Scan barcode
h3ts's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
3.5
timinbc's review against another edition
1.0
Ghastly. Anyone reading this nonsense might be put off reading all the excellent steampunk (juvenile and otherwise) that's out there. This one is based on a ridiculous premise, staffed with cardboard characters, and rolled out with implausible action scenes. Pfui,I have real books to read.
P.s. I rather liked the same author's Larklight series, where he seemed to be playing it for fun.
P.s. I rather liked the same author's Larklight series, where he seemed to be playing it for fun.
arthedgehog's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
oxnard_montalvo's review against another edition
3.0
This is a fucking awful cover. Seriously. Awful.
Awful awful awful.
Awful.
HG Wells set the War of the Worlds in Kent, and a wayward alien scouting party destroys Tunbridge Wells. Wells hated that that town apparently and no doubt he'd have gotten a kck out of Reeves' letter of love cum boy's own mash up that is Mortal Engines. Not least because a town named Tunbridge Wheels meets a sticky end in a futuristic ocean.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Some criticism; Reeves is guilty of some rather bland writing and characteristion- a boy with unruly hair. *cough cough*. Evil dudes in power happen to resemble vultures. Flustery museum folk. 'Orientals' who fly around trading spices. And yet, at the same time, he's capable of very very good characterisation.
There were a few mysterious plot points that I managed to figure out less than a hundred pages in, and our hero Tom is rather bland. Far more interesting are the girls who wrestle with moral dilemnas and frankly are written more three dimensionally. Tom seems to be a prism for Hester Shaw's tale of revenge. He's along for the ride, and while he's got a firmer grip on morality, he seems to suffer from a bad case of 'right place, right timeism.' Being the hero simply because he's THERE. But the refreshing thing is, he knows it. He's a messy, conflicted character so far and I hope he'll develop further in the following books.
Part steampunk dream, part Biggles adventure, part detective mystery and part socio-polictical manifesto for kids, Mortal Engines is an intriguing book and hopefully the series will develop and mature with each installment.
Awful awful awful.
Awful.
HG Wells set the War of the Worlds in Kent, and a wayward alien scouting party destroys Tunbridge Wells. Wells hated that that town apparently and no doubt he'd have gotten a kck out of Reeves' letter of love cum boy's own mash up that is Mortal Engines. Not least because a town named Tunbridge Wheels meets a sticky end in a futuristic ocean.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Some criticism; Reeves is guilty of some rather bland writing and characteristion- a boy with unruly hair. *cough cough*. Evil dudes in power happen to resemble vultures. Flustery museum folk. 'Orientals' who fly around trading spices. And yet, at the same time, he's capable of very very good characterisation.
There were a few mysterious plot points that I managed to figure out less than a hundred pages in, and our hero Tom is rather bland. Far more interesting are the girls who wrestle with moral dilemnas and frankly are written more three dimensionally. Tom seems to be a prism for Hester Shaw's tale of revenge. He's along for the ride, and while he's got a firmer grip on morality, he seems to suffer from a bad case of 'right place, right timeism.' Being the hero simply because he's THERE. But the refreshing thing is, he knows it. He's a messy, conflicted character so far and I hope he'll develop further in the following books.
Part steampunk dream, part Biggles adventure, part detective mystery and part socio-polictical manifesto for kids, Mortal Engines is an intriguing book and hopefully the series will develop and mature with each installment.
outoftheblue14's review against another edition
4.0
Mortal Engines is set in a future version of London, in which Admiral Quirke defined the principles of Municipal Darwinism and made London a moving city. After the Sixty Minutes War destroyed most of the world, Traction Cities such as London built engines that allow them to move and go hunting for smaller cities to devour. In the East, however, unmoving cities are united in the Anti-Traction League.
Fifteen-year-old orphan Tom Natsworthy is a third-class Apprentice in the Guild of Historians and works at the museum. His hero is archaeologist Thaddeus Valentine, who found many Old Tech artifacts and wrote books about his adventures. Tom meets him and his daughter Katherine while looking for relics of the devoured city and saves his life when a girl armed with a knife tries to kill him. The girl, who has a horrible scar on her face, jumps off London to escape from being captured, and Valentine pushes Tom off as well.
Tom and the girl find themselves in the mud of the Great Hunting Ground, a wasteland occupying what used to be Europe. The girl says her name is Hester Shaw and that Valentine killed her parents, because her mother refused to give him something. He also scarred Hester's face and thought he had killed her. For this reason she's now trying to kill him. In the meantime, in London, Valentine is assigned to a secret mission on board of an airship.
As Tom and Hester try to get back to London, they live many adventires. We also follow Valentine's daughter Katherine as she tries to discover why Hester Shaw wanted to kill her father.
This is a fast-paced book which kept me reading into the night. The adventures are very exciting and keep you guessing about the ending of the novel. I liked the story very much, and I think I will be reading the other books in the series. I was a bit sad about the ending, as some beloved characters encounter a sad death.
Fifteen-year-old orphan Tom Natsworthy is a third-class Apprentice in the Guild of Historians and works at the museum. His hero is archaeologist Thaddeus Valentine, who found many Old Tech artifacts and wrote books about his adventures. Tom meets him and his daughter Katherine while looking for relics of the devoured city and saves his life when a girl armed with a knife tries to kill him. The girl, who has a horrible scar on her face, jumps off London to escape from being captured, and Valentine pushes Tom off as well.
Tom and the girl find themselves in the mud of the Great Hunting Ground, a wasteland occupying what used to be Europe. The girl says her name is Hester Shaw and that Valentine killed her parents, because her mother refused to give him something. He also scarred Hester's face and thought he had killed her. For this reason she's now trying to kill him. In the meantime, in London, Valentine is assigned to a secret mission on board of an airship.
As Tom and Hester try to get back to London, they live many adventires. We also follow Valentine's daughter Katherine as she tries to discover why Hester Shaw wanted to kill her father.
This is a fast-paced book which kept me reading into the night. The adventures are very exciting and keep you guessing about the ending of the novel. I liked the story very much, and I think I will be reading the other books in the series. I was a bit sad about the ending, as some beloved characters encounter a sad death.
gingerlibrarian's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
phoenix2's review against another edition
2.0
Because of the movie coming out soon, I've picked up this book hoping for a great adventure. And yes, the story is actually really good, but the writing isn't. Is like having a great idea but not executing it properly. Now, Tom, the lead character, was likable and had a major character development. I liked that he was a realistic hero and he did what we all would have done in his shoes. I also liked Kate and her story. Actually, her story was the most interesting one. As a character, Kate was sweet, perky and the kind of girl who takes things in her hands and works to achieve what she wants. I liked her even better than Hester, as Hester's character was kind of a dull one. The only thing that marked who she was was her scar. Other than that she was just acting like a bully from time to time, but didn't show any real character or personality. Finally, the ending was really good. I didn't expect that to happen. But it was tragic as well and really really sad.
nobody7734's review against another edition
4.0
Solid read, came at a time in my life where I needed new fantasy
ADORE The premise no matter how unrealistic (desperately want a video game version)
Cute romance plot even tho I generally find those overdone and a hair forced
Nice light read
ADORE The premise no matter how unrealistic (desperately want a video game version)
Cute romance plot even tho I generally find those overdone and a hair forced
Nice light read
bumbleyybee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25