In the future, municipal Darwinism is King. After massive world-wide destruction, cities and towns have become mobile structures lumbering across continents 'eating' each other in a race to acquire more materials, fuel, and even slaves. Young Tom Natsworthy was born and bred in the traction city of London and even if he is only a third class apprentice in the Guild of Historians and an orphan, he's content to be a part of that great city - a pinnacle of progress. While on assignment, Tom can't believe his luck when he finally meets his hero, Mr. Valentine, the brave archeologist and darling of London - and his beautiful daughter Katherine. But after witnessing something he shouldn't have, he finds himself lost in the rugged Out-Country, desperate to find a way back to London and joined by the scarred Hester Shaw, a young girl bent on revenge and delightfully flawed. As Tom and Hester race across the desolate landscape after the mobile London, they face death at every turn as they stumble across pirates, slavers, and even the resistance movement, the Anti-Tractionist League.Every so often I stumble across a little-known book that really hits a high note. I should have known Mortal Engines would have been a Sure Thing knowing it was 1. a dystopian book and 2. chock full of compelling characters, but be warned: this book will pull you in faster than you can say "anti-Tractionist League." Truly engrossing, the non-stop action of Tom and Hester's journey left me stunned. The whole idea that after massive world destruction, technology has evolved to allow entire civilizations to become mobile is fascinating. Throw in a very active resistance movement and the fact that Philip Reeve presents compelling arguments for each side without ever forcing an opinion on his readers and you've got yourself some compelling reading.Staggering world building aside, characters are what make this book a stand-out. And I don't just mean the main characters; Mortal Engines boasts a superb supporting cast. The red-clad pilot Anna Fang: charming and kind but who would like nothing better than to see the end of mobile cities. The power hungry pirate Chrystler Peavey who only keeps Tom alive in hopes of turning his crew into 'proper gentlemen.' Not to mention Hester Shaw - whose scarred face and thirst for revenge has her wary of any overture of friendship. Be warned, as meticulous Philip Reeve is with crafting his characters, he doesn't think twice about killing them off. Several times, I would re-read passages thinking "did he really just do it again??! NOOO!!" But that's okay, I'm planning on returning to The Hungry City Chronicles just to find out what unique individual he's planning on introducing me to next. ( )

A quick and easy read, with a good storyline and interesting world building. In some ways derivative but then again how many plots are there? In this one a young orphan boy travels through the landscape of a futuristic Earth trying to get home and in the process discovers that home is not the great place he thought it was.

Home is London, but not London as we know it. This London is a hungry city on the move in a world of town eats town. Is it big enough and strong enough to survive? Tom, a young historian, is proud of his home and believes that this way of life is the only way to survive in the desolate world left after the war. Life takes an interesting path when he meets the head of his guild.

Within a few pages the world is sketched out and as the story progresses we learn more. I know this was written as a children’s book but it is not without pain, struggle or death. It is a book about the paths people take in life and the consequences of choices. A lesson in how and where to make a stand against what we think is wrong.

I did like this book but unlike certain other children’s stories I was not bitten by the “what happens next” bug. There are sequels, so the story is continued, and maybe one day I will return to this world - but I do not think it will be any time soon. ( )

The setting of this book is a wonderful effort of the imagination: the cities of the future have taken to trundling about on giant rollers, hunting each other for booty and scrap metal. London is a somewhat regimented society with a stratified culture and a technical elite. The more-than-slight hint of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials is perhaps almost an inevitable result of the similarity in genre: young-adult writers must find it hard to avoid having two adolescent protagonists, male and female, and the airship is a staple of steampunk fiction. The presence of a morally ambiguous, globe-trotting adult hero-figure is perhaps a more direct resemblance. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, both for the setting and the racy adventure plot. MB 14-viii-2009 ( )

The great Traction City lumbers after a small town, eager to strip its prey of all assets and move on. Resources on the Great Hunting Ground that once was Europe are so limited that mobile cities must consume one another to survive, a practice known as Municipal Darwinism.
Tom, an apprentice in the Guild of Historians, saves his hero, Head Historian Thaddeus Valentine, from a murder attempt by the mysterious Hester Shaw -- only to find himself thrown from the city and stranded with Hester in the Out Country. As they struggle to follow the tracks of the city, the sinister plans of London's leaders begin to unfold. It is weird that "Tom" was a name that was in a book about flying machines. ( )

it's ok, but a little too future science fiction hokey.I think too many main characters get killed at the end,too........... ( )