Although not necessarily something I would pick up to read on a normal day, was definitely a cute read for anyone. Loved the magic!

Great for middle grade children!

This is a great book for kids looking to expand beyond all of the popular series that seem to always be checked out at the library. This was a great second book in a series even if you have not read the first (which I had not at the time). There is not a ton of steampunk writing for middle grade so make sure to hand this one off when a patron is requesting it!

Very fun read. Great second book in the series. Characters are very interesting. Story is very enjoyable.

Wow! This book is sure to be a winner with fans from the first book! Fun ado is gifted and imaginative. I can't wait to see what he will do next!

Busy, Busy, Busy

This is the second book in the Odditorium series. Like the first it ends in a cliffhanger, and it serves as something of a bridge to later volumes. There is a full, and resolved, story arc, but the larger mysteries of the series are left tantalizingly open. The author does a reasonably effective job of summarizing the first book for people who have joined the series here in progress. But, there are so many interrelated characters and so many clever fine points regarding how the Odditorium functions, it seems to me that to really get the most out of this series you should start at the beginning.

When I first read Book One I had my doubts about this series. Victorian era steampunk, where magic replaces steam, seemed a bit arch and maybe just too cutesy. My fears were relieved mainly because the characters are so engaging and the magic system is pretty clear. There are a lot of moving pieces among the characters, their relationships, their histories, sub-plots, bigger plots, and guest characters, but the author does an excellent job in keeping everything coherent and under control.

This Book Two is in that same style. But it is the kind of magic/mech/fantasy/adventure that a middle grader has to read carefully. Important details and plot points can sometimes zip by just in the course of a few lines of dialogue. The author does allow the characters to do a fair amount of monologuing, and there is a good deal of exposition, and that does make it a lot easier to follow the action and all of its twists and turns. Confrontations between good guys and bad guys tend to be more like move/countermove/counter-countermove chess games than sword fights, and I like that in a middle grade adventure. That said, there's still plenty of hiding, fighting, lurking, sneaking, magic-wielding, and general mayhem to satisfy even the most demanding MG reader.

There is a good deal of humor sprinkled about and the characters have more personality, depth and appeal than seems common for this sort of book. There is also a running thread following our narrator kid hero and his new-found Dad, and that has developed into a strong upbeat aspect of the series.

The upshot is that, for me, this looked like it might be a bit daunting for a younger reader, but the author has been doing a wonderful job of keeping it all on track. This makes the entire series a nice choice. (Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)