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Oddity #2
Mooncussers
With the help of magical Oddities, like a Pistol that never misses, Clover and her friends face a new danger, the ravenous Underking, in this riveting sequel to Oddity.
Despite Clover’s victory over the destructive Seamstress, war continues to rage between the fledgling Unified States and Napoléon Bonaparte. Clover and Nessa, former snake-oil salesgirl, join the Women’s Service League expecting to dole out soup and socks to invalids and orphans. Instead, under the direction of the wealthy and mysterious Miss Yamada, they’re tasked with rooting out the last of the pestilential Vermin—vicious creatures animated by magic, such as squirrel skins stuffed with nails, who have been terrorizing the countryside. But when the group is attacked by a new kind of monster—a sharp-toothed harehound with bloodshot eyes—they discover a much greater threat the grotesque Underking and his army of twisted creatures. With the help of a Paper-Doll Witch, an elegantly dressed skeleton, a girl bearing a Quilt with threatening properties, and Susanna the bad-tempered Doll, Clover and Nessa must defeat the Underking before he conquers the whole land. This follow-up to Oddity is a wildly imaginative and engrossing dark fantasy set in an alternate American past.
Despite Clover’s victory over the destructive Seamstress, war continues to rage between the fledgling Unified States and Napoléon Bonaparte. Clover and Nessa, former snake-oil salesgirl, join the Women’s Service League expecting to dole out soup and socks to invalids and orphans. Instead, under the direction of the wealthy and mysterious Miss Yamada, they’re tasked with rooting out the last of the pestilential Vermin—vicious creatures animated by magic, such as squirrel skins stuffed with nails, who have been terrorizing the countryside. But when the group is attacked by a new kind of monster—a sharp-toothed harehound with bloodshot eyes—they discover a much greater threat the grotesque Underking and his army of twisted creatures. With the help of a Paper-Doll Witch, an elegantly dressed skeleton, a girl bearing a Quilt with threatening properties, and Susanna the bad-tempered Doll, Clover and Nessa must defeat the Underking before he conquers the whole land. This follow-up to Oddity is a wildly imaginative and engrossing dark fantasy set in an alternate American past.
288 pages, Hardcover
Published July 1, 2025
6 people are currently reading
144 people want to read
About the author
Eli Brown
13 books187 followersEli Brown's middle-grade novel, ODDITY, follows Clover Elkin, the no-nonsense daughter of a frontier surgeon as she tries to protect the secret magical object he's left behind. Booklist called it "...a richly imagined blend of Lloyd Alexander’s The Black Cauldron and Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass."
Brown's culinary pirate novel, CINNAMON AND GUNPOWDER, was a finalist for the California Book Award, a San Francisco Public Library One-City One-Book selection, and an NPR Book Review Staff Pick.
Brown’s first novel, THE GREAT DAYS (Boaz Publications), won the Fabri Prize for Literature. Publishers Weekly called it “…a harrowing, convincing look into the heart of cult life that should linger with readers.”
A Yaddo fellow and featured reader at Litquake, Brown earned his MFA from Mills college. He lives with his family in Northern California where the squirrels bury acorns in his garden and cats bury worse.
Brown's culinary pirate novel, CINNAMON AND GUNPOWDER, was a finalist for the California Book Award, a San Francisco Public Library One-City One-Book selection, and an NPR Book Review Staff Pick.
Brown’s first novel, THE GREAT DAYS (Boaz Publications), won the Fabri Prize for Literature. Publishers Weekly called it “…a harrowing, convincing look into the heart of cult life that should linger with readers.”
A Yaddo fellow and featured reader at Litquake, Brown earned his MFA from Mills college. He lives with his family in Northern California where the squirrels bury acorns in his garden and cats bury worse.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 22, 2025
So cool. I love this world and the characters. A group of Oddities (women with powers/magic) fights the Vermin (undead constructs, half machines/half animals, horrible monsters) from terrorizing the United States (a parallel historical steampunk world that is being attacked by Emperor Bonaparte). This group of women is heroes. While the men fight in the war, they save those left behind from these monsters. In this volume, we'll focus on defeating the Underking. The scene where they see this monster for the first time is vivid, scary, and epic.
This is one of my favorite historical Steampunk Fantasy series. I love the characters as a found family. It is filled with black and white illustrations. Middlegraders who love complexes world building and unique magic-system who want an adventure/ horror will also appreciate this series, not just older readers.
