Predator’s Gold, Philip Reeve

The second Hungry Cities book is the same sort of fun as the first, albeit with those dark moments of violence and horror (like horrible deaths, or people being unpleasant). It still follows Hester and Tom, but they’ve grown up a bit, and they have a place in the world as aviators. That is, until Pennyroyal comes aboard and spoils everything.

Realistic, and sad, is the portrayal of Hester being so afraid to lose Tom. She doesn’t believe anyone else will see past her scarred face to who she really is, and indeed, she’s not even that sure that who she really is is a person worthy of love. It does lead to some fairly horrible behaviour on her part, which though it makes sense with her characterisation, makes her difficult to sympathise with. After all, the appeal of Tom is that he believes that life should be fair, and Hester… really doesn’t hold with that.

Freya as a character is… I can understand her, but I don’t like her. The way she behaves for most of the book is just awful, and you can completely understand why Hester doesn’t like her — and you can’t really understand why anyone else does.

Overall, it’s a fun book and it expands the world, opening up obvious lines for future plots and filling in things round the edges. It’s just… slightly less fun because instead of moving toward a lighter characterisation for Hester, as Mortal Engines does, it kind of goes the other way and makes her less likeable again.

Rating: 3/5

Mortal Engines, Philip Reeve

The first line of this book is just… how can you not want to read it? “It was a dark, blustery afternoon in spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-out bed of the old North Sea.”

I tried not to concentrate too much on how this city-eat-city world would actually work — to what degree the cities were alive or just mechanised, the actual practicalities of Municipal Darwinism, etc. It’s a fun idea, and it’s more fun to just roll with it and enjoy the adventure. It is aimed at younger readers, but there’s a surprising amount of emotional impact here — not to mention some actual gore. People don’t survive, it’s messy, and there are shades of grey — Valentine’s done something despicable, but he loves his daughter, and is inspired by her to maybe change his mind… Hester’s driven by revenge, unpleasant to everyone, but she slowly develops.

I enjoyed it a lot, perhaps especially because it didn’t treat kids like idiots who can’t handle death and destruction. We know they can and do; just turn on the international news, if you’re in doubt. The end is not exactly a happy one, though it is one with hope for a future, and things aren’t neatly tied up. Disasters aren’t averted entirely. It’s also a fun world, and the pacing means it just races past.

Rating: 4/5