More of Modo and the Permanent Association with a very enjoable 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea flavour to it.

This time the Clockwork Guild have created an invisible man to liven it all up for us readers.

And a French secret agent joins in the fun.

Same caveat applies as in the first book of this series, and in Jules Verne's books also: just don't think too hard about the science.   Put your 21st century scientific judgement aside, simply enjoy the tale being told and let Modo and the rest take you on a journey to the bottom of the Ocean.

Well written and very enjoyable.

So now i'm going to dive straight into book 3: Empire of Ruins ( )

I really loved this book--and I did that thing where you listen to the second book because that's the one you can get, even though you haven't read the first one yet, and you just hope it's going to be okay? Yeah, I did that. And it was perfectly okay. The author provides enough background information to bring the reader up to speed, without ever making it feel cumbersome.

Intriguing and well-developed characters, lots of adventure, and a complex plot kept me listening even when I should have been doing other things. Highly recommended for anyone of any age who loves YA. ( )

Note: While this is Book 2 in the series, it works OK as a stand alone story. Reading the first book would give you more info on the characters, but their past relationships are covered well enough in this book that you don’t need to have read Book 1, The Hunchback Assignments, to enjoy this novel.

Set in a steampunked 1800s, Modo works hard to please his master, Mr. Socrates, with his espionage abilities. Stealing secrets from the French has been fun, but now he and Octavia are sent on a much more mysterious mission. Something has been floundering ships in the North Atlantic. Is it a trained whale? No one is certain and Mr. Socrates wants to be the first to know.

I really enjoyed Book 1 but I think I enjoyed this book a bit more. The characters are a bit more refined and the world better set in it’s fixture. I was pretty excited to see that the author drew upon two classics, Invisible Man and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Mixing these two themes with steampunk and then tossing in Modo, Octavia, and some new interesting characters, the book has charm written all over it.

The evil Clockwork Guild is still active with Dr. Hyde creating his metal-jawed dogs and a new type of human. Gryf, an unfortunate kid, is the subject of these experiments. Well, he’s the one that has survived long enough to be an important role in this story. Ms. Hackdotter, who has a mechanical arm, is the true villain in the book, sending chills down my spine as she toys with her captives. She’s devious, using her charm to maintain power over some of the Guild’s minions.

Meanwhile, we have two new and very interesting characters. There’s the French spy, Colette Brunet, who is half Japanese and who can speak English without a noticeable accent, letting her blend in easier. Then there’s Monturiol, who is a captain in her own right. Both of these ladies could be enemies or friends and Modo spends much of the book trying to figure out who his real foes are.

Even though Octavia and Modo started off on this adventure together, they soon became separated. While Modo is off with these new characters, Tavia is organizing a rescue party. I was a little sad that Tavia didn’t get to join Modo on the real adventure with Colette and Monturiol, but I was also glad that the author didn’t simply shelve her. The story keeps peeking back in on her and her rescue efforts. Meanwhile, Modo is learning to like a whole new cuisine and I quite enjoyed the little jokes that with it – dolphin’s milk indeed!

As a counterpoint to the adventure and humor, we have Modo’s struggle with his natural looks. He feels that people will despise him if they see his real face. Of course, this was enforced throughout his childhood by Mr. Socrates, even if he meant it in a good way. However, in this story, Modo often finds himself in a position where it is very difficult to keep his natural face under a mask or morphed into something pleasant. While my heart goes out a little to Modo during these scenes, I do find it a bit refreshing to have a male character so very concerned about his looks, instead of a female character.

The ending was a little bittersweet, which was quite suitable for the story. I like that not everything came up roses. Since Modo and Tavia are getting older, this story seems a little more subtle and adult than Book 1. I definitely like the direction this series is going in.

Narration: Jayne Entwistle continues to narrate the series. In this book Modo is 14 and I was hoping that his voice would have aged a little, but he still has a kid’s voice for the entirety of the book. Again, I first got to know Modo through Ember’s End, a graphic novel, so I came into these audiobooks with an idea already in my head of what he should sound like as a near adult. For Book 1, the kid’s voice was OK, even worked well in certain scenes. But now that he’s older, and also that he and Tavia are supposed to pretend to be married for some of their espionage work, I need his voice to be a bit older. Setting that aside, Entwistle did a good job with all the female characters and I loved the various accents she had to pull off. She’s also really good at imbuing the character voices with emotions. ( )

I‰ÃƒÂ›Ã‚ªd be hard-pressed to say whether this one exceeds the first or comes dead even. It‰Ûªs always nice when a series keeps its momentum, both in terms of action and character development. Modo goes from hopping across the rooftops of London to being (albeit cordially) imprisoned on the tricked-out submarine Ictineo after he falls overboard during an attack on their steamship, leaving Octavia behind to relay the news of Modo‰Ûªs possible death to Mr. Socrates. While the crew and captain of the Ictineo are zealots, with a one-sided focus on using pure science to advance an utopist agenda, their hidden underwater city near Iceland is both a marvel of technology and of tolerance, which pulls at Modo‰Ûªs heartstrings as well as his intellect. Meanwhile, Hakkandottir and the Clockwork Guild are up to more of their nefarious plans, and they‰Ûªve sent after Modo a truly difficult enemy: Griff, the invisible boy.

Modo is in a difficult place in this book, even more so in the first. Managing his appearance is harder, since he is stuck in close quarters on a submarine, and he never fully manages to hide behind masks or his shape-changing ability effectively. This takes a physical toll, obviously, but an emotional one as well, since Modo is constantly on edge that someone will see his true appearance. Also, his desire to please Mr. Socrates by bringing home Captain Monturiol‰Ûªs technology ‰ÛÒ thereby aiding the British Empire and sticking it to the French ‰ÛÒ is in direct contrast with his empathy for the Captain‰Ûªs true intentions. She only wants to create a society where all people are equal and valued, and Modo, who looks like a monster, shares in that vision. All he wants is a place where he can show his true face without fear, where he can belong.

A lot of what I like about this book is the contrasts among the characters: Captain Monturil and Hakkandottir; Modo and Griff; Octavia and Colette. They‰Ûªre all duos with similar backgrounds and/or characteristics, but each person does something entirely different with the similarities.

Blinded by her idealistic visions, Captain Monturiol can be ruthless and vengeful with those whom she perceives (sometimes unfairly) to be in her way, but she is sympathetic in a way Hakkandottir is not. Hakkandottir is intriguing, but she is wholly villainous, with no redeeming qualities. She‰Ûªs mustache-twirling evil, though in a coolly dispassionate way. The Captain, on the other hand, first seems like a villain ‰ÛÒ after all, she‰Ûªs sinking ships that come too close to her underwater city, regardless of the lives lost and whether the ships were at fault ‰ÛÒ but she quickly becomes more complex. Sure, she is a little crazy, a fanatic with an implausible dream who refuses to see reality, and the fact that her fanaticism presents itself in a completely rational, scientific manner only makes it seem crazier. But she truly cares for her people ‰ÛÒ the ones with whom she‰Ûªs creating this society ‰ÛÒ and one gets the sense that if more people thought like her about equality, the world would be much improved. So, she wavers between Modo‰Ûªs antagonist and his ally and, like all real people, is not simply good or evil but both.

Griff, the invisible boy, is basically Modo without the benefit of Mr. Socrates and the others who raised him with care. Griff is a genetic freak (though in his case, a purposely altered one) used by an organization to further their aims. So is Modo. The biggest difference is that the Clockwork Guild used Griff in an inhumane way, taught him to hate himself and others, and punished his failures severely, while requiring complete obedience. They twisted him mentally. Modo, despite being twisted physically, had an upbringing that was occasionally harsh but never cruel or deceitful, and he always had people to care for him. Griff‰Ûªs isolation mirrors Modo‰Ûªs ‰ÛÒ neither can show his true face, neither can ever be ordinary ‰ÛÒ but Griff has been driven insane by it. It‰Ûªs tough not to feel pity for Griff, who‰Ûªs been shaped by those who raised him as much as Modo has.

