space, where they must battle the evil First Ones in a desperate attempt to save each other - and the Universe.

La Quete d'Ewilan by Pierre Bottero

Quand Camille vit le poids lourd qui fonçait droit sur elle, elle se figea au milieu de la chaussée. Son irrépressible curiosité l'empêcha de fermer les yeux et elle n'eut pas le temps de crier... Non, elle se retrouva couchée à plat ventre dans une forêt inconnue plantée d'arbres immenses.

- Te voici donc, Ewilan. Nous t'avons longtemps cherchée, mes frères et moi, afin d'achever ce qui avait été commencé, mais tu étais introuvable...

Adventure by Enid Blyton

For Philip, Dinah, Lucy-Ann and Jack, the holiday in Cornwall is everything they'd hope for - until they begin to realize that something very sinister is taking place on the mysterious Isle of Gloom.

But they're not prepared for the dangerous adventure that awaits them in the abandoned copper mines and secret tunnels beneath the sea.

Just William by Richmal Crompton

Whether it's trying to arrange a marriage for his sister or taking a job as a boot boy as step one in his grand plan to run away, Just William manages to cause chaos wherever he goes.

Storybound by Marissa Burt

In the land of Story, children go to school to learn to be characters: a perfect Hero, a trusty Sidekick, even the most dastardly Villain. They take classes on Outdoor Experiential Questing and Backstory, while adults search for full-time character work in stories written just for them.

In our world, twelve-year-old Una Fairchild has always felt invisible. But all that changes when she stumbles upon a mysterious book buried deep in the basement of her school library, opens the cover, and suddenly finds herself transported to the magical land of Story.

But Story is not a perfect fairy tale. Una’s new friend Peter warns her about the grave danger she could face if anyone discovers her true identity. The devious Tale Keeper watches her every move. And there are whispers of a deadly secret that seems to revolve around Una herself....

The Cooper Kids Adventures by Frank E. Peretti

When teenagers Jay and Lila Cooper and their archaeologist father travel to Nepur, an uninviting land of deserts and danger, they must search to uncover the truth behind an ancient legend. Locals claim that inside a dark cavern called the Dragon's Throat is a forbidden Door that brings certain death to anyone who tries to open it.

Armed with the knowledge that God is more powerful than any legend or curse, Jay and Lila plunge down into the Dragon's Throat, determined to find out what awaits them on the other side of the Door. This daring tale will have you on the edge of your seat.

Nim by Wendy Orr

A girl. An iguana. An island. And e-mail. Meet Nim–a modern-day Robinson Crusoe! She can chop down bananas with a machete, climb tall palm trees, and start a fire with a piece of glass. So she’s not afraid when her scientist dad sails off to study plankton for three days, leaving her alone on their island. Besides, it’s not as if no one’s looking after her–she’s got a sea lion to mother her and an iguana for comic relief. She also has an interesting new e-mail pal. But when her father’s cell-phone calls stop coming and disaster seems near, Nim has to be stronger and braver than she’s ever been before.

And she’ll need all her friends to help her.

The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson

Tally Hamilton is furious to hear she is being sent from London to a horrid, stuffy boarding school in the countryside. And all because of the stupid war. But Delderton Hall is a far more" "unusual and " interesting" place than Tally ever imagined, and she soon falls in love with its eccentric staff and pupils. Now she's even organizing an exciting school trip to the kingdom of Bergania . . . although Tally never expected to meet the "prince."

Prince Karil hates his life at the palace and he is only truly happy when he escapes to the dragonfly pool, a remote spot in the forests of Bergania. Then Karil meets a feisty English girl who brings the promise of adventure. But his country is under threat, and the prince soon looks to his new friend Tally for survival as well as friendship . . .

Mandie by Lois Gladys Leppard

Gyrus, an amnesiac miracle man found floating through space and taken to a lab for examination. He proceeds to win over the scientists examining him and become a protogee of sorts.

Gyrus does some work in history on the side, and discovers a way to crack an ancient alien language that the scientists couldn’t. They are all really impressed and Dr. Iro invites him along to a science exposition to try and win a grant for the lab.

