Mortal Engines - Philip Reeve Book Review

Enter a review
of your own!

Other books by
author Philip Reeve

"Mortal Engines"
Message Board

Review Summaries

" Eos, Oct 2003, 16.99, 320 pp. ISBN: 0060082070 The Sixty Minute War ended western civilization leading to a new world order. The great cities do not reside in one place, but instead are mobile like Roman legions assaulting smaller locations. London has been reduced to one of these prowling giants, but recently concern has surfaced that with a lessening of prey among the midgets, other mega-metropolises will try to devour the big city. As London chases after Salthook, fifteen years old apprentice historian Tom toils at what all rookies do. He cleans in his case the exhibits of the London Museum of Natural History. However, Tom's world changes when he rescues his hero, scavenger turned renowned archeologist Thaddeus Valentine from an assassination attempt. He and the avenging assassin Hester Shaw are tossed out of the city into the vast wilderness. He learns from her why as she explains her connection to Valentine and the mayor. They team up to survive as Hester and Tom begin a series of adventures to stay alive. Though classified as a children's fantasy, this complex tale can be enjoyed as a straightforward tale that young readers will appreciate or as a satire that adults will treasure. The characters are complex as Philip Reeve paints a picture that what is acceptable under certain conditions seems cruel under others as values are not quite as universal as we westerners would like to believe. MORTAL ENGINES is a winner for children and adults of all ages. Harriet Klausner "
Harriet Klausner, Resident Philip Reeve Scholar

Click above for the new Obama Girl Parody video!

Overall Review

Our unique search engine breaks down books and movies into dozens of literary elements, all of which are searchable.

Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 10%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 30%

FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Coming of age Yes
Explore/1st contact/ enviro story Yes
Plotlets: - surviving a post environmental/nuclear disaster
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - servant
Age: - a teen
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - politician/elected ruler
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Setting
Earth setting: - distant future
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death
scientific jargon? (SF only) - a moderate amount of scientific explanation
How much dialogue? - significantly more dialog than descript

Most similar books by Gordonator ranking
Wolf and Iron by Gordon R. Dickson
Domain by James Herbert
Ashes, ashes by René Barjavel
Dr. Bloodmoney by Philip K. Dick
Warrior by Donald E. McQuinn

Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

Try our new Star Wars & Star Trek puzzle pictures! Click here

Advertise with us
Feedback
Star Wars Revenge of the Sith plot spoilers
Hobbits
The politics game
The lawyer game

3 Movie search options!
1) Simple lookup
(title or author)

or
2) Detailed movie search
(click here) or

3) One-click plot searches! Simply click on a plot below!

Animal Story

Clones

Coming of age

Cultural problems, alien culture

Explore/1st contact/ enviro story

Family relations

GIANT monster(s)

Horror story?

Inner Struggle

Lifeform altered?

Mental/magical powers focus

Parody

Political power play

Religious overtones?

Repressive society story

Robots, Computers, VR

Romance

Spying & Investigations

Tech./$$$/Info hunt

Time Travel story?

Training/Apprent.

War or Invasion

Games:
Trivia Masters!

Rescue your favorite
scifi characters from
slavery!

Talk to your favorite
scifi characters!

Eating New Yorkers
Computer Game

Pomeranians

Most recent TV & Movie discussions:

Star Trek Enterprise: Jolene Blalock on T'Pol and Star Trek Enterprise 10/12/2008 3:22:58 AM

Blade Runner: Blade Runner 10/12/2008 3:05:05 AM

A Boy and His Dog: A Boy and His Dog 10/10/2008 3:56:33 PM

Blade Runner: Was Harrison Ford on Tranquilizers or an Actor's Strike When Filming Blade Runner? 9/20/2008 3:18:54 AM

Doctor Who: Who was the best companion? 9/18/2008 6:59:25 AM

Clash of the Titans: Clash of the Titans 9/7/2008 3:53:28 AM

Star Trek Enterprise: T'Pol shows her nude butt on Enterprise! 9/2/2008 3:20:24 AM

Star Trek Enterprise: Is T'Pol supposed to be a Vulcan lesbian? 9/2/2008 3:02:45 AM

Charmed: How can Phoebe Halliwell get an abortion? 8/29/2008 10:02:34 PM

Alien Hunter : Alien Hunter 8/28/2008 1:25:23 PM

Newest slaves:
Luke Skywalker 7:34:34 AM
Helen Hunt 7:34:09 AM
Tealcs busty squeeze 7:33:34 AM
Jennifer Aniston (Friends) 7:33:28 AM
Colonel Samantha Carter clone 7:32:17 AM
Princess Aura 7:32:00 AM
Rommie 7:31:59 AM
Christina Applegate 7:29:39 AM
Jennifer Keller (Jewel Staite) 7:29:33 AM
Demi Moore 7:28:55 AM
All slaves
(click here)

Celebrity interviews:
President George W. Bush 6:32:00 PM
Jan-Michael Vincent 2:16:51 PM
Captain Kathryn Janeway 3:47:46 PM
Jack ONeill (Richard Dean Anderson) 1:39:22 PM
Jennifer Aniston (Friends) 5:01:07 PM
All celebrities
(click here)