Mortal Engines (Hardcover)

It is the future, and the world is not as it was. After humanity almost destroyed itself entirely in what became known as the Sixty-Minute War, civilizations have taken it upon themselves to become mobile. Cities, townships, and even suburbs now move across the land, eating anything smaller than themselves. This system is referred to as Municipal Darwinism with the strong eating the weak. The city of London is a particularly vicious devourer of smaller villages and it is here that we meet Tom. A young Historian, Tom idolizes the famed Historian and explorer Thaddeus Valentine and his lovely daughter Katherine. When Tom narrowly keeps a severely deformed girl from assassinating Valentine, he finds himself wound up in a series of betrayals and adventures that may well lead to the end of civilization once more.

The book is filled to the brim with interesting characters. There Grike, the last survivor of the old world who is more machine than man. Or Anna Fang, the red clad aviatrix that fights against the moving cities as an Anti-Tractionist. Or the pirate Chrystler Peavey that commands a posh pirate suburb and dreams of becoming a proper gentleman someday. You care for these characters, which makes it all the more painful when Reeve decides to kill them off. I've never read an author so ready to end the lives of his heroes with as much aplomb as Mr. Reeve, though I should've caught on when he killed off my favorite character almost exactly halfway through. Much like fellow British author Philip Pullman, Reeve has a knack for juggling multiple points of view and storylines without loosing his narrative thread. And like Pullman his story involves airships and a boy and girl on a quest to (in effect) save the world. Unlike Pullman, Reeve less interested in the how the characters' actions will affect the universe, and instead will affect their world.

I was especially taken with the theme of obsession in this book. The evil Mayor Chrome, leader of London, is obsessed with making his town reign supreme over the rest of the world. Hester Shawn, deformed by the blade of Thaddeus Valentine, is obsessed with killing the man who murdered her parents. And Grike, the man machine that was one of the millions of walking dead soldiers participating in the Sixty-Minute War, is obsessed with a kind of love for Hester Shaw (though he spends much of his time in this book hunting her down to be killed). It might have been nice to spend a little more time getting to know what the characters' lives were like before this book ever took place. I ended up wanting to know a lot more about Tom and Hester's families and the lives they lead, but there didn't seem to be enough time to linger over such details.

One objection to the American cover of "Mortal Engines". For the most part, the cover is very impressive, showing airships blowing up in front of the structure that is London. In the corner however are, who I can only assume is supposed to be, Tom and Hester. Tom is clutching a book, an odd choice since there is no point in the story where a book is important to his character. Hester, however, is completely wrong. The book describes her as have a huge gash down her face with a scar splitting her in two. Her nose is mashed in and she only has one eye. Now look at the cover. Apparently the cover artist decided that putting a deformed female would hurt "Mortal Engines"'s sales. So instead we've this cute little waif. Half her face is in shadow, yes, and there is the slightest hint of a scar on her forehead. But her nose is completely intact and she's smiling cheekily at the camera. Forgive me, but this is not the death obsessed horribly disfigured often crazed and violent Hester I came to love so much. Mr. Cover Artist, for shame.

The book itself, however, is a delight. I can't recommend it enough. Go out, buy it, read it, and tell me that you didn't think it was the greatest addition to the teen literary futuristic canon to come down the pike since "The Giver". When people review books they often rely on that old phrase, "I didn't want it to end". Well I actually didn't. Amazing. It's a great book and a fantastic story.

What if the fate of millions lay on the shoulders on a 15yr old boy?

Welcome to the world of mortal engines. Traction citys rule the world, the anti traction league is trying to fight. With marvelous weapons and exiting surprises mortal engines is a modern day masterpiece. Philipe Reeves new novel dishes up a plate full of delight and surprises. a must read for grade 7 and up.