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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
I can't help but feel that Philip is much better at writing about hulking traction cities and flying machines of all descriptions than writing great characters.
It's just really hard to care about his characters when they do such idiotic things. There's one character in the book who makes correct decisions and has a plan that actually works out exactly like the intend and I'm not sure if they're supposed to be liked or not.
Ah, I don't know....
It's just really hard to care about his characters when they do such idiotic things. There's one character in the book who makes correct decisions and has a plan that actually works out exactly like the intend and I'm not sure if they're supposed to be liked or not.
Ah, I don't know....
I love each of these books more than the last! I wasn’t sure about the major leap forward in time between the end of Predator’s Gold to the start of this one, but the storyline quickly drew me back in. It didn’t hit home for me until this third book, exactly how damaged a character Hester Shaw is - her soul is just as mangled as her face. But knowing how she came to be so irrevocably damaged, it’s impossible to dislike her. In fact, I’m still quite in awe of her strength and sheer brutal capabilities.
I really love this steampunk world! I love to read about Shrike and Anna Fang, but what's happened to Tom and Hester? Tom is plain boring and Hester's become... I don't know - bloodthirsty? Their daughter Wren is very naive in the beginning, but she's still a child, so I tolerate that.
The ending has me very curious as to what will happen next!
The ending has me very curious as to what will happen next!
I just think this is were the series when down. The cut in the lives was a little to far for me. I feel like we missed out on their lives together after 16 years. Just wasnt a big fan of were these book directed next. Honestly between this book and the next there isnt a clear cut. They kind of merged together for me. But I didnt like the new characters introduced I was happy with how we said goodbye to character we had gotten use to. It just felt like it split up into to many directions.
Picking up about sixteen years after the end of [b:Predator's Gold|48722|Predator's Gold (Mortal Engines Quartet #2)|Philip Reeve|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390103686s/48722.jpg|1065641], the third book in the Mortal Engines quartet finds Tom and Hester living a settled life in Anchorage-in-Vineland with their fifteen year-old daughter, Wren. When the Lost Boys find their way to Anchorage to steal an ancient artifact, they end up kidnapping Wren and leading Tom, Hester, Freya, and Caul back out into a world ravaged by a war between the traction cities and the Green Storm, led by the Stalker Fang.
Infernal Devices is, perhaps, the Mortal Engines book that leans most into the fact that most of the series protagonists are bad people. Wren, now the age her parents were in [b:Mortal Engines|287861|Mortal Engines (The Hungry City Chronicles, #1)|Philip Reeve|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1352173057s/287861.jpg|3981652], longs for adventure and is pretty horrible to her friends and mum when it comes along. Tom, though sweet, takes his naïvety to new levels of trusting horrible people. And Hester becomes more and more the monster that people believe her to be; failing to settle into Anchorage for fifteen years because her particular, violent, skills have not been needed - and because she still holds the secret of how she betrayed the city to Archangel in Predator's Gold. When the opportunity comes to leave the settled life that she finds so unsatisfactory, she seises it.
In some ways, Infernal Devices shares its predecessor's fault that it feels as if much of this action is just to move these characters into the positions that they need to be in for the next part of the story: in Predator's GoldTom and Hester must be in Vineland, away from the action, to have Wren and raise her to be the new teen protagonist; Anna Fang must be resurrected as a Stalker so that the Green Storm has a leader for the decades-long war that is to come. Meanwhile, in Infernal Devices, the Tin Book exists to draw Wren, Tom, and Hester back out into the world; Freya and Caul come too so that they can return to Anchorage and have the closest thing to a happy ending the series allows anyone; Oenone Zero must resurrect Shrike for a reason, so that he and Hester can reunite at the end. The difference, largely, is that while much of Predator's Gold feels like the characters are just sitting around waiting for other people to do things, in Infernal Devices there's much more action, people are actually doing things, and though they are generally horrible, the characters (well, Hester) are not unlikable. It's much more fun to read (or listen to, as I was doing this time around).
Nevertheless, I remember the denouement of [b:A Darkling Plain|219110|A Darkling Plain (The Hungry City Chronicles, #4)|Philip Reeve|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1172801990s/219110.jpg|2470237] being the best part of the series after the first book. I will see soon if I still think that is the case. Infernal Devices is an enjoyable step on the way there.
