Title: Mortal Engines
Author: Philip Reeve
Series: The Hungry City Chronicles #1
Pages: 373
Published: Sep 1st 2004
Publisher: Harper Collins US UK
I read this book because I found myself in the unusual situation where my boyfriend recommended me a book and not the other way around. It also just so happens that Peter Jackson is coming out with the film adaptation next month so it felt like the perfect opportunity to read the book now so I can go see the film.
This book follows two 15-year-old people in a futuristic dystopia where cities and towns are constantly on the move, devouring each other and then reusing all their materials. It is a little bit weird, and new, something I have not read before. But it is an action filled book, which is beautifully written with very subtle but cleverly interwoven descriptions of this new world. Descriptions that makes the world what it is are mentioned in by-passing, so casually and low-key that one almost misses them. Reeve does not make a big deal about building up a world for the reader but rather places the reader in this world and lets them explore it for themselves. It's very relaxing and easy to read and get immersed this way.
Despite being written for the Young Adult audience, the reader is introduced to the grown up characters as well and their mind-set. This was very refreshing and one followed the stories from different points of views, but to a limited amount. There were not too many to follow and remember and enough to keep up with but still enough to understand the whole of the story - good and evil. We follow Tom (and through him the story of Hester and Anna Fang and Shrike), Katherine (including Bevis Pod and the historians) and Magnus Chrome (the rest of London and the politics). This creates dramatic irony in the sense that the reader always knows more than any of the characters but it creates suspense and anticipation.
The book is not the most exciting in sense that it is not an action filled page turner. At least, not for me. But it is captivating and you somehow keep reading. Reeve's writing doesn't let you finish the book unfinished.
Seeing the film bringing this story to life will be incredibly exciting and to finally be able to see things that I may have struggled to picture while reading will be incredibly satisfying.
Plot Summary:
London is hunting!
The great Traction City lumbers after a small town eager to strip its prey of all assets and move on. In the not-so-distant future, mobile cities consume one another to survive, a practise known as Municipal Darwinism.
Tom, an apprentice in the Guild of Historians, saves his hero from a murder attempt by the mysterious Hester Shaw - only to find himself thrown from the city stranded with Hester in the Out Country. As they struggle to follow the city, the sinister plans of London's leader begins to unfold...
My Rating:
7/10
An enjoyable book definitely.
My Rating:
7/10
An enjoyable book definitely.
Other Books in this Series:
Predators Gold (The Hungry City Chronicles #2)
Infernal Devices (The Hungry City Chronicles #3)
A Darkling Plane (The Hungry City Chronicles #4)
The Traction Codex (The Hungry City Chronicles)
Traction City (The Hungry City Chronicles novella)
Night Flights (The Hungry City Chronicles prequel)
The Illustrated World of Mortal Engines (The Hungry City Chronicles)
Other Books by Philip Reeve:
Fever Crumb (Fever Crumb #1)
A Web of Air (Fever Crumb #2)
Scriveners Moon (Fever Crumb #3)
Larklight (Larklight #1)
Starcrossed (Larklight #2)
Mothstorm (Larklight #3)
Railhead (Railhead #1)
Black Light Express (Railhead #2)
Station Zero (Railhead #3)
Oliver and the Seawigs (A Not-So-Impossible Tale #1)
Cakes in Space (A Not-So-Impossible Tale #2)
Pugs of the Frozen North (A Not-So-Impossible Tale #3)
Carnival in a Fix (A Not-So-Impossible Tale #4)
Jinks & O'Hare Funfair Repair (A Not-So-Impossible Tale #5)
Pug-a-Doodle-Do! (A Not-So-Impossible Tale #6)
Roly-Poly Flying Pony: The Legend of Kevin (A Not-So-Impossible Tale #7)
Goblins (Goblins #
Goblins vs Dwarves (Goblins #2)
Goblin Quest (Goblins #3)
Night of the Living Veg (Buster Bayliss #1)
The Big Freeze (Buster Bayliss #2)
Day of the Hamster (Buster Bayliss #3)
Custardfinger! (Buster Bayliss #4)
Here Lies Arthur
Isaac Newton and His Apple
Horatio Nelson and His Victory
No Such Thing as Dragons
Doctor Who: The Roots of Evil
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