Predator's Gold (Mortal Engines, Book 2): Volume 2

It had been a while since I'd read Philip Reeve's first installment in the "Hungry Cities" quartet, and so my memories of the events that happened in "Mortal Engines" were a little hazy. However, nothing could make me forget the imaginative post-apocalyptic world that Reeve had created, in which massive Traction-Cities trundled across the wastelands according to the laws of Municipal Darwinism; eating any smaller city that crossed their paths. There was a massive death-toll by the end of the book, in which many of the principal characters had been killed (to the point of desensitisation), but our protagonists Tom and Hester managed to ride off into the sunset in the battered old airship "Jenny Haniver". "Predator's Gold" is set several years later, where we find that Tom and the horribly-scarred Hester are still together, taking on passengers and cargo to make a living. One such passenger is Professor Pennyroyal, a pompous explorer and adventurer with a penance for stretching the truth (think Gilderoy Lockhart) who join the couple as they flee to the Ice Wastes and are saved by the Traction City of Anchorage. The city is ruled over by the young Freya Rasmussen who makes a radical decision to return to the Dead Continent in the hopes of escaping the dual threats of both predatory Traction Cities and the Anti-Traction League. Unbeknownst to her, her city is being discreetly ransacked by a trio of `Lost Boys' who answer to the mysterious thief-lord Uncle (who as another reviewer pointed out, deliberately bears less resemblance to the carefree boys of "Peter Pan" than to the wretches of "Oliver Twist" under the tyranny of Fagin) a man who has his own game to play in the rising tensions. But when Hester witnesses a foolish kiss between Tom and Freya she makes an equally foolish decision to betray the city. From here the action keeps rolling: escapes, intrigue, kidnapping, betrayals, battles... you name it and its here. As an adventure story, I would be hard-pressed to recommend anything more exciting than this. If you loved the adventure and atmosphere of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy or Garth Nix's "Old Kingdom" trilogy (Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen) then Reeves's series is a must-have. Most interesting is Reeves use of political agendas and intrigue. The world is roughly translated into two groups: the Traction Cities and the Static Communities, who are bitterly at odds. The Static communities (headed by the Anti-Traction League) despise the parasitical scavenging cities, whilst the roaming Cities are arrogantly casual about their allegiance to Darwinism and their right to any prey that comes their way. Naturally, one would expect to be on the Anti-Traction League's side (after all, the thought of consuming smaller cities sounds barbaric to our contemporary ears), and yet the fact that Tom is a citizen of a Traction City and Reeves's deliberate admiration for their roving spirit throws the whole scenario into a hefty shade of grey.

For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what year it was supposed to be. Somewhere around the Year 5000. Way back in the 21st or 22nd Century, we had pretty much annihilated ourselves in the 60 Second War. Some centuries later, the technologically challenged offspring survivors have managed to mobilize their cities, thank Quirke (humankind's savior). There's an orphan boy who idolizes the swashbuckling Valentine, there's an orphan girl disfigured by said Valentine, and there's a lot of big mobile cities gobbling up smaller mobile cities for their resources (Municiple Darwinism). The books are a bit dark, kind of like Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. I'd recommend them for anyone 12 and up. There's a bit too much violence for the younger set.

Great Book to Read This book is the exciting sequel to the novel "Mortal Engines.'' Or, if you prefer, "Predator's Gold.'' Tom and Hester are off once again on the Jenny Haniver, a ship they accommodated after the death of their friend, Anna Fang. Their lives were in danger so they decided to settle for the time in a town called Anchorage. Seeing as how these great town moved the margravine made the choice to move the town to the dead continent of America. America had been dead for many years due to the Sixty-Minute War. Some of the Old-Tech remains such as MEDUSA had destroyed it beyond restoration. Now, Heather embarks on a journey to revive Toms love and save the corruption of people betraying one another. And thus, begins their journey to the so-called dead continent of America. I liked this book because it just had that sense of adventure in it that made you want to know exactly what happened next. Most of the book was rather exciting although the author could have spiced up some of the less enthusiastic parts of the book. Reasons why I disliked the book were that one, half the book revolved around Heather and the other half was just them running away from Stalkers and predator cities.

PREDATOR'S GOLD is the second book in the Hungry City Chronicles, an action-packed series set in a "city-eat-city" world. Philip Reeve introduced "Municipal Darwinism" in his first book MORTAL ENGINES, in which traction cities roll about the earth looking for smaller, weaker cities to devour. He also introduced the series' protagonists: Hester, a scavenger who has lived her life largely outside the bounds of the enormous rolling cities, and Tom, an apprentice historian. PREDATOR'S GOLD follows the continuing adventures of Hester and Tom, who have taken charge of the Jenny Haniver, an airship belonging to legendary aeronaut Anna Fang. They have spent the past few years traveling the "birdroads," taking on passengers and cargo to earn their living. Their peace is short-lived when a new, radical wing of the Anti-Traction League (a rebel group dedicated to the idea that cities should become stationary again) tries to reclaim the airship for their own uses. Shot down and desperately in need of repairs, Hester and Tom land on the sparsely populated city of Anchorage, which is under the new leadership of Freya, a spoiled margravine whose parents died in an engineered plague. Freya, enamored of the tales of a lush, green paradise, as reported in the preposterous books of Prof. Pennyroyal, has directed her city towards the Dead Continent, across the uncharted ice of the arctic. Things take a turn for the disastrous when Hester, jealous of Tom's affection for Anchorage and the beautiful, plump margravine, commits an act of betrayal that sets off an explosive series of events. Murder, intrigue and resurrection of the dead steer the book toward an exciting conclusion. Those who enjoyed MORTAL ENGINES will not be disappointed. Having established "Municipal Darwinism" in his first book, Reeve is now free to explore and expand upon the idea. There is less violence in PREDATOR'S GOLD, but the book remains full of action and has several new imaginative twists. Among them are the "Lost Boys," a group of parasitic thieves who attach themselves to unsuspecting cities and plunder them in secret. Despite a name that suggests Peter Pan's Neverland, the Lost Boys and their greedy Uncle have more in common with Fagin's gang of boy thieves in Oliver Twist, and are ruled by manipulation and cruelty. Also reappearing are the Resurrection Men, machines made using the bodies of the dead. While these horrifying machine men, and the fact that most cities are dependent upon poorly treated slaves, would suggest a moral agenda, one of the most fascinating aspects of the Hungry City Chronicles is that Reeve does not involve his main characters in politics or rebellion. Hester and Tom find themselves involved in their adventures accidentally, or because of personal reasons. Where most authors would be likely to be sympathetic toward the aims and ends of the Anti-Traction League, Reeve has instead created the militant Green Storm, who will stoop to terrorism to achieve their end

"She turned to look out of the galley porthole while she cleaned her teeth-anything rather than face her own reflection in the mirror above the basin. The sky was the color of packet custard, streaked with rhubarb cloud. Three small black specks hung in the center of the view. Flecks of dirt on the glass, thought Hester, but when she tried to rub them away with her cuff, she saw that she was wrong. She frowned, then fetched her telescope and studied the specks for a while. Frowned some more." I'm more than half way already and I'm hooked! this book is just as good as the fist one, and if not then better. I just don't want it to end.