A review by snazel
Secrets of the Dragon Tomb by Patrick Samphire
4.0
When his parents are kidnapped, it's up to Freddie (and his idiot cousin (and his mad scientist younger sister (and his deeply sensible older sister))) to save the day. But nothing and no-one are what they seem.
This is a rollicking adventure with an incredibly fun world. I cannot overstate the incredible funness of this world. Oh my goodness. Hunter-Stalker Tripods! Mummified long-dead dragons! Clockwork butlers! (I will remember you, butler.) Plants that want to eat you! Ships that SAIL THROUGH THE VOID OF SPACE USING DRAGON PATHS DURING THE NAPOLEONIC WAR. MARS. Spies, and cyphers, and secret tombs, and murders! And the characters are lots of fun and we learn not to take people at face value. Also Putty is paralyzed by a venomous snail and must be traversed through a carnivorous forest while unconscious.
This book is also notable because it really manages to include all the fun of Thrilling Adventures-era boys adventures, while neatly side-stepping sexism, colonialism, racism, and even a decent amount of classism. The servants are clockwork, not oppressed human. England is hardly the greatest power in the known world(s). It isn't even the greatest power on Mars, as three other countries (none of them European) have established dominions here. Even the shoddy way the Native Martians are treated is addressed, and they're depicted as both valuable allies and dangerous foes. Plus everybody, no matter their gender, gets a moment of competence (with the possible exception of Mum, but there's book two for that).
This is really solid and really fun. I want so many more books in this world.
This is a rollicking adventure with an incredibly fun world. I cannot overstate the incredible funness of this world. Oh my goodness. Hunter-Stalker Tripods! Mummified long-dead dragons! Clockwork butlers! (I will remember you, butler.) Plants that want to eat you! Ships that SAIL THROUGH THE VOID OF SPACE USING DRAGON PATHS DURING THE NAPOLEONIC WAR. MARS. Spies, and cyphers, and secret tombs, and murders! And the characters are lots of fun and we learn not to take people at face value. Also Putty is paralyzed by a venomous snail and must be traversed through a carnivorous forest while unconscious.
This book is also notable because it really manages to include all the fun of Thrilling Adventures-era boys adventures, while neatly side-stepping sexism, colonialism, racism, and even a decent amount of classism. The servants are clockwork, not oppressed human. England is hardly the greatest power in the known world(s). It isn't even the greatest power on Mars, as three other countries (none of them European) have established dominions here. Even the shoddy way the Native Martians are treated is addressed, and they're depicted as both valuable allies and dangerous foes. Plus everybody, no matter their gender, gets a moment of competence (with the possible exception of Mum, but there's book two for that).
This is really solid and really fun. I want so many more books in this world.