Arabella of Mars

Starred review from May 9, 2016
Arabella, a human teenager born on Mars, is catapulted into adventure in a tale that cleverly combines some of the most intriguing elements of steampunk and classic science fiction. In an alternate 1812, Arabella’s mother moves her three daughters to Earth and away from the wild influences of the Martian colony. When the family gets news that Arabella’s father has died on Mars, the headstrong 17-year-old girl disguises herself as a boy and hires on with one of the great ships that sail the solar winds between the planets, planning to protect her brother, who’s still on Mars, from treachery. Along the way, she faces privateers and mutiny, but Arabella is resourceful and courageous, gamely enduring hardship to accomplish her mission. Arabella is a fully realized character, daring and willing to risk everything to protect the brother she loves and the legacy that her father has left them. Her wits and cleverness save the ship and crew more than once in this rousing swashbuckler. Agent: Paul Lucas, Janklow & Nesbit.

July 1, 2016

Growing up in the British colony on Mars, Arabella Ashby would rather be working with her father on his automatons or outside with her brother and her Martian nanny. Yet her mother wants her to be a proper young lady and decides to take Arabella and her sisters to Earth, specifically London, to reside. When the news of her father's death as well as a threat to her Martian home arrive, Arabella knows that she would rather save her brother than save face. Disguised as a boy, she gets a job with the crew of the Diana, a ship that serves as part of the Mars Trading Company. Learning of her knack for clockwork, the captain puts her in charge of the ship's lifelike navigator. Dealing with the intricate automaton would be enough, but Arabella also must learn to sail across the stars--while dealing with a less-than-happy crew and the British and French naval war. It will take all of Arabella's skills to survive the skies, and she only hopes to ensure her family stays alive on Mars, too. Embedded in the chaos of clockwork and space adventure, Arabella is a delightful heroine with more than enough fortitude to traverse the solar system. VERDICT A fanciful romp through a cosmic 1812, Hugo Award-winning Levine's first novel is a treat for steampunk fantasy fans.--KC

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from July 1, 2016
This Verne-inspired novel is a joyous throwback to sf adventure tales of old. Levine combines steampunk technology, Victorian sensibilities, British colonialism, and interplanetary maritime swashbuckling with wit, energy, and excitement. As a proper English lady, 17-year-old Arabella Ashby should regard the Martian frontier a barbarous place, but having lived on an English plantation on Mars all her life, Arabella feels more kinship with the Martian way of life, taught by her itkhalya (nanny), than her mother's lessons. Fearing further native behavior, her mother takes Arabella and her sisters to Earth, where she withstands frilly dresses, prim conversations, and unrelenting gravity. When she uncovers a plot to control the family fortune by murdering her brother Michael, still on Mars, Arabella disguises herself as a boy and enlists on a Mars Trading Company ship. Despite her inexperience sailing the solar system, Arabella has a knack for the complicated automata used for navigation. To return to Mars, she endures grueling labor, storms, privateers, mutiny, and an uncomfortable attraction to the confident Captain Singh. The alternate-world science is novel, the plot thrilling, and the romance appropriately chaste, but with her wits, resourcefulness, and courage, Arabella cuts a dashing figure as the heroine of this story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)