Predator's Gold [Paperback]

It had been a while since I'd read Philip Reeve's first installment in the "Hungry Cities" quartet, and so my memories of the events that happened in "Mortal Engines" were a little hazy. However, nothing could make me forget the imaginative post-apocalyptic world that Reeve had created, in which massive Traction-Cities trundled across the wastelands according to the laws of Municipal Darwinism; eating any smaller city that crossed their paths. There was a massive death-toll by the end of the book, in which many of the principal characters had been killed (to the point of desensitisation), but our protagonists Tom and Hester managed to ride off into the sunset in the battered old airship "Jenny Haniver".

"Predator's Gold" is set several years later, where we find that Tom and the horribly-scarred Hester are still together, taking on passengers and cargo to make a living. One such passenger is Professor Pennyroyal, a pompous explorer and adventurer with a penance for stretching the truth (think Gilderoy Lockhart) who join the couple as they flee to the Ice Wastes and are saved by the Traction City of Anchorage. The city is ruled over by the young Freya Rasmussen who makes a radical decision to return to the Dead Continent in the hopes of escaping the dual threats of both predatory Traction Cities and the Anti-Traction League.

Unbeknownst to her, her city is being discreetly ransacked by a trio of `Lost Boys' who answer to the mysterious thief-lord Uncle (who as another reviewer pointed out, deliberately bears less resemblance to the carefree boys of "Peter Pan" than to the wretches of "Oliver Twist" under the tyranny of Fagin) a man who has his own game to play in the rising tensions. But when Hester witnesses a foolish kiss between Tom and Freya she makes an equally foolish decision to betray the city. From here the action keeps rolling: escapes, intrigue, kidnapping, betrayals, battles... you name it and its here. As an adventure story, I would be hard-pressed to recommend anything more exciting than this. If you loved the adventure and atmosphere of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy or Garth Nix's "Old Kingdom" trilogy (Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen) then Reeves's series is a must-have.

Most interesting is Reeves use of political agendas and intrigue. The world is roughly translated into two groups: the Traction Cities and the Static Communities, who are bitterly at odds. The Static communities (headed by the Anti-Traction League) despise the parasitical scavenging cities, whilst the roaming Cities are arrogantly casual about their allegiance to Darwinism and their right to any prey that comes their way. Naturally, one would expect to be on the Anti-Traction League's side (after all, the thought of consuming smaller cities sounds barbaric to our contemporary ears), and yet the fact that Tom is a citizen of a Traction City and Reeves's deliberate admiration for their roving spirit throws the whole scenario into a hefty shade of grey.

Plus, if we really analysis the situation, is there really a difference between the Traction Cities and the phenomena of the Western world's colonisation across the rest of the world (and its current insistence on globalisation)? Add to the fact that a branch of the Anti-Traction League - the Green Storm - is undoubtedly a terrorist network whose members wear "the shiny, smug expressions of people who know they are right", and the book suddenly takes on a level of depth and allusion that you would never expect in what appears to be a simple adventure story.

Neither the Traction Cities nor the Static Communities are right (in fact most of the time they are very much in the wrong), and the conflict of the book is not which side wins, but whether Tom and Hester can survive the conflict that goes on between them, living long enough to make a decent life for themselves. This is a great set of books: read them!

PREDATOR'S GOLD is the second book in the Hungry City Chronicles, an action-packed series set in a "city-eat-city" world. Philip Reeve introduced "Municipal Darwinism" in his first book MORTAL ENGINES, in which traction cities roll about the earth looking for smaller, weaker cities to devour. He also introduced the series' protagonists: Hester, a scavenger who has lived her life largely outside the bounds of the enormous rolling cities, and Tom, an apprentice historian.

PREDATOR'S GOLD follows the continuing adventures of Hester and Tom, who have taken charge of the Jenny Haniver, an airship belonging to legendary aeronaut Anna Fang. They have spent the past few years traveling the "birdroads," taking on passengers and cargo to earn their living.

Their peace is short-lived when a new, radical wing of the Anti-Traction League (a rebel group dedicated to the idea that cities should become stationary again) tries to reclaim the airship for their own uses. Shot down and desperately in need of repairs, Hester and Tom land on the sparsely populated city of Anchorage, which is under the new leadership of Freya, a spoiled margravine whose parents died in an engineered plague. Freya, enamored of the tales of a lush, green paradise, as reported in the preposterous books of Prof. Pennyroyal, has directed her city towards the Dead Continent, across the uncharted ice of the arctic.

Things take a turn for the disastrous when Hester, jealous of Tom's affection for Anchorage and the beautiful, plump margravine, commits an act of betrayal that sets off an explosive series of events. Murder, intrigue and resurrection of the dead steer the book toward an exciting conclusion.

Those who enjoyed MORTAL ENGINES will not be disappointed. Having established "Municipal Darwinism" in his first book, Reeve is now free to explore and expand upon the idea. There is less violence in PREDATOR'S GOLD, but the book remains full of action and has several new imaginative twists. Among them are the "Lost Boys," a group of parasitic thieves who attach themselves to unsuspecting cities and plunder them in secret. Despite a name that suggests Peter Pan's Neverland, the Lost Boys and their greedy Uncle have more in common with Fagin's gang of boy thieves in Oliver Twist, and are ruled by manipulation and cruelty.

Also reappearing are the Resurrection Men, machines made using the bodies of the dead. While these horrifying machine men, and the fact that most cities are dependent upon poorly treated slaves, would suggest a moral agenda, one of the most fascinating aspects of the Hungry City Chronicles is that Reeve does not involve his main characters in politics or rebellion. Hester and Tom find themselves involved in their adventures accidentally, or because of personal reasons. Where most authors would be likely to be sympathetic toward the aims and ends of the Anti-Traction League, Reeve has instead created the militant Green Storm, who will stoop to terrorism to achieve their ends.

The Hungry City Chronicles contains a lot of moral ambiguity and offers some excellent chances to explore the pros and cons of technology, and societal structures. The ending of PREDATOR'S GOLD leaves some intriguing possibilities for the following book in the series, already titled INFERNAL MACHINES. It is set for release in the UK next spring. Sadly, those of us living on the Dead Continent will have to wait another year before we find out what happens next.

--- Reviewed by Sarah A. Wood

In this book, Tom and Hester (from the first book in the series), find themselves stranded in the traction city of Anchorage after an attack by radical Anti-Tractionists who believe they killed Anna Fang. In Anchorage, they find a teenaged ruler governing a dying city. Tom and Het meet new challenges, both personal and otherwise.

In my overall positive review for _Mortal Engines_, I complained about several issues. Chief among them:
1) The audience was unclear. The weak dialogue and simple characterization seemed like they belonged to tweens, but the rest of the book was more appropriate for teens.
2) The middle dragged.
3) There was an affair mentioned, seemingly for no good reason.

Philip Reeve did an impressive job with _Predator's Gold_. The writing is more mature, with a clear teen audience. The dialog is more snazzy. The pacing is much better, with no long, boring middle act. The affair turns out not to have been an extramarital affair, but one that took place before the marriage of one of the characters. It also turns out to fuel a plot point or two. There is only one problem with the book, which is Het's surprise ending, which seems to clash with the timing of other events.

Highly recommended. Ages 15 and up.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 14 reviews  4.9 out of 5 stars