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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
character assassination of the two mains (whose characterization was subpar to begin with - ah YA how I did not miss you). in 16 years, people undergo development, they don’t instead regress to 1-dimensional versions of themselves.
plus 1 star for the world building and imagery.
plus 1 star for the world building and imagery.
Almost twenty years on from where we last saw Tom and Hester, we quickly learn that they have loved a relatively boring, simple life on Anchorage, away from the hungry cities and warring factions.
All is well...until their daughter Wren becomes bored and is tempted by an offer from Gargle, now in charge of the Lost Boys.
Wren disappears, leaving Tom and Hester to chase after her, meeting characters old and new.
If not already the case, the main protagonist here is Hester, who shows love, hatred, selflessness, selfishness, determination and fear through the course of her actions. Perhaps her true colours are revealed here, which in turn show Tom’s too. Together they make a solid team, but as individuals, they are polar opposites - and this bears out towards the end of the book.
Pennyroyal is up to his old tricks, we meet Shrike and Anna Fang once more, and Caul has an important part to play. These side characters all have their stories sewn up neatly, leaving the final book of the quartet firmly facing Hester’s next steps....
Enthralling stuff!
All is well...until their daughter Wren becomes bored and is tempted by an offer from Gargle, now in charge of the Lost Boys.
Wren disappears, leaving Tom and Hester to chase after her, meeting characters old and new.
If not already the case, the main protagonist here is Hester, who shows love, hatred, selflessness, selfishness, determination and fear through the course of her actions. Perhaps her true colours are revealed here, which in turn show Tom’s too. Together they make a solid team, but as individuals, they are polar opposites - and this bears out towards the end of the book.
Pennyroyal is up to his old tricks, we meet Shrike and Anna Fang once more, and Caul has an important part to play. These side characters all have their stories sewn up neatly, leaving the final book of the quartet firmly facing Hester’s next steps....
Enthralling stuff!
Yea, more of the cities and the adventures of a young couple. I love these books. One of my favourite things is that injury and pain are part of the books, it doesn't magically disappear for the sake of a good action sequence and it has long term consequences.
Book 3 in the series. Wren, the daughter of Hester and Tom is kidnapped by one of the lost boys. She runs into some of their old enemies in her adventures.
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
This one was pretty rough.
Spoilers below
So we start off some 16 years past the last. Tom and Hester had a kid. Somehow, though, Hester is still SO unbelieving that anyone could love her, that she continues to question Tom's love, and gets jealous of her own daughter, whom Tom also, obviously, loves. I get that these are young adult books, but sometimes YA writing is just SO immature. It's simply unbelievable how Hester acts. She comes off as still an irrational teenager, when even at the very extreme ends, would have to be at least mid-thirties by this point. I'm mid-thirties. I'm still immature at times. But Hester was so jealous of her daughter that she wanted to kill her at one point so it could just be her and Tom again. I mean, come on. At this stage, I view her as the adversary, and hope she's dead by the end. Wren was damn right at the end - she has no mother.
Beyond that, the rest of the plot was just a massive drag after the first two. Pretty dull and boring, to be honest. I love the general concept of the world - the idea of moving cities and vagabond citizens is very mad-max-steampunk, and it's great. The execution in this book, though, was lacking.
I just can't get over how unbelievable Hester is, and how much of a non-hero she is, although she is apparently the heroin of the tale. I'm three books in, and I'll finish the fourth, but at this point I'm glad that'll be the end. I hope it closes better than this book, because oof...
Spoilers below
So we start off some 16 years past the last. Tom and Hester had a kid. Somehow, though, Hester is still SO unbelieving that anyone could love her, that she continues to question Tom's love, and gets jealous of her own daughter, whom Tom also, obviously, loves. I get that these are young adult books, but sometimes YA writing is just SO immature. It's simply unbelievable how Hester acts. She comes off as still an irrational teenager, when even at the very extreme ends, would have to be at least mid-thirties by this point. I'm mid-thirties. I'm still immature at times. But Hester was so jealous of her daughter that she wanted to kill her at one point so it could just be her and Tom again. I mean, come on. At this stage, I view her as the adversary, and hope she's dead by the end. Wren was damn right at the end - she has no mother.
Beyond that, the rest of the plot was just a massive drag after the first two. Pretty dull and boring, to be honest. I love the general concept of the world - the idea of moving cities and vagabond citizens is very mad-max-steampunk, and it's great. The execution in this book, though, was lacking.
I just can't get over how unbelievable Hester is, and how much of a non-hero she is, although she is apparently the heroin of the tale. I'm three books in, and I'll finish the fourth, but at this point I'm glad that'll be the end. I hope it closes better than this book, because oof...
Another far-future, post-apocalyptic adventure that takes place 16 years after the last book. Hester & Tom have settled down into a quiet life. Their daughter, Wren, bored with the simple life, ends up on an adventure, and it's more than she bargained for. Hester & Tom go in search of her, while there is a greater threat from the Green Storm.
This is a wonderful continuation of this series, and the world-building continues to be excellent. It's an exciting adventure and I look forward to read the next (and final) book.
