WHICH WAY TO THE FUTURE

The exploits of the O’Hero-Smith clan conclude in a whirl of action with a rescue, a family reunion, and a quest on a distant world that’s enveloped in the webs of “spiderous monsters.”

Opening with a dramatic unicorn hunt and culminating in just deserts for all, this finale continues at the previous two entries’ breakneck pace. Cowell pitches the five young siblings from a blended and extended interracial family into one pickle after another—often ones involving monsters. Adding to the suspense, they also face the indestructible Infinity Clock that’s set to disastrously rewind time for the entire universe. Fortunately, all the children, including beloved baby Annipeck, bring both solid family ties and helpful magical Gifts to bear. For all that the young folk occupy center stage, two associated grown-ups make big enough splashes to draw attention and sympathy too: Everest O’Hero, K2 and Izzabird’s errant and repentant father, who, due to a curse, has shrunk to two inches in height and also turned blue, and insouciant occasional narrator Horizabel the Grimm, a sort of godmother who spends much of the tale trapped by an evil witch upside down between panes of glass. Strewing the pages with scribbly ink drawings, Cowell chucks in a small black hole at the lively climax to help with the vanquishing of certain deserving villains. With exquisite drama, everything comes around right in the literal nick of time.

A strong close to a rousing interstellar romp.