Mortal Engines

The Hungry City Chronicles , #1

Paperback, 326 pages

English language

Published Sept. 1, 2004 by Harper Collins US UK.

ISBN:
978-0-06-008209-3
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5 stars (3 reviews)

"It was a dark, blustery afternoon in spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-out bed of the old North Sea."

The great traction city London has been skulking in the hills to avoid the bigger, faster, hungrier cities loose in the Great Hunting Ground. But now, the sinister plans of Lord Mayor Mangus Crome can finally unfold.

Thaddeus Valentine, London's Head Historian and adored famous archaeologist, and his lovely daughter, Katherine, are down in The Gut when the young assassin with the black scarf strikes toward his heart, saved by the quick intervention of Tom, a lowly third-class apprentice. Racing after the fleeing girl, Tom suddenly glimpses her hideous face: scarred from forehead to jaw, nose a smashed stump, a single eye glaring back at him. "Look at what your Valentine did to me!" she screams. "Ask him! Ask him what he …

2 editions

reviewed Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve (Mortal Engines Quartet, #1)

One of the best series I've ever read

5 stars

There are plenty of far-future stories set long after the demise of the world we know, but few as delightful, provocative, stirring, and clever as Mortal Engines. Centered on two young people, one gripped by a desire for revenge, the other swept up in her wake, the tale takes place in a fantastical landscape of moving cities that is somehow completely believable and easy to imagine. There's adventure, terror, joy, and woe: and the tale always moves in the most unexpected of ways.

reviewed Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve (Mortal Engines Quartet, #1)

Review of 'Mortal Engines' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Thought I should revisit this before the movie appears. Runs along at a ferocious pace, and takes no prisoners! Very dark in tone but not gratuitously so. The overall concept, of mobile cities vs. themselves and the Anti Traction League is a wonderful notion, superbly realised.

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rated it

4 stars

Subjects

  • Science fiction
  • Science Fiction / Fantasy (Young Adult)
  • Juvenile Fiction
  • Children's 12-Up - Fiction - Science Fiction
  • Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)
  • Action & Adventure - General
  • Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic
  • Juvenile Fiction / Science Fiction, Fantasy, Magic