For world book day you get given a token worth £1 and a selection of two-in-one books to spend it on. I got one with a short story from the Mortal Engines universe, because I was in a steam-punky kind of mood. A friend got the same and we chatted about the books for a bit. He said he had one of the ones from the prequel series and offered it to me to borrow. I got it today and began idle flicking through it. That's when I got trapped.
I could barely put it down and an hour didn't go past when I wasn't reading it. Which, as you can imagine, wasn't something my teachers were too thrilled about. But for this book, I'd say it was worth it.
As prequel to the Mortal Engines series Philip Reeve this time set his book at the very birth of the idea of Municipal Darwinism which made his first series so memorable. As such there is little that you know but he does a good job of blending what is from our time with what will be in his future. One of these good references was the religion which went around chanting 'Hari, Hari, Hari, Potter' Every so often you see something which came from his original books and think, 'so that's where that came from.' The plot is tight and fast paced. The characters are enjoyable, showing some extremely different points of view at times. You have Dr Crumb, who seems everything without emotion. You have Kit Solent, who has lost his wife and lives mostly for his children. And in between you have Fever Crumb, ward of Dr Crumb and apprentice to Kit, who doesn't seem to know what she believes.
There are supposed to be a few sequels and I'm not sure how they would quite fit in, though I'm willing to believe it's possible. But regardless of them, if you liked the Mortal Engines series you'll love this and I'd recommend buying it. Or stealing it from a friend, which I'm also seriously considering.
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