They dress up to present to this strange bowler hat society that is hosting the party, inviting space’s elite and brilliant.

But half the party are rich snobs and the other half seem...strange (and not just because of the bowler hats), Gyrus can’t put his finger on it, and it makes him uneasy. He chocks it up to nerves and moves to the side of the ship to get some fresh air.

And accidentally stumbles on one of the “society” shadowing one of the rich elite, who then turn back to seemingly normal, but they are now...off in the same way the others are. (And wearing a bowler hat).

This freaks Gyrus out so much he stays hidden on the deck even long after they leave. He finally emerges, ready to grab Iro and run...

At this point Kodya’s pirates attack, raising havok and demanding that the society give up their gold or no one gets hurt.

Gyrus gets grabbed as a hostage because he’s literally the first person they can reach. (Kodya kinda recognizes him, which may also play into it)

Unfortunately for the pirates, the society was expecting them, and has hired a full military fleet to take them on. Who don’t really care about a no name hostage in light of capturing one of the most wanted pirates in the solar system.

Kodya drags Gyrus onto the ship, and they take off.

Once they are far enough away, the whole crew turns on Gyrus. (Crew includes Tori, Sylvia, and Nephthys) Gyrus is afraid but demands to go back to save Iro.

Kodya is very confused because that is not what a hostage says usually, (and a little upset Gyrus doesn’t recognize him, and why is Gyrus younger? Did he have a brother also named Gyrus?) but once Gyrus explains he gets a dark look and refuses, claiming they got lucky. (And he doesn’t want those things near Gyrus, not again)

Kodya decides to make Gyrus a cleaner (cabin boy technically but he’s an adult so they’re calling it cleaner instead) on the ship, which works for a few days, until Gyrus stumbles on a treasure map and dagger in the journal left out in Kodya’s room. Kodya is upset he touched the journal, and Gyrus says he just wanted to read it better.

To which Kodya is thrilled and gets the whole crew together, and they decide to start on the quest for the pirate treasure.

They explain about the Pirate King, who came from nowhere and united the pirates, then betrayed them to the shadow society which nearly got them all killed. But he left a map to the greatest treasure, which everyone was looking for.

Kodya in particular wants to find it, and maybe answers as to why the pirate king betrayed them. (And also how he’s back seemingly with amnesia and younger somehow, is this even the same Gyrus? He’s handling all this like its new info)

The first clue takes them to Mars, which is struggling with colonialism as the humans mine valuable minerals and force the locals to work for them. The map requires “the heart of mars” which Kodya, whose from this planet, guesses is a valuable device that helps to convert the rare minerals.

Its also super large, and what the heck Pirate King?

They go to hide with some Rebel Martians friends of Nephthys and Kodya’s, who reveal that things have gotten far worse since the two of them fled, and the colonial leader, despite not making any public appearances, is demanding an even higher quota.

It also comes out that Nephthys used to be a priestess who foresaw the invasion and was helpless to stop it, and got kidnapped by the colonizers as a prize. Then Kodya, a young soldier newly enlisted from home, met and befriended her and together they escaped. But they couldn’t get very far. Fortunately the Pirate King saved them.

Nephthys feels guilty that she can’t help them more, and wishes there was something she could do. The rebels say there is a way they can help, if they get rid of the heart of mars, which will prevent the people from stealing anymore of their minerals.

They agree to do this, with the agreement that hey get to keep the heart of mars.

They split into two teams, to Gyrus, Tori, and Sylvia go in to visit the colonial leader, because Kodya and Nephthys are super wanted here, and Gyrus still has his suit and important looking documents. Then Sylvia will sneak down to let Kodya and Neph in, while Tori and Gyrus distract the colonizer leader.

The two ‘leaders’ that Gyrus and Tori are led to do not match the descriptions given, but after they see their documents, they welcome Gyrus and his...posse.

The ‘leaders’ puts on a front for Gyrus, but Sylvia and Tori find out the servants are frightened, as there has just been a coup-de-taut.

At the awkward dinner, Gyrus is treated like a guest, and Tori a bodyguard, while the ‘leaders’ regale them with their latest conquests, and how they recently defeated a rebel leader named “Serdtse” and show off his broken sword, his symbol of power.

