Mortal Engines

Mortal Engines

By Philip Reeve

Tom Natsworthy is a Third Class Apprentice in the Guild of Historians in a futuristic London.  But this London is like nothing you’ve ever imagined.  It’s one of the great Traction Cities – a city on wheels – that moves about feeding on smaller towns in the Great Hunting Grounds.  No longer does the “civilized world” stay in one place – 1000 years in the future, “Municipal Darwinism” dominates in a “town-eat-town world”. (p.58)

Despite being considered a low-class citizen, Tom believes that London is the greatest city in the world.  But when he is betrayed by his hero, Thaddeus Valentine, Head Historian of London, Tom begins to see the world differently.

Dumped into the Great Hunting Grounds, Tom gets stuck with fellow survivor, Hester Shaw.  As the two of them try to make their way back to London, they are swept up in an all-out war between the Traction Cities and static settlements.

London, it seems, has revived a weapon of mass destruction from ancient times.  With the help of Anna Fang, aviatrix, Hester, and a number of other surprise allies, Tom must battle the city he loves.

Full of dashing heroes, striking landscapes, fierce battles, suspense and tragedy, Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines doesn’t disappoint.  This is the first book in the Mortal Engines quartet.  Make sure you read it before you see the movie!