This is one of my favorite historical Steampunk Fantasy series. I love the characters as a found family. It is filled with black and white illustrations. Middlegraders who love complexes world building and unique magic-system who want an adventure/ horror will also appreciate this series, not just older readers.
October 13, 2024
*3.5 stars, in actuality
SPOILER-FREE REVIEW: Mooncussers is an entertaining sequal to Brown's Oddity. The pace is slow to start, but by the halfway mark things pick up dramatically. The character development is not as deep as I would have preferred, but it's still a fine follow up and continuation of Clover's story.
This time around, they're setting out to hunt and destroy the vermin who scattered across the continent following the battle at Harper's Ridge. Clover must once again face her fears and learn to trust people on the way to achieving their goal, all while staying out of the crosshairs of Senator-turned-President Auburn. When a new enemy makes itself known, it changes their path and takes them through a battle they didn't have any clue they'd be up against.
SPOILERS AHEAD **************
Mooncussers was a little bit of a letdown for me following Oddity, but it was still a fine book. I'm sure middle graders would have very few gripes with it, though. I don't have any major complaints about the writing - I think I was just missing some of the character depth from the first book. I feel like I barely know anything about Hazel for how crucial a role she plays in the story. There are so many blanks about her that we're left to imagine and fill in for ourselves. Same for Miss Yamada. Given her knowledge of Clover's mom, I expected there to be more conversations about her.
We know that Clover still feels connected to her mother because she calls out for her help in a moment of desperation. That connection, however, isn't very evident in the rest of the book.
There's a shift from a hero's journey to something very much more a team effort. Clover is still the central protagonist, but the story doesn't feel like it's hers in the way the first book did. This story seems to be more about the factions of good vs. evil in general and is less concerned with the actual development of each character.
To that end, the characters are not as well developed in Mooncussers as they were in Oddity. The first half of the book was a bit of a slog for me, to be honest, but the second half really came in and redeemed the whole. The pace picked up dramatically and I sure did end the book with a smile. If he ends up writing a third, I'd totally pick it up, and I still recommend this duology very highly!
Thank you to Edelweiss and Walker Books US for the advanced copy of this book.
SPOILER-FREE REVIEW: Mooncussers is an entertaining sequal to Brown's Oddity. The pace is slow to start, but by the halfway mark things pick up dramatically. The character development is not as deep as I would have preferred, but it's still a fine follow up and continuation of Clover's story.
This time around, they're setting out to hunt and destroy the vermin who scattered across the continent following the battle at Harper's Ridge. Clover must once again face her fears and learn to trust people on the way to achieving their goal, all while staying out of the crosshairs of Senator-turned-President Auburn. When a new enemy makes itself known, it changes their path and takes them through a battle they didn't have any clue they'd be up against.
SPOILERS AHEAD **************
Mooncussers was a little bit of a letdown for me following Oddity, but it was still a fine book. I'm sure middle graders would have very few gripes with it, though. I don't have any major complaints about the writing - I think I was just missing some of the character depth from the first book. I feel like I barely know anything about Hazel for how crucial a role she plays in the story. There are so many blanks about her that we're left to imagine and fill in for ourselves. Same for Miss Yamada. Given her knowledge of Clover's mom, I expected there to be more conversations about her.
We know that Clover still feels connected to her mother because she calls out for her help in a moment of desperation. That connection, however, isn't very evident in the rest of the book.
There's a shift from a hero's journey to something very much more a team effort. Clover is still the central protagonist, but the story doesn't feel like it's hers in the way the first book did. This story seems to be more about the factions of good vs. evil in general and is less concerned with the actual development of each character.
To that end, the characters are not as well developed in Mooncussers as they were in Oddity. The first half of the book was a bit of a slog for me, to be honest, but the second half really came in and redeemed the whole. The pace picked up dramatically and I sure did end the book with a smile. If he ends up writing a third, I'd totally pick it up, and I still recommend this duology very highly!
Thank you to Edelweiss and Walker Books US for the advanced copy of this book.
January 25, 2026
Eli Brown's follow up to Oddity takes Clover Elkin, the daughter of a frontier doctor, on another journey. After finding her mother in book one, the uneasy peace in the war between the Unified States of America and Napoleonic France has reignited into war again. The states are “Unified” because instead of selling the Louisiana Territory, Napoleon has invaded instead. He's using a zombie army made from a magic barrel, one the many "oddities" of the book's universe. An oddity is an object, like a quilt holding monsters, a pistol with bullets that take orders and track their targets, or a matchbook that stops time. People who have proven themselves able to wield the oddities are called oddities as well.
