Review: Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had never heard of this series before, but I saw the movie trailer and I knew I had to read the book. I enjoy YA, sci-fi, steampunk, and dystopia and this is a good mix of all of those. The plot is unique and the pacing was really good.

This is set in a futuristic dystopian setting where towns and cities are mobile and the only way for them to survive and grow is to cannibalize other smaller towns for parts and fuel. You heard me mobile cities. The main town that we follow in Mortal Engines is London and it is on tracks. I had a clear picture of London, Big Ben and all moving around on giant tank tracks kind of like a bulldozer with a big garage at the bottom with big metal saws and cranes for tearing apart its prey. The people of the city are broken up into a kind of caste system where they each have jobs to keep the city running. The higher class live on the top tiers of the city while the lower class live and work in the bowels of the city.

As with most YA sci-fi/fantasy there is a rebel faction and a political villain. There are actually a couple of villains here. I really loved the characters and the two different perspectives of Tom the apprentice historian who has thought that London was a great place and those running London were great moral characters who were doing the best for their people. As Tom is in the wrong place at the wrong time and comes to learn that all is not what it seems, he is pulled into a rebellion against London and determined to do the right thing for London and those London is after. Then there is Katherine, daughter of the head historian, who has been raised as a somewhat naive lady of London. She isn't privy to some of the dastardly deeds her father has committed in her past, but as she comes to learn the truth she is willing to right those wrongs.

I switched back and forth between the ebook and the audio and recommend both equally.

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