Larklight
Encyclopedia
Larklight is a children's novel by author Philip Reeve
. Illustrated by David Wyatt
, it is the first book in the Larklight Trilogy
. The hardcover edition has alternate title lines Or the Revenge of the White Spiders! or to Saturn's Rings and Back!
set in an alternate Victorian era
, in which mankind has been exploring the solar system
for at least a century, and wherein most of the planets are inhabitable. Protagonist Art Mumby narrates an attack on the British Empire
and the solar system at large by an ancient, arachnid
-like extraterrestrial race, against which he and his family play a central role, aided by the pirate Jack Havock and his crew.
The story begins at Larklight, a house that orbits Earth's moon
, where the Mumbys receive notice of a visitor from the Royal Xenological Society, a Mr. Webster. The next day, Mr. Webster is revealed to be an extraterrestrial resembling an enormous white spider
. Art and his sister Myrtle escape; but their father is captured and held prisoner.
Art and Myrtle leave in an escape pod and crash-land on the Moon, where they are encased with the predatory larvae of the Potter Moth and freed by pirate Jack Havock and his crew. Art is shocked to find that Jack is only fifteen years old, and that he is the only human in his crew, while Myrtle is distressed at being in the company of a pirate and demands that Jack take them to the moon's British residence, Fort George. En route aboard the pirates' ship Sophronia, a ship of the British Navy comes alongside and orders Jack to surrender or have his ship destroyed.
Jack distracts the officers by pretending to hold Art and Myrtle hostage, giving Ssillissa, the ship's alchemist, time to activate the ship's engines and fly the Sophronia to safety. They conceal themselves on Venus
, Jack Havock's old home, where Jack tells Art and Myrtle that the colonists there, including his parents and brother, were changed into tree
s by a sudden pollination
. Romantic feelings begin to develop between Jack and Myrtle. The white spiders thereafter take Myrtle to the Martian home of industrialist Sir Waverly Rain, whose factories cover Phobos
and Deimos
. She escapes with a Martian maid named Ulla (the name is probably a reference to The War of the Worlds
) and her husband, Richard, with whom she learns that Sir Waverly Rain had been captured by the spiders and replaced with a spider-controlled automaton; believing the spiders might manufacture something much more sinister, they race to London.
Jack and Art visit Jupiter
's moon Io
, whence they descend into Jupiter’s atmosphere
to ask aid of the Thunderhead, who tells them to protect the key to Larklight. Not knowing what this is, they attempt to leave Jupiter, but are abandoned by their ferryman and escape to a broken-down harpoon ship attached to a native organism, whence they are rescued by the Sophronia's crew. Jack discovers that Myrtle's locket (now in Art's possession) is the key to Larklight, in that it can activate a set of complex engines capable of transforming the solar system, and leads his crew to the spiders' home on the Rings of Saturn
to exchange it for Myrtle's safe return.
Upon arriving at the spiders' home, most of the crew are captured. Art is later taken before Professor Phineas Ptarmigan, formerly of the Royal Xenological Institute where Jack was imprisoned until he was twelve, who reveals that he wishes to use Larklight to destroy the Solar System
, leaving the remains to the spiders whose ancestors had colonized the planetesimal
s. Meanwhile, Ssillissa and her crewmate Yarg free the captured crew and two additional prisoners, Sir Waverly and Art's mother Emily.
Having freed Larklight from the spiders, the protagonists visit Earth
, where a gigantic mechanical spider is attacking London (another reference to The War of the Worlds
). There, Myrtle takes control of the machine and uses it to kill Mr. Webster, and later re-unites with her family and Jack. The epilogue
reveals that the race of white spiders has not been exterminated, but subdued, and that Ptarmigan has been placed in an insane asylum. The Mumby family return to live at Larklight, which they deprive of its otherworldly machinery.
bought the rights to Larklight in 2006. In April 2008, Shekhar Kapur
revealed that he was to direct and that he and Steven Knight
had been doing the screenplay for three months. He went on to say that it would have a budget of $200 million, saying that it would be his most expensive movie. Alison Greenspan and Di Novi are producing. The film was to be released 1 January 2010, but after the death of Director Anthony Minghella, Shekhar Kapur took over his unfinished movie 'New York, I Love You', and postponed 'Larklight' instead.
