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Philip Reeve

Author of Mortal Engines

74+ Works 14,015 Members 486 Reviews 31 Favorited

About the Author

Philip Reeve was born in Brighton, England, and worked in a bookshop for many years before breaking out and becoming the illustrator of children's book He has also produced and directed several no-budget theater productions, and cowrote a musical, The Ministry of Biscuits. Mr. Reeve and his wife show more and son now live in a hamlet high above the moorland in Devon, England show less

Series

Works by Philip Reeve

Mortal Engines (2001) 3,674 copies
Predator's Gold (2003) 1,573 copies
Infernal Devices (2005) 1,312 copies
A Darkling Plain (2006) 1,168 copies
Fever Crumb (2009) 1,117 copies
Here Lies Arthur (2008) 625 copies
A Web of Air (2010) 504 copies
No Such Thing As Dragons (2009) 369 copies
Scrivener's Moon (2011) 357 copies
Railhead (2015) 276 copies
Pugs of the Frozen North (1600) 175 copies
Oliver and the Seawigs (2013) 138 copies
Black Light Express (2016) 112 copies
Goblins (2012) 112 copies
Cakes in Space (1843) 97 copies
The Roots of Evil (2013) 64 copies
Station Zero (2018) 50 copies
Goblins vs Dwarves (2013) 23 copies
Goblin Quest (2014) 18 copies
Traction City (2011) 7 copies
Pug-a-Doodle-Do! (2017) 3 copies
De vandrande std̃erna (2018) 2 copies
Kevin vs the Unicorns (2021) 2 copies
F©œrr©Þdarens guld (2018) 1 copy
Goblini 1 copy
Pekelné vynálezy (2019) 1 copy
Duendes 1 copy
L'Hôtel étrange (2008) 1 copy
Smrtonosni strojevi (2006) 1 copy
End of the Road (2013) 1 copy

Associated Works

Murderous Maths (1997) — Illustrator — 296 copies
Doctor Who: 12 Doctors, 12 Stories (2014) — Contributor — 271 copies
Doctor Who: 11 Doctors, 11 Stories (2014) — Contributor — 270 copies
Desperate Measures (2000) — Illustrator, some editions — 194 copies
Vicious Circles and Other Savage Shapes (2002) — Illustrator, some editions — 167 copies
Numbers, the Key to the Universe (2002) — Illustrator, some editions — 165 copies
Rowdy Revolutions (1999) — Illustrator, some editions — 158 copies
Albert Einstein and His Inflatable Universe (2001) — Illustrator — 141 copies
Mary Queen of Scots and Her Hopeless Husbands (2001) — Illustrator — 102 copies
Professor Fiendish's Book of Diabolical Brain-benders (2002) — Illustrator, some editions — 52 copies
Doctor Who: 13 Doctors, 13 Stories (2019) — Contributor — 50 copies
Urgum the Axeman (2006) — Illustrator, some editions — 40 copies
Haunted: Ghost Stories to Chill Your Blood (2011) — Contributor — 31 copies
The End of the Road: An Anthology of Original Fiction (2013) — Contributor — 17 copies
The secrets of science (Spark Files Flip Quiz) (2000) — Illustrator — 5 copies
Dog Run (1999) — Illustrator — 4 copies
BSFA Awards 2021: Awards Booklet (2022) — Contributor — 2 copies

Tagged

adventure (285) children (103) children's (166) children's fiction (83) children's literature (64) Doctor Who (96) dystopia (226) dystopian (71) ebook (71) fantasy (827) fiction (786) future (79) history (44) humor (67) hungry city chronicles (49) juvenile (39) Kindle (52) King Arthur (38) library (43) London (60) math (62) Mortal Engines (92) non-fiction (44) novel (60) own (44) post-apocalyptic (168) read (126) science fiction (1,153) series (132) sf (153) sff (66) short stories (49) space (47) steampunk (628) teen (72) to-read (824) unread (57) YA (364) young adult (441) young adult fiction (41)

Common Knowledge

Birthdate
1966-02-28
Gender
male
Nationality
UK
Birthplace
Brighton, Sussex, England, UK
Places of residence
Dartmoor, Devon, England, UK
Education
Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology
Brighton Polytechnic
Occupations
bookstore clerk
illustrator
science fiction writer
Short biography
Philip Reeve (born 28 February 1966) is a British author and illustrator of children's books, primarily known for the 2001 book Mortal Engines and its sequels. His 2007 novel, Here Lies Arthur, based on the legendary King Arthur, won the Carnegie Medal, which sets out to choose the year's best children's book published in the UK.

