What About Wednesdays? Mortal Engines, by Phillip Reeve

Enjoy our first What About Wednesdays - reviews from our family blog reposted. This review was done by Trackgeek only about 2 weeks ago.
Also, in honor of Blog Appreciation week, we have a self-interview below.


Mortal Engines, by Philip Reeve
Young Adult, 2001

Set in the future after much of the world as we know it has been destroyed by war and the continents have shifted, cities have survived by going on the move. They abide by the principles of Municipal Darwinism, larger cities eat smaller ones and the earth is carved to bits by the gigantic treads the cities. The Great Hunting Ground (Europe) is being depleted just as London crosses the land bridge and comes out of hiding in what used to be the British Isles and heads straight across Europe. What reason can they have for this bold move? How will the traction cities survive against the Anti-Traction League? A young Historian onboard London finds himself in the midst of a grand and dangerous adventure as the scary and uncontrollable Old Tech (our era and that after ours) is found and utilized.
A compelling read. I would recommend for high school aged kids and up, especially as the series progresses. I enjoyed all of them, but was a little disappointed in the last of the four. (They are in order Mortal Engines, Predator's Gold, Infernal Devices and A Darkling Plain.) A well told story with a good deal of tongue in cheek about our own generation and the technology that we use. For a similar good read by the author but for a younger audience try his Larklight books which are also a great read. Grade: Mortal Engines A-.