Philip Reeve
Philip Reeve is a British author and illustrator. He presently lives on Dartmoor with his wife Sarah and their son Samuel.-Biography:...
. Illustrated by David Wyatt
David Wyatt
Davit Wyatt is an English commercial artist. Born in Northampton, he was adopted and raised in West Sussex. As a child, he learnt to play the piano; however, his interest in reading and drawing combined into a love of comics....
, it is the first book in the Larklight Trilogy
Larklight trilogy
The Larklight trilogy is a trilogy of young adult novels by Philip Reeve, entitled Larklight, Starcross, and Mothstorm. These books are all illustrated by David Wyatt.-Setting:...
. The hardcover edition has alternate title lines Or the Revenge of the White Spiders! or to Saturn's Rings and Back!
Plot summary
Larklight is a space operaSpace opera
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap...
set in an alternate Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
, in which mankind has been exploring the solar system
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
for at least a century, and wherein most of the planets are inhabitable. Protagonist Art Mumby narrates an attack on the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
and the solar system at large by an ancient, arachnid
Arachnid
Arachnids are a class of joint-legged invertebrate animals in the subphylum Chelicerata. All arachnids have eight legs, although in some species the front pair may convert to a sensory function. The term is derived from the Greek words , meaning "spider".Almost all extant arachnids are terrestrial...
-like extraterrestrial race, against which he and his family play a central role, aided by the pirate Jack Havock and his crew.
The story begins at Larklight, a house that orbits Earth's moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
, where the Mumbys receive notice of a visitor from the Royal Xenological Society, a Mr. Webster. The next day, Mr. Webster is revealed to be an extraterrestrial resembling an enormous white spider
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
. Art and his sister Myrtle escape; but their father is captured and held prisoner.
Art and Myrtle leave in an escape pod and crash-land on the Moon, where they are encased with the predatory larvae of the Potter Moth and freed by pirate Jack Havock and his crew. Art is shocked to find that Jack is only fifteen years old, and that he is the only human in his crew, while Myrtle is distressed at being in the company of a pirate and demands that Jack take them to the moon's British residence, Fort George. En route aboard the pirates' ship Sophronia, a ship of the British Navy comes alongside and orders Jack to surrender or have his ship destroyed.
Jack distracts the officers by pretending to hold Art and Myrtle hostage, giving Ssillissa, the ship's alchemist, time to activate the ship's engines and fly the Sophronia to safety. They conceal themselves on Venus
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
, Jack Havock's old home, where Jack tells Art and Myrtle that the colonists there, including his parents and brother, were changed into tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s by a sudden pollination
Pollination
Pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred in plants, thereby enabling fertilisation and sexual reproduction. Pollen grains transport the male gametes to where the female gamete are contained within the carpel; in gymnosperms the pollen is directly applied to the ovule itself...
. Romantic feelings begin to develop between Jack and Myrtle. The white spiders thereafter take Myrtle to the Martian home of industrialist Sir Waverly Rain, whose factories cover Phobos
Phobos (moon)
Phobos is the larger and closer of the two natural satellites of Mars. Both moons were discovered in 1877. With a mean radius of , Phobos is 7.24 times as massive as Deimos...
and Deimos
Deimos (moon)
Deimos is the smaller and outer of Mars's two moons . It is named after Deimos, a figure representing dread in Greek Mythology. Its systematic designation is '.-Discovery:Deimos was discovered by Asaph Hall, Sr...
. She escapes with a Martian maid named Ulla (the name is probably a reference to The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds is an 1898 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells.The War of the Worlds may also refer to:- Radio broadcasts :* The War of the Worlds , the 1938 radio broadcast by Orson Welles...
) and her husband, Richard, with whom she learns that Sir Waverly Rain had been captured by the spiders and replaced with a spider-controlled automaton; believing the spiders might manufacture something much more sinister, they race to London.