Born on 28 February 1966 in Brighton, Reeve studied illustration, first at Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology (CCAT – now Anglia Ruskin University), where he contributed a comic strip to the Student Union magazine, and later at Brighton Polytechnic (now the University of Brighton). Before becoming an illustrator he worked at a bookshop in Brighton for several years. During his student years and for a few years afterwards he wrote for and performed in comedy sketch shows with a variety of collaborators under various group names, among them The Charles Atlas Sisters. He lives on Dartmoor with his wife Sarah and their son Sam.

With Brian Mitchell, Reeve is the author of a 1998 dystopian comic musical,The Ministry of Biscuits. "Stop! Think before you eat that biscuit! Is it in any way fancy? If so, then you are a criminal! In Post-War London, The Ministry of Biscuits casts its sinister shadow over every tea-time and elevenses in the land. Established to 'control biscuits, and to control the idea of biscuits', it prohibits decadent sweetmeats, such as the Gypsy Cream." This was performed at the Pavilion Theatre, Brighton, the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, and the 1999 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It underwent a revival in 2005 at the Sallis Benney, Brighton, and began playing at Brighton's Lantern Theatre in November 2017. It has also toured to various other locations throughout the United Kingdom.

Members

Reviews

I really wish this had been better. "Mortal Engines" is one of my favorite sci-fi books, and even the sequel was pretty dang good! But this one just...lacks. In a lot of places.
Reeve's writing itself is still super readable and interesting, a lovely blend of storytelling-like narration and vivid descriptions. I love the cities and towns he creates! The world of Mortal Engines is easy to get lost in, and he has managed to keep things feeling fresh throughout three books.
I also really enjoyed the time jump and getting to know Wren. I was a bit hesitant when I saw that this book was 17 years after the events of "Predator's Gold" but Reeve transitioned to this story almost seamlessly. Wren, while a tad underdeveloped, is an interesting character and I liked the generational leap.

Unfortunately, the plot itself wasn't very good. It felt a bit rehashed, like the first book with a bunch of bits and pieces rearranged and a new setting. I also have to admit that I'm 100% DONE with Pennyroyal's reoccurring appearance. He's predictable. He's blustering. He was fine originally, but I wish we could have gotten much less of him. I don't usually mind reoccurring characters, like Shrike, but because Pennyroyal is so predictable it makes the book that way, too.

One of the biggest problems with this book is Hester's characterization. The whole book she is angry, violent, childish, and lacked any sort of development. She seems almost jealous of Wren, and says several times that she wishes Wren would have never been born or that she is glad Wren got kidnapped. I would have thought that all those years in Anchorage would have given Tom and Hester time to get to know each other even more and communicate with each other, but apparently Hester hated it there the whole time and just never said anything to Tom even after all they've been through together. :/ Everything with Hester was just disappointing in this novel.

All in all, "Infernal Devices" was fine. I liked bits of it, disliked other bits. I'm still going to read the final book because I really am invested in the series, but I'm realllllyyy hoping the last book has more of the dynamic, action-packed wonders and fun of the first couple books, with way less murderous Hester.
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deborahee | 19 other reviews | Feb 23, 2024 |
“You aren’t a hero, and I’m not beautiful, and we probably won’t live happily ever after,” she said. “But we’re alive, and together, and we’re going to be all right.”
😭😭❤️ Oh. My. Gosh. I was NOT expecting to love this book as much as I did. I’ll have a full review on my blog this week, but for now I’ll just say this is going to be a series I eat up faster than a hungry traction city. 😉
 
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deborahee | 122 other reviews | Feb 23, 2024 |
A wonderful romp of a finale to this series! It was not quite what I expected, but I very pleased with how things wrapped up for everyone. This book had a lot of the same adventurous, globe-trotting feels that the first book had, plus a few things came veryyyy full-circle, which was nice to see play out. I'm going to miss this word of airships and Stalkers and adventures...
 
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deborahee | 32 other reviews | Feb 23, 2024 |
This is my own personal opinion, not a fact.

If you plan to read this book, do not watch the movie first! I watched the movie first and absolutely loved it, but when I started the book I noticed all the differences, as it usually happens. That's not to say that the book is bad or the movie isn't any less amazing.

I don't prefer one over the other, I thought they were both brilliant (though the movie has a slightly happier ending, mind you).

It feels like it's two different stories that take place in the same world, like two different realities running parallel to one another.

One more thing I will say: the book paints Valentine out to be more human than the movie does, so you'll probably have mixed feelings about him if you do both.

When I started the book, I was thinking it was a solid three stars, but the book didn't disappoint and bumped itself up to four!
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AnnoyingTiger888 | 122 other reviews | Feb 20, 2024 |

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Statistics

Works
74
Also by
18
Members
14,015
Popularity
#1,642
Rating
3.9
Reviews
486
ISBNs
644
Languages
21
Favorited
31

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