Ah ha! This was the book I was sent by an intrepid contributor (the ever eccentric, Doktor A) down to my local WH Smith to find. While I didn’t find Larklight, I found Mortal Machines (posted earlier) but still I hope to find Larklight and read it. The book looks delightful, and the official site is an example of a Steampunk book’s page done very well indeed. Beware the flash site, and it will play some music at you – but you’ll then be treated to an ‘Aethernet Explorer’ page where the ‘popup’ adverts are on mechanical hinges, and advertise such things as starch used on the Saturn expedition, auto-butlers and martian mosscakes.

The book tells the story of a boy and his sister in a most Steampunk setting – a run down old spacehome far out in the moons orbit. Nothing terribly much goes on at Larklight, the name of the house, until an unexpected visitor upsets their day to day living. From then, it seems, it’s rollicking adventures in a solar system that houses the British Empire at large, and where decent young chaps hope to grow up to explore the outer reaches of space in an aethership of their own. Then again, I’m sure decent young ladies may harbour such hopes too – I know I do.