Jack and Art visit Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
's moon Io
Io (moon)
Io ) is the innermost of the four Galilean moons of the planet Jupiter and, with a diameter of , the fourth-largest moon in the Solar System. It was named after the mythological character of Io, a priestess of Hera who became one of the lovers of Zeus....
, whence they descend into Jupiter’s atmosphere
Atmosphere
An atmosphere is a layer of gases that may surround a material body of sufficient mass, and that is held in place by the gravity of the body. An atmosphere may be retained for a longer duration, if the gravity is high and the atmosphere's temperature is low...
to ask aid of the Thunderhead, who tells them to protect the key to Larklight. Not knowing what this is, they attempt to leave Jupiter, but are abandoned by their ferryman and escape to a broken-down harpoon ship attached to a native organism, whence they are rescued by the Sophronia's crew. Jack discovers that Myrtle's locket (now in Art's possession) is the key to Larklight, in that it can activate a set of complex engines capable of transforming the solar system, and leads his crew to the spiders' home on the Rings of Saturn
Rings of Saturn
The rings of Saturn are the most extensive planetary ring system of any planet in the Solar System. They consist of countless small particles, ranging in size from micrometres to metres, that form clumps that in turn orbit about Saturn...
to exchange it for Myrtle's safe return.
Upon arriving at the spiders' home, most of the crew are captured. Art is later taken before Professor Phineas Ptarmigan, formerly of the Royal Xenological Institute where Jack was imprisoned until he was twelve, who reveals that he wishes to use Larklight to destroy the Solar System
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
, leaving the remains to the spiders whose ancestors had colonized the planetesimal
Planetesimal
Planetesimals are solid objects thought to exist in protoplanetary disks and in debris disks.A widely accepted theory of planet formation, the so-called planetesimal hypothesis of Viktor Safronov, states that planets form out of cosmic dust grains that collide and stick to form larger and larger...
s. Meanwhile, Ssillissa and her crewmate Yarg free the captured crew and two additional prisoners, Sir Waverly and Art's mother Emily.
Having freed Larklight from the spiders, the protagonists visit Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, where a gigantic mechanical spider is attacking London (another reference to The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds is an 1898 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells.The War of the Worlds may also refer to:- Radio broadcasts :* The War of the Worlds , the 1938 radio broadcast by Orson Welles...
). There, Myrtle takes control of the machine and uses it to kill Mr. Webster, and later re-unites with her family and Jack. The epilogue
Epilogue
An epilogue, epilog or afterword is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature or drama, usually used to bring closure to the work...
reveals that the race of white spiders has not been exterminated, but subdued, and that Ptarmigan has been placed in an insane asylum. The Mumby family return to live at Larklight, which they deprive of its otherworldly machinery.
Film Adaptation
Warner Bros.Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
bought the rights to Larklight in 2006. In April 2008, Shekhar Kapur
Shekhar Kapur
Shekhar Kapur is an Indian film director and producer. A critically acclaimed director, he rose to popularity with the movie Bandit Queen...
revealed that he was to direct and that he and Steven Knight
Steven Knight
Steven Knight is a British screenwriter. Knight has written scripts for numerous British television programmes such as the British version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, BBC's Commercial Breakdown, The Detectives and others. However, he is best known for screenplays he wrote for films Dirty...
had been doing the screenplay for three months. He went on to say that it would have a budget of $200 million, saying that it would be his most expensive movie. Alison Greenspan and Di Novi are producing. The film was to be released 1 January 2010, but after the death of Director Anthony Minghella, Shekhar Kapur took over his unfinished movie 'New York, I Love You', and postponed 'Larklight' instead.
See also
- Mars in fictionMars in fictionFictional representations of Mars have been popular for over a century. Interest in Mars has been stimulated by the planet's dramatic red color, by early scientific speculations that its surface conditions might be capable of supporting life, and by the possibility that Mars could be colonized by...
- Venus in fictionVenus in fictionFictional representations of Venus have existed since the 19th century. Its impenetrable cloud cover gave science fiction writers free rein to speculate on conditions at its surface; all the more so when early observations showed that not only was it very similar in size to Earth, it possessed a...