Mothstorm by Phillip Reeve

Summary: It should be a quiet Christmas time for Art Mumby and his family when Jack and his crew arrive and tackle the problem of Christmas pudding infestation, and a mysterious message from Uranus (Sorry, Gregorium Sidus). Upon investigating, Art (and his family, too, of course) discover a sinister cloud of moths led by an even more sinister woman threatening the galaxy, and worse, the British Empire (again)!

Assessment: As my faithful readers (all two of them) know that I am quite devoted to this series. I love the author's vivid imagination and witty turns of phrase, as well as humorous look at the Victorian period. The illustrator's whimsical illustrations that give the feel of a Victorian novel. There's plenty to like in this from Art's heroic efforts to Myrtle teaching an alien society of warrior females to do embroidery and faint better. However, having said that, I get the feeling from this novel that the author is running out of ideas. One of my biggest complaints is that one of the best characters, Ssilissa, had very little to do throughtout the whole story. Only until the end do we see her again. This is quite disappointing as I expect more from Reeve's great storytelling skills. Hopefully the author will take a little break, clear his mind, and then write some more about Art and his family!