Infernal Devices is, perhaps, the Mortal Engines book that leans most into the fact that most of the series protagonists are bad people. Wren, now the age her parents were in [b:Mortal Engines|287861|Mortal Engines (The Hungry City Chronicles, #1)|Philip Reeve|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1352173057s/287861.jpg|3981652], longs for adventure and is pretty horrible to her friends and mum when it comes along. Tom, though sweet, takes his naïvety to new levels of trusting horrible people. And Hester becomes more and more the monster that people believe her to be; failing to settle into Anchorage for fifteen years because her particular, violent, skills have not been needed - and because she still holds the secret of how she betrayed the city to Archangel in Predator's Gold. When the opportunity comes to leave the settled life that she finds so unsatisfactory, she seises it.
In some ways, Infernal Devices shares its predecessor's fault that it feels as if much of this action is just to move these characters into the positions that they need to be in for the next part of the story: in Predator's Gold
Nevertheless, I remember the denouement of [b:A Darkling Plain|219110|A Darkling Plain (The Hungry City Chronicles, #4)|Philip Reeve|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1172801990s/219110.jpg|2470237] being the best part of the series after the first book. I will see soon if I still think that is the case. Infernal Devices is an enjoyable step on the way there.
The third book in this series was a lot more tolerable than the first two and mostly an entertaining read. However, as I strongly disliked the first two books due to awful main characters and a very lacking plot, I wouldn't recommend picking up this series.
Creo que fue el que más rápido terminé de la saga xD
No por eso significa que tengas menos errores, pero había algo cautivante en el libro.
No por eso significa que tengas menos errores, pero había algo cautivante en el libro.
Infernal Devices is the third book in The Hungry City Chronicles. Where are the Hungry Cities you may ask? Good question, because I don't know. We begin sixteen years after the boggling cliff hanger ending of Predator's Gold that left us knowing Hester Shaw was pregnant with Tom's baby! So clearly, despite our disappointing with Predator's Gold after the great world-building and mediocre but still enjoyable characters in Mortal Engines, we continued on with the series and headed to Infernal Devices..
Sixteen years have passed, Hester and Tom are living with their fifteen year old daughter, Wren, in Anchorage. Neither Hester or Tom or Wren have been in the sky or on a traction city in years! They are boring now. But let the adventure commence!
But let me make something clear...I really liked Mortal Engines. I enjoyed the characters and the story line and the world building was wonderful. I bought the rest of the series (regrettably) after I finished. But these books do not get better as the series goes on. They just don't.
My reasons for giving this book two stars are as follows:
1. WORLD BUILDING.
One star is for world building. The world is just too cool not to enjoy. A whole world of traction cities that fucking eat each other and become bigger and better? Yes, please. The different cultures and races and lands in the sky? Yes, yes, yes! But this world is diluted because the story is just so all over the place purely because of the character's story lines.
2. CHARACTERS.
Hester Shaw in Mortal Engines was a young girl, disfigured but badass and out to avenge the deaths of her parents and get revenge! She knows she is broken but she doesn't like it deter her from getting what she wants. In this book however, Hester Shaw acts as if she needs to kill just for the enjoyment of it. She laughs and has a good time while she mentions the fact that the people she is killing have families back home. She hardly cares about her missing daughter. What was Hester doing for fifteen years anyways?
Tom is just a useless character. He's the hero! He's the good guy! He sees something in Hester, enough to make a baby with her, enough to stay with her for fifteen years without a mean thought. Aaaannnddd that's about it. Tom's a good guy. The End.
Wren Natsworthy is Tom and Hester's daughter who is kidnapped which strikes the characters into action. She too is a very flat character. She seems to hate her ugly, horrible mother, though we don't get a sense as to why. She seems to be a smart girl but we don't know much else about her.
Now, there is a massive cast of extra characters with bizarre names and backgrounds that we are apparently supposed to keep straight. Here's a few.
Freya Rasmussen -- girl from second book? Do we need her in this book at all? She was pretty and nice and opposite from Hester.
Gargle -- a Lost Boy.
Remora -- zero idea who this person is.
Fishcake -- a Lost Boy
Nimrod Pennyroyal -- Mayor and a crook and a knock-off Gilderoy Lockhart.
Grimsby -- nope, no idea.
The Stalker Fang -- character from second book, not really sure why we still care about her. Flew the Jenny Hanover.