This is a wonderful continuation of this series, and the world-building continues to be excellent. It's an exciting adventure and I look forward to read the next (and final) book.
I disliked the character Hester Shaw at the end of Book 2 "Predator's Gold" and that feeling only grew while reading this book. While the plot itself was a bit predictable as YA books often are to adults, I like the story overall. The characters are rather one dimensional--rascally characters remain rascals, self-interested characters continue to put themselves first, and the bad guys are doggedly bad. But Hester Shaw's unhealthy opinion on her own worth has poisoned her. She is petty, grasping and will do whatever it takes to keep Tom for only her. She instantly despises anything that takes his attention away from her including her own child.
This story is set about 15 years after the previous title and the Green Storm is engaged in a ceaseless, bloody war against traction cities. While the Green Storm was once a faction within the Anti-Traction League it is now splintering further as its own warriors grow tired of the endless war. Everyone is out to find the ultimate weapon that will end the war and all of our characters are caught up in it. Like a soap opera or comic book, characters we were told are well and truly dead are resurrected. Everyone is after a relic of Anchorage, the Tin Book.
I gave 3 stars to the story itself, but 0 stars to Hester Shaw. I'm not sure if Mr. Reeve is trying to make her the anti-hero or make her awful to redeem her in just the knick of time in the fourth book, but I could just do without her at this point.
This story is set about 15 years after the previous title and the Green Storm is engaged in a ceaseless, bloody war against traction cities. While the Green Storm was once a faction within the Anti-Traction League it is now splintering further as its own warriors grow tired of the endless war. Everyone is out to find the ultimate weapon that will end the war and all of our characters are caught up in it. Like a soap opera or comic book, characters we were told are well and truly dead are resurrected. Everyone is after a relic of Anchorage, the Tin Book.
I gave 3 stars to the story itself, but 0 stars to Hester Shaw. I'm not sure if Mr. Reeve is trying to make her the anti-hero or make her awful to redeem her in just the knick of time in the fourth book, but I could just do without her at this point.
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Sixteen years after the events of Predator’s Gold, everyone in the Mortal Engines universe can’t stand each other. For Mortal Engines Babies: V for Vacation, our new protagonists go on a seaside adventure while their parents and guardians chase after them.
Much has been made of Infernal Devices’ hunger to discredit Hester Shaw and assassinate her character, but realistically the seeds were planted in Predator’s Gold. If you want a pure version of Hester, you have to stop at Mortal Engines. After that she becomes a boy crazy murderous sociopath. It’s a natural progression for the character, but it may be a bit too much for some.
In Philip Reeve’s eyes, 16 years of peace were too many for Hester. If only she knew that there was a giant war raging in Europe. Yet this is not strictly a book about Hester or her now balding, dawdling husband: it’s about their daughter Wren. Wren is an unworldly girl who hates her mother (because she’s ugly, as Reeve always reminds us), and she doesn’t really understand the machinations of the wider world. When she gets abducted and taken out to sea, the Anchorage Regulars have to go out and save her. Reeve glazes over the less savoury elements of the slave trade, and exonerates most of the characters who participate in it.
Despite a world war occurring somewhere between the pages of Infernal Devices, the scale and stakes of the novel are decidedly low. With essentially two locations and a shifting armada, there are few places to see; Grimsby is an intriguing city but Brighton is sketched in, unfortunate as it is by far the more prominently featured locale.
In Infernal Devices, Reeve thinks that he has written his Empire Strikes Back; maybe he had, if Empire consisted of everyone chilling on Bespin until Luke showed up at the end. It’s shortish and serviceable, but it’s only acceptable because A Darkling Plain is already published in the modern era. Receiving this after two years and then having to wait another for the conclusion would have felt very disappointing indeed.
Much has been made of Infernal Devices’ hunger to discredit Hester Shaw and assassinate her character, but realistically the seeds were planted in Predator’s Gold. If you want a pure version of Hester, you have to stop at Mortal Engines. After that she becomes a boy crazy murderous sociopath. It’s a natural progression for the character, but it may be a bit too much for some.
In Philip Reeve’s eyes, 16 years of peace were too many for Hester. If only she knew that there was a giant war raging in Europe. Yet this is not strictly a book about Hester or her now balding, dawdling husband: it’s about their daughter Wren. Wren is an unworldly girl who hates her mother (because she’s ugly, as Reeve always reminds us), and she doesn’t really understand the machinations of the wider world. When she gets abducted and taken out to sea, the Anchorage Regulars have to go out and save her. Reeve glazes over the less savoury elements of the slave trade, and exonerates most of the characters who participate in it.
Despite a world war occurring somewhere between the pages of Infernal Devices, the scale and stakes of the novel are decidedly low. With essentially two locations and a shifting armada, there are few places to see; Grimsby is an intriguing city but Brighton is sketched in, unfortunate as it is by far the more prominently featured locale.
In Infernal Devices, Reeve thinks that he has written his Empire Strikes Back; maybe he had, if Empire consisted of everyone chilling on Bespin until Luke showed up at the end. It’s shortish and serviceable, but it’s only acceptable because A Darkling Plain is already published in the modern era. Receiving this after two years and then having to wait another for the conclusion would have felt very disappointing indeed.