Seanan McGuire once again puts on her sunglasses and false mustache to publish a book as A. Deborah Baker. The Up-and-Under is a series of books mentioned in McGuire’s Middlegame (which I have not read, so I’ve no idea how exactly this ties in) that she has expanded on and published as standalone middle grade books. This is #3 - for my reviews of 1 and 2, look here and here.
For those unfamiliar, these books are in the Alice in Wonderland tradition: children swept up into a world of whimsy and wonder, but with plenty of monsters and wicked things about as well. In this case, the children in question are Zib (a child who avoids wearing shoes whenever possible) and Avery (a child who places a great deal of importance on his shoes being polished to a proper shine). After stumbling into the Up-and-Under on their way to school one morning, Zib and Avery met and befriended the Crow Girl (a girl with no name who is also an entire murder of crows) and Niamh (a girl who has lived in an underwater city of dead people ever since she drowned as a baby). For two books now they’ve been trying to follow the Improbable Road (which appears in the least likely of places) trying to get home.
For those familiar, in this book they encounter the Queen of the Air, she who creates all of the monsters in the Up-and-Under. Notably, these monsters include none other than the Crow Girl, who gave the Queen of the Air her heart and her name in exchange for being turned into a murder of crows.
This series remains, in my opinion, perfect for readers of the age where they’re just discovering Narnia and Prydain and Pern. As an adult, I am enjoying them as quick, whimsical, and nostalgic reads, though I’ll admit I found myself getting a bit bored by the Up-and-Under for about the first two-thirds of this. That didn’t really change until things really started coming to a head between the Queen and the Crow Girl, who is probably my favorite of the quartet.
Looking forward to book 4, though not quite as eagerly as I was looking forward to books 2 and 3. I’m assuming book 4 will wrap things up (with books 1-3 dealing with the monarchs of Earth, Water, and Air, that just leaves Fire). The journey has been delightful, but it’s time to wrap up, I think.