Fever Crumb: A Web of Air

By Philip Reeve
Rating: 4 1/2 stars

This is book 2 in the Fever Crumb series.  Fever, along with the kids Fern and Ruan, has escaped London with the traveling barge of performers and has stayed with them ever since.  Now two years have passed and Fever has created electrical lights for the stage while the kids have become thoroughly enchanted by the lives of the performers.  Then they arrive in the city of Mayda, where Fever hears of Arlo Thursday who is attempting to recover the lost art of flight for humans.  Soon, Fever becomes fascinated with Arlo's project, and opts to stay in Mayda while the performers go elsewhere for a couple of weeks.  But others are also interested in Arlo's work--dangerously interested, where they would prefer to kill whomever succeeds with the idea of flight.  Fever and Arlo race against time to finish their flying machine before those hunting them discover their hiding place.  Will they be successful?  A fascinating story, full of twists and adventures, that science fiction and adventure fans will love.  Let's hope there are many more to this series!