Clover is a healer like her father, often putting herself in danger to mend friend or foe. Such adventurousness has put her into close contact with oddities, such as a huge viper, which bites her and creates a kind psychic connection. She names it Sweetwater and coils it around her like a scarf. She befriends Hannibal, a verbose rooster army general from the Unified States. There's also a muscular, temperamental patchwork doll, Susanna. Clover’s skills and collection of oddities pique the interest of Miss Ruth Yamada, a government agent putting together a group of extraordinary women nicknamed the Mooncussers. Miss Yamada and Clover are joined by her driver Mr. Kettlebaum, Clover's sidekick Nessa, Hazel and her dark past, and a girl-wonder from Finland named Penelope, who can unfold herself into copies like a paper doll. They have been marshalled to find a new, dangerous foe: The Underking.
Brown's settings and costumes are straight out of a Western, filled with a down-home vernacular heard on dusty porches or in timeless, folksy advice from yesteryear. The magical realism is sustained perfectly, the characters feel real danger when stumbling upon giant swamp beasts or magical objects and their bearers. As the catalog of oddities grows, it's like going through an old junk drawer — daunting, nostalgic, strange, and silly. Link to complete review: https://ysbookreviews.wordpress.com/2...
Clover is a healer like her father, often putting herself in danger to mend friend or foe. Such adventurousness has put her into close contact with oddities, such as a huge viper, which bites her and creates a kind psychic connection. She names it Sweetwater and coils it around her like a scarf. She befriends Hannibal, a verbose rooster army general from the Unified States. There's also a muscular, temperamental patchwork doll, Susanna. Clover’s skills and collection of oddities pique the interest of Miss Ruth Yamada, a government agent putting together a group of extraordinary women nicknamed the Mooncussers. Miss Yamada and Clover are joined by her driver Mr. Kettlebaum, Clover's sidekick Nessa, Hazel and her dark past, and a girl-wonder from Finland named Penelope, who can unfold herself into copies like a paper doll. They have been marshalled to find a new, dangerous foe: The Underking.
Brown's settings and costumes are straight out of a Western, filled with a down-home vernacular heard on dusty porches or in timeless, folksy advice from yesteryear. The magical realism is sustained perfectly, the characters feel real danger when stumbling upon giant swamp beasts or magical objects and their bearers. As the catalog of oddities grows, it's like going through an old junk drawer — daunting, nostalgic, strange, and silly. Link to complete review: https://ysbookreviews.wordpress.com/2...
June 10, 2025
I thoroughly enjoyed my advanced copy of Brown's Mooncussers, maybe even more than it's prequel! When we first met our protagonist, Clover, in Oddity, I described her thusly: "Clover’s resilience, wit, and compassion are inspirational reminders that even in the worst of times our connections to each other will be how we heal, overcome our challenges, and live more fulfilling lives. Clover Elkin joins an admirable and growing list of bold female characters like Anne of Green Gables, Scout Finch, Pippi Longstocking, Hermione Granger, Paikea Apirana, Katniss Evergreen, Rey Skywalker, Starr Carter - who shatter traditional boundaries and expand all our horizons." These comparisons endure as Clover continues to inspire as she courageously faces new dangers and is joined by favorite old friends and fascinating new ones.
December 16, 2025
Αρχικά να πω πως σίγουρα αυτό το βιβλίο δεν απευθύνεται στην δική μου ηλικία. Θα έλεγα πως είναι περισσότερο για 14+ και ναι ξέρω πως το + πιάνει και τα +23 χρόνια που έχω εγω. Anyway, αν και λιγάκι αργό στην αρχή ήταν ένα σκοτεινό και δυνατό βιβλίο. Οι χαρακτήρες εξελίσσονται και η ιστορία έχει αρκετή αγωνία, χωρίς όμως να χάνει τη φαντασία και την ατμόσφαιρα της. Ο κόσμος είναι παράξενος αλλά ενδιαφέρον, με μαγεία και αλλόκοτα πλάσματα. Σταματάει σε ένα πολύ καλό σημείο που σε αφήνει σε αναμμένα κάρβουνα.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews