Secrets of the Dragon Tomb, by Patrick Samphire--an exciting adventure on Regency Mars

Secrets of the Dragon Tomb, by Patrick Samphire (Henry Holt and Co., January 2016), is my favorite book of 2016 thus far.  It is the sort of book that renews one's faith that middle grade science fiction/fantasy books can still offer new and wondrous things even for one who has read thousands of them.  The basic premise of the worldbuilding is that there are slip-ways created by Martian dragons long ago that connect Mars to Earth, and the discovery of these paths in the 17th century allowed the British (and other terrestrial civilizations) to establish colonies on Mars. It is now 1816, the Napoleonic era, and a boy named Edward and his family live a very comfortable British Imperial existence on Mars.  The ancient Martian civilizations are no more, although there are still plenty of native Martians around (they are human as well, though physically different due to centuries of life on a planet with lower gravity).  And the tombs of the Marian emperors of centuries past are rich repositories of wondrous technology...the sort of technology that could tip the balance of the ongoing war on Earth in Napoleon's favor if he could get a hold of it....

Edward's father is a brilliant inventor and devisor of mathematical and mechanical constructs.  His most recent project is a wondrous abacus that is essentially a water powered computer, and it has drawn considerable attention--a new map showing the location of an undiscovered Dragon Tomb has been found, but the symbols pinpointing its location are undecipherable, and the new abacus might be able to do it.  And so a disgraced ex-explorer desperate for fame and fortune kidnaps Edward's family, with the exception of himself, his little sister, Putty, and his older sister Olivia.  This villain is planning to force the father to decode the map.  Fortunately Cousin Freddy, who arrived on the scene just before the kidnapper (not a coincidence) isn't the bumbling idiot of his public persona (think Scarlet Pimpernel). And so Freddy, Thomas, Putty, and Olivia set out on a mission to save the family and find the dragon tomb first.

What follows is wild adventure on an alien planet with all sorts of strange flora and fauna, full of steampunkish technology and mechanicals (both helpful and hostile) set in a fascinating British colonial society reminiscent of the British Raj with a dash of regency romance.  The four main characters are all great--poor Edward, though he wants so badly to be a hero, mostly ends up being battered and knocked unconscious, though he has his extremely useful moments of bad guy foiling.  Putty, the little sister, is smart as a tack and as stubborn as a mule, and they would never have made it without her intelligence and determination.  Even Olivia, who never was much regarded by her family (not as pretty as her big sister or as smart as her little one) gets her chance to shine, and is rewarded by the romance part of the story.  And as for Freddy, I am predisposed in the favor of anyone who reminds me of the Scarlet Pimpernel.....

My only complaint is that I wish we'd got to spend more time actually exploring the Dragon Tomb once we got there!  It felt rather rushed; a here we are and look! a mummified dragon, and isn't the technology cool looking glimpse, and then nothing more substantial. 

So I really like it, but am find it tricky to put into words what sort of kid I'd recommend it to.  One who likes spy stories, and adventures on alien planet stories (not that there are many kids exploring alien planet stories these day; perhaps Minecraft comes closest; the cover art reminds me of Minecraft, so perhaps the publisher was thinking along the same lines)...but also one who likes books like Kat, Incorrigable, by Stephanie Burgis, with historical settings mixed with magicalness (I was thinking of Stephanie Burgis' books as I read, and was amused to see that she is the author's wife, who is thanked in the awknowledgements for her help).  I do know that I am able to recommend it to grown-ups who like the same middle grade speculative fiction books I do, which is something....and I also know that I am very much looking forward to the sequel (The Emperor of Mars), and I hope it goes into the culture confict on Mars more than the adventure/danger plot of this first book allowed.