N J Gemmell, The Luna Laboratorium, Random House Australia, 1 Oct 2015, 305pp., $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 978 0 85798 569 9
After The Kensington Reptilarium (2013) and The Icicle Illuminarium (2014), for the third time we are invited to follow the adventures of Kick, Scruff, Bertie, and Pin, this time in Sydney. They are looking for their mother, who has disappeared, and the main source of information appears to be somewhere in Luna Park. Their search involves their uncle, Basti, his butler, Charlie Boo, and Bone, a boy who is not one of the family, but just the sort you need in an emergency.
The whole tale is told in the first person and in the present tense. The children find secret passages at Luna Park, Sydney nunneries hiding damaged patients and they run out of fuel in the outback as they make their way back home to their isolated homestead. The most finely delineated character is Kick who inserts most of the emotion into the novel and drives most of the action. At times she is motherly towards Pin, angry with her mother, or caring towards her siblings. She confronts evil-doers, strengthens everyone’s spine, and accepts what she cannot change. The other children are only faintly outlined, apart from Pin, the baby, who finds various clues to their mother’s absence by being out of control.
The story meanders along with some moments of tension. The reader is likely to struggle to suspend disbelief – where is Dad while all these children are roaming about unsupervised? Why does all action have to be undertaken by young children rather than responsible adults, or the police? Even Basti drops his search at the first indication of a dead end. And have these people learnt nothing about survival in the Australian desert? However, if young people have enjoyed the first two books, they will want to read this one. Don’t expect wild enthusiasm.
Reviewed by Stella Lees