Nabisco Skhin -- slaver
Caul -- guy who likes Freya.
The Stalker Shrike -- he's still around? He was cool in the first book but characters who die and come back and die and come back and die and come back are...repetitive.
Dr. Oenone Zero -- I think she is a smart tech type girl involved with
Theo Ngoni -- slave who is a coward but cute.
Cynthia Twite -- slave and friend of Wren
And Boo-Boo -- married to Nimrod. Nimrod and Boo-Boo...NIMROD AND BOO BOO!
I am all for having side characters have back stories, but do we need to hear about all of them? The whole book becomes a cluster-fuck of where are they, who are they, and what is even happening?
Sixteen years have passed, Hester and Tom are living with their fifteen year old daughter, Wren, in Anchorage. Neither Hester or Tom or Wren have been in the sky or on a traction city in years! They are boring now. But let the adventure commence!
But let me make something clear...I really liked Mortal Engines. I enjoyed the characters and the story line and the world building was wonderful. I bought the rest of the series (regrettably) after I finished. But these books do not get better as the series goes on. They just don't.
My reasons for giving this book two stars are as follows:
1. WORLD BUILDING.
One star is for world building. The world is just too cool not to enjoy. A whole world of traction cities that fucking eat each other and become bigger and better? Yes, please. The different cultures and races and lands in the sky? Yes, yes, yes! But this world is diluted because the story is just so all over the place purely because of the character's story lines.
2. CHARACTERS.
Hester Shaw in Mortal Engines was a young girl, disfigured but badass and out to avenge the deaths of her parents and get revenge! She knows she is broken but she doesn't like it deter her from getting what she wants. In this book however, Hester Shaw acts as if she needs to kill just for the enjoyment of it. She laughs and has a good time while she mentions the fact that the people she is killing have families back home. She hardly cares about her missing daughter. What was Hester doing for fifteen years anyways?
Tom is just a useless character. He's the hero! He's the good guy! He sees something in Hester, enough to make a baby with her, enough to stay with her for fifteen years without a mean thought. Aaaannnddd that's about it. Tom's a good guy. The End.
Wren Natsworthy is Tom and Hester's daughter who is kidnapped which strikes the characters into action. She too is a very flat character. She seems to hate her ugly, horrible mother, though we don't get a sense as to why. She seems to be a smart girl but we don't know much else about her.
Now, there is a massive cast of extra characters with bizarre names and backgrounds that we are apparently supposed to keep straight. Here's a few.
Freya Rasmussen -- girl from second book? Do we need her in this book at all? She was pretty and nice and opposite from Hester.
Gargle -- a Lost Boy.
Remora -- zero idea who this person is.
Fishcake -- a Lost Boy
Nimrod Pennyroyal -- Mayor and a crook and a knock-off Gilderoy Lockhart.
Grimsby -- nope, no idea.
The Stalker Fang -- character from second book, not really sure why we still care about her. Flew the Jenny Hanover.
Nabisco Skhin -- slaver
Caul -- guy who likes Freya.
The Stalker Shrike -- he's still around? He was cool in the first book but characters who die and come back and die and come back and die and come back are...repetitive.
Dr. Oenone Zero -- I think she is a smart tech type girl involved with
Theo Ngoni -- slave who is a coward but cute.
Cynthia Twite -- slave and friend of Wren
And Boo-Boo -- married to Nimrod. Nimrod and Boo-Boo...NIMROD AND BOO BOO!
I am all for having side characters have back stories, but do we need to hear about all of them? The whole book becomes a cluster-fuck of where are they, who are they, and what is even happening?
3,5 ster
Character development is niet heel goed. Sommige ontwikkelingen van personages komen voor mijn gevoel echt uit de lucht vallen en zijn een beetje overdramatisch. Wel weer een lekkere pageturner.
Mijn samenvatting van dit verhaal is: Hester heeft echt issues en het is zo raar dat dit zich 20 jaar na het laatste boek afspeelt.
Character development is niet heel goed. Sommige ontwikkelingen van personages komen voor mijn gevoel echt uit de lucht vallen en zijn een beetje overdramatisch. Wel weer een lekkere pageturner.
Mijn samenvatting van dit verhaal is: Hester heeft echt issues en het is zo raar dat dit zich 20 jaar na het laatste boek afspeelt.