And finally, Octavia and Colette, competitive, intelligent, young female spies aware of how hard they must work to be taken seriously among the menfolk. Both are somewhat bossy and superior, especially with Modo, but they‰Ûªre clearly compensating ‰ÛÒ Colette is also half-Japanese and half-French, so she feels the pressure to prove herself possibly even more than Octavia does. Colette seems older, more polished and urbane, than Olivia, but both have hard shells. Both come to care for Modo because of his competency, his decency, and his compassion, and I think they are also taken in by his mystery and the challenge of uncovering it. Modo and Colette they come to trust each other ‰ÛÒ despite Modo being a British spy and she a French one ‰ÛÒ in part because battling against the Clockwork Guild is more important. Since Colette is more forward about her interest in Modo, willing to challenge his belief that no one will ever truly accept him, he eventually shows her his true appearance. The whole scene is beautifully written, and my heart broke for Modo when Colette tearfully asks him to put his mask back on so that she doesn‰Ûªt have to see his face. My heart broke again when, after Colette‰Ûªs and Modo‰Ûªs daring escape and rescue at the end, Octavia gives him Colette‰Ûªs farewell letter and he knew in his heart why she hadn‰Ûªt stayed to say good-bye. Her admission that she wasn‰Ûªt as good a person as she wanted to be just made it more painful. Modo‰Ûªs hurt and self-loathing is palpable, and Octavia‰Ûªs chances of seeing Modo without his mask just went down to zero.

We also get a few chapters from Mr. Socrates viewpoint as Octavia first reports Modo‰Ûªs potential watery death and then as her search for Modo continues. Again, he is distant and chilly and yet, underneath his emotionless mask, he has feelings for Modo that he cannot quite put aside. Almost, but not quite. He may consider these feelings to be irrational and not in the best interests of the British Empire, but he goes further in this book toward accepting that this is how a father should feel. His relationship to Modo is still the one that I find the most interesting; his heart is always warring with his head when Modo is concerned, but the battle is practically invisible, like he‰Ûªs trying to fight it without admitting it, even to himself. It makes me wonder even more about his past, of which we know very little. Will he be there when Modo really needs him? Here, it seems, he is, though we don‰Ûªt get to see their reunion play out in this book, something I really missed.

Of course, this book isn‰Ûªt short on fascinating steampunk inventions or thrilling chases, escapes, and battles, but what I love about the series is that there‰Ûªs much more than cool gadgetry and action scenes. It has heart. This may prompt me to finally go out and get Slade's other books to read while I'm waiting for the next installment. ( )

No sparkley vampires here. No hunky werewolves. No angels. Our hero is a grossly disfigured hunchback named Modo who has a special talent to turn transform himself so he looks like any other person. He was bought/adopted/taken in by Mr. Socrates who sequestered him for the first years of his life and gave him an intense education both mentally and physically.

In this second episode of the series Mr. Socrates has Modo and Octavia pose as husband and wife to investigate the disappearance of a French spy name Colette Burnett. She had been investigating the mysterious disappearance and/or destruction of boats in an area of the ocean off Iceland. Their own ship becomes the latest victim of the mystery and Modo finds himself the guest of Captain Monturiol, the daughter of a brilliant scientist with a most remarkable vision for a new country, aboard a submarine.

We meet new characters, both good guys and members of the evil Clockwork Guild including Griff, an invisible man who seems to be mentally affected by the potion given to him to make him able to bend light but does nothing to improve his obnoxious personality. Miss Hakkandottir (I love this name) is an amazing villain with mechanical hands. She lives to continue hunting Modo in future books.

Arthur Slade makes Saskatoon, Saskatchewan his home and I can only wonder if this locale gives a boost to his fantastic imagination. I will be on the lookout for more Modo adventures. ( )