Tori gets more and more furious as they listen, meanwhile, Sylvia lets Kodya and Neph in, and they attempt to remove the ‘heart of mars’

Gyrus gets half paralyzed by the food, and the ‘leaders’ reveal they need him alive because he’ll bring them quite a bit more money to the right people. Tori meanwhile is unaffected, and kills the male. Gyrus, still barely able to move, grabs the broken sword and tries to drag himself away, as the ship arrives and one of those “off” people in a bowler hat arrives.

Tori is unable to help, as she is stuck fighting the other leader.

Meanwhile down below, a bunch of minions come running to stop Kodya and Neph and Sylvia. They begin to overwhelm them, until some of the martian servants reveal themselves as rebels and help them win. Then the ‘off’ people show up there too.

Kodya and Neph freak out, and drag everyone away from them, Kodya throws a light bomb behind to shine brightly and temporarily stun them.

They run to Tori and Gyrus, and Sylvia and Kodya help fight the scary leader while Neph heals Gyrus. Not much they can do about the ‘off’ person though, so they all run some more.

Then to stop the shadows for good, a mysterious stranger (“Serdtse!” the rebels shout) blows up the whole building for good.

Kodya gets upset that they didn’t get the heart, and then Gyrus’s bag starts glowing. Turns out the half sword is the clue. Kodya is very confused, and feels they should meet this ‘Serdtse’ but the military show up and they have to run, taking the credit for the attack so the martian’s don’t get blamed.

They decide to hide in Venus, the only place no one will look, because the last people to try to live there turned into trees. (Read Larklight) Tori is the only survivor of the mysterious illness, and she offers it to them as a place to hide. (Her queen was one of the victims).

Gyrus offers to try and find a cure, and takes some seeds, even though Tori says its hopeless. 

Also this is where Kodya decides to try and teach Gyrus how to fight, because he was absolutely useless back there.

They also try to figure out what the connection between the glow of the half sword and the map. Eventually Sylvia reveals that a metal like this that no one can identify, their best shot is the mines on the moons of Jupiter, which has the best ore experts in the world. They all decide to go there.

At Moons of Jupiter, which is a mining town and a hub for pirates, Sylvia is from here, and eagerly shows off the place to the others. Even Kodya is beginning to relax, except that everyone they meet keeps trying to get Kodya to visit the storm to find the answers he needs. (Storm knows the answers to everything in Larklight, but rarely appears)

Kodya points out two things, first, that the storm is illusive on the best of days, and second, that it hardly gets everything right, as it was wrong about the Pirate King, because he once asked it a question, and it was obviously wrong. He won’t tell them exactly what he asked though (probably something about Gyrus)

Meet Don and his crew, who head the pirate armada Kodya work for, and teams up to find the treasure. The crew that is much nastier to Gyrus than Kodya’s.

Gyrus gets into trouble with Ragan for looking like the Pirate King. It is here he learns the Pirate Kings name was also Gyrus. Neph stops Ragan, pointing out Gyrus is far to young, and was working as a scientist on earth, so he’d have to have been there for ages. Gyrus thinks now is not the time to mention his mysterious origins.

Gyrus gets pushed off by one of the crew, unclear who. Kodya jumps over to find him, and Tori ends up falling off too.

Storm light makes the half sword spell out a single word: Saturn. (in plain english)

The crew believes this is where they have to go.

Meanwhile the storm itself saves Gyrus, introducing himself as Alistair. He tells him he is an old friend, and here to help him and tells him that he needs to go to Earth to find the real treasure before Don does. 

Also that Gyrus is a god, because those things apparently exist with the ability to put things in motion. He was supposed to die, but decided to keep living to see what would happen. Met Don and very naively told him what he could do. Don wanted to take for himself, but he was clever. He befriended Gyrus first and pushed him towards his own goals of destroying the Empire. When Gyrus finally grew wise to how he was being used, he betrayed Gyrus and made it look like Gyrus betrayed them. Gyrus tried to fight back, by hiding the way to his power, but Don was relentless, and so Gyrus confronted him to make him stop. Unfortunately he was not planning on the bowler hat society, which got tweleve members of Don’s armada. (Larklight, read it).

