Larklight (Larklight, #1)

Larklight, or the Revenge of the White Spiders! or to Saturn's Rings and Back! is a young adult novel written by Philip Reeve and illustrated by David Wyatt. It is the first book in the Larklight Trilogy. Larklight is a space opera set in an alternative 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.