I really wanted this book to be set in Zoone, or to feature some of the Zoone station, but Ozzie and his friends spend hardly any time there and that was a little frustrating.
Ozzie and his Aunt Temperance are visited by Tug and Fidget who're escaping the Moto invasion of Zoone. The Motos, sentient and self-replicating robots in all shapes, forms and sizes, have Lady Zoone under guard and she's begging for Aunt Temperance and Ozzie's help to save Zoone. Pay close attention to Lady Zoone's message. Although it doesn't make sense at first, it will, by the end.
The message revolves around Aunt Temperance's lost love, Mercurio. And so will the story, although it's not apparent at first.
The doorway to Zoon's finally open again, and Aunt Temperance, Ozzie and the others depart right away, Aunt Tempie with stars in her eyes at the prospect of questing to find Mercurio. But before they arrive at the Zoone station, pirates waylay them. Specifically, a merciless woman pirate, Captain Aurelia Traxx, of the Empyrean Thunder. As it turns out, Mercurio was once a pirate on her ship, and she dropped him off on planet Creon, a desolate, dead world where he was sure to die. But that's where he requested to be dropped off, because he couldn't live with a broken heart.
The ship's attacked by a Cosmic Storm that gobbles it and all the questers up and they use bubble bath to make it upchuck the vessel. In return for saving her ship (not the crew, she's unrepentant about losing some of those scallywags), Captain Traxx drops them off on Creon, where the hunt for Mercurio begins.
The kids quickly discover Creon is the source of the Motos, but the Motos' true nature, and their designs on universal domination, are worse than anything Ozzie -- or Aunt Temperance -- could ever have imagined!
I won't say any more or I'll reveal the big twist. While we liked this one, we're very much looking forward to a story with Ozzie, Tug and Fidget that's actually set on the wonderful world of Zoone and all its doors. Enjoy!