Also Kodya shows up for this and is very annoyed that Gyrus and the Pirate King are the same person (and didn’t tell him he was still alive!), but reluctantly goes along with it. (because he does care)

Alistair introduces him to Maria and Knox and thier crew, who are waiting to rescue them, and ended up finding Tori. Serdtse is introduced too, who turns out to be Hinju, brother of Xinju, who Gyrus did not kill. 

They explain how they made the broken sword as a decoy to the true key, Kodya’s dagger. But now they’ve got Kodya and Gyrus they should be able to get the treasure long before both the pirates and the bowler hat society right?

Wrong. Because Kodya, not realizing it was so important, left it on his ship. Which is now run by Nephthys. Which is going to Saturn.

So they decide to split up, which is to say Alistair teaches Gyrus a way only he can teleport, and sends him to earth to get there before the problem, while everyone else goes to convince the pirates to change allegiances.  

Meanwhile the girls and Don’s crew all go to Saturn, where the clue opens a locked door of a ‘memory’ journal, and the crew learn of the origins of the bowler hat society (race from the beginning of the world, want to remake everyone in perfect order like the rings of Saturn)

Which is very knowledgeable, but pretty much useless for them. The pirates and the girls debate on whether the treasure is a fake, this is another clue, or they missed something else.

Meanwhile Don comes to the conclusion that the knife is wrong, and goes to find the correct version on the ship.

Neph goes back, ends up coming in on Don’s investigation. Not knowing what is going on, Don mistakes her for knowing what’s going on, and reveals he’s the mastermind. 

Also Gyrus’s crew reach Saturn, and try to steal it back, only to get into more trouble. The pirates are divided on who to believe, Gyrus’s crew and Neph, or Don. Having Hinju manages to make Xinju to side with Gyrus though, but Ragan is not convinced, because Don is one persuasive man.

The two teams split up on separate ships, and race back to earth.

Meanwhile, Gyrus discovers that the ship he first was found in floating in space is actually the treasure he was trying to keep hidden. The only problem, he has absolutely no idea how it works.

So he meditates at the suggestion of the scientists, only to discover that there is a power inside himself.

Which would be poetic, if it didn’t also have a personality.

So Gyrus is trying to sort out millions of years of memories, while the scientists sit around him confused.

All except for Iro, who sees this as an opportunity to use his shiny new bowler hat. Which he puts on Gyrus’s now helpless head.

Gyrus now has to fight off an attempted possession, while figuring out how to use his powers.

He finds a way to throw it off, but not before Iro reports it almost complete, and the Bowler hat society moves into their next big plan: to possess all of the Empire’s parliament and Queen. (Different from Tori’s, unless I decide to change that later)

At the last second, Gyrus manages to throw off the possession, figuring out a way to cure it in the process. He rushes up to stop the bowler hats, but he’s held back, and his method of curing is to slow, only one at a time.

Then the pirates attack.

The pirates attack everyone, each other, who knows what’s going on up there. It creates chaos instantly, and Chaos is the exact thing that the bowler hats hate. They temporarily break from their hosts to fly up and stop the pirates. Kodya’s pirates notice, and start causing even more chaos, which makes all of them swirl up into the sky, trying to attack.

But this is really, really bad for the pirates. So Gyrus decides he has to help them.

He uses his powers to create a large, white light, and tells them its the power. All the shadows fly towards it. Don also tries to go and get it, putting his own crew at risk and causing them to turn on him.

Once all of them are close, Gyrus whips out the seeds from Venus, makes them grow with his power ‘setting things in motion’ and traps them in a bubble with only the bowler hat monsters. They all turn into a tree.

When the dust settles, no one is quite sure what happened, but the scientists are there to step in for Gyrus to the Queen. 

Don is arrested for trying to kill like 14 people. The Queen then gives everyone else full pardons so they are no longer pirates, and names them heroes of the state.

Which the pirates aren’t sure what to think about, but hey, they’ll take a party and not dying right now.