Infernal Devices

ease aboard his stationary home. It's him they seek when adventure arrives from underneath - Lost Boys, in a submarine, sent by Uncle from Grimsby. Caul declines to help, but Wren sees her chance. All she has to do is steal the item the Lost Boys came for: the mysterious Tin Book.

No story element makes me more nervous that the generation gap. Just because we loved a parent in a story in a world, doesn't mean we'll love their kid. Not all stories can evolve. (I'm looking at you, Keira Cass, for that The Heir garbage.) But Infernal Devices is a worthy successor. Wren is a perfect combination of her parents, raised on and romanticizing their adventures. She's easily understandable. Tom and Hester have aged perfectly: still their own stark selves, softened by age and safety.

The story is a whizz-bang: The Lost Boys are discovered, Wren is kidnapped onto the very sub she wanted to board. She and her captor, a small boy named Fishcake, stumble into a brilliant plot point: the raft city of Brighton, which lures in Lost Boys to enslave them. Who's the mayor? Pennyroyal! The gang is all here. Wren also meets a boy named Theo with an important Anti-Traction League story to tell.

Everything about this book is great. The settings soar, the plots are twisting and diabolical, but always palatable and easy to read. Wren's peril is real, but still fun, and Tom and Hester are launched back into the roles we loved best. Politics, war, adventure, escape - it's all here, as good as ever.