Thunder City

Mortal Engines Quartet

by Philip Reeve

An edge-of-your seat adventure set in the iconic world of Mortal Engines!

Tamzin Pook is a fighter in the Amusement Arcade. And what she does best is killing Revenants.

All she knows is survival, having arrived in the Arcade as a small child. She pushes away her memories, her hopes, and her fears, and she emerges into the arena to battle the Revenants--dead brains nestled in armored engine bodies. She doesn't dare to hope or wish for anything more than to survive another day.

Meanwhile, the wheeled city of Motoropolis has been taken over by a rebel faction who killed its leaders and commandeered the city. Its only hope is a teacher named Miss Torpenhow who's determined to find the Mayor's good-for-nothing son and force him to take back what's rightfully his. But to get to him, she'll need to find someone who's skilled at fighting Revenants.

With a daring abduction, Miss Torpenhow and Tamzin Pook's destinies are entwined, and so begin their adventures together...

This stand-alone Mortal Engines novel follows an unlikely crew of fighters-turned Tamzin Pook, Hilly Torpenhow, mayor-to-be Max Angmering, and washed-up mercenary Oddington Doom. Together, they must find a way to outwit the assassins that are determined to drag Tamzin back to the arcade, and try to take back Motoropolis.

Readers, hold onto your seats-it's going to be a wild ride.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Steampunk, Science Fiction, Fiction, Dystopia, Science Fiction Fantasy

322 pages, Hardcover

Published November 12, 2024

About the author

Philip Reeve was born and raised in Brighton, where he worked in a bookshop for a number of years while also co-writing, producing and directing a number of no-budget theatre projects.

Philip then began illustrating and has since provided cartoons for around forty children's books, including the best-selling Horrible Histories, Murderous Maths and Dead Famous series.

Railhead, published by Oxford University Press, will be published in the UK in October 2015

Pugs of the Frozen North, written with Sarah McIntyre, is out now.

Reviews

[M. Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit too much of a re-hash / subversion of Mortal Engines, but understandable that Philip Reeve is playing safe after the disaster of the film and the way Railhead and its sequels seem to have been under-promoted by OUP. Lacking bite and a proper cutting edge, so possibly also suffering a bit from Pugs of the Frozen North / Oliver and the Seawigs / Utterly Dark and the Face of the Deep withdrawal symptoms. And yet: nice to return to the Traction Era, albeit it one lacking Shrike. Hopefully future books - Bridge of Storms is due out in 2026 - will chart a more original course, and explore parts of the post-Sixty Minute War world that we haven't seen yet. Nuevo-Mayan battle-frisbee, anyone?

[ancientreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Philip Reeve's Hungry City/Mortal Engines books are set in a far future when cities with familiar names (London; Paris; Manchester) move around the world (tractor treads; wheels) swallowing up smaller cities, or being swallowed: Municipal Darwinism.

Thorbury -- the eponymous Thunder City -- has been taken over by the forces of Gabriel Strega, the Architect, who's a sort of Mao-Stalin-Hitler hybrid, not so much in ideology as in egomania, ruthlessness, and grand design: Thorbury is to be remade as a monster of efficiency and conquest. In opposition: Miss Lavinia (Hilly) Torpenhow, a seemingly maiden-auntish tutor; Tamzin Pook, enslaved on the resort city of Margate, where for the entertainment of tourists she fights animal-machine hybrids called Revenants; Max Angmering, the son of the murdered mayor of Thorbury; Helen Angmering, the mayor's daughter; Oddington Doom, an aging mercenary; Giotto Trubshawe, a painter of historic scenes; and Vespertine, a human-machine Revenant. As it turns out, they're not an isolated band of heroes but succeed as part of a larger movement -- that's almost-not-quite a spoiler, which I'm leaving in because of what it implies about how people can undo tyranny.

I loved the Mortal Engines series but was uncertain, at first, whether Thunder City would succeed. As you might guess from the names and descriptions of the principal characters, on the one hand, and the premise, on the other, the book combines arch/whimsical aspects with real horror and as a result the tone seemed wobbly at first. But over time the characters acquire depth, and what started out feeling like notes of whimsy (Lavinia! Pook! Giotto Trubshawe! Etc.!) began to feel more like the making of a subtle point about how people who might seem foolish or powerless can take on a terrorizing totalitarian force. Thunder City was published before the 2024 US presidential election, but during the battles toward the end, when I read this

In days gone by, each group would have grumbled loudly about the others. In days to come, no doubt, they would again. But for that night they were united.

I had to stop to catch my breath.

I think specific content notes can be inferred from the premise; Tamzin's life before Miss Torpenhow breaks her out of Margate isn't prettified, for example. I also think that as a middle schooler I would have appreciated the honesty Reeve brings to his narrative.

Thanks to Scholastic and NetGalley for the ARC.

[WayneM0 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this but it just seemed to have a somewhat disjointed start and I didn't quite get into it until late.

The world building is brilliant and really stands out like it did in the original books and really evokes a strong sense of the world around it. It's a bit strange and unusual but I was able to understand it a little better given I'd read the other ones in the series. It's a quite remarkable feat to get such excellent world building into such a short book.

The characterisations are good but in a short book and with that many characters it would be a very tall order to get them all spot on and it's close but just falls short slightly.
The Angmering siblings are good but we don't see a lot of them and I would've liked more but they were good.
Tamzin Pook takes a lot of airtime and that's great because she is a great character and we see quite a bit going on for her but she's tough and smart and a true fighter.
Miss Torpenhow is ok but wasn't as relatable but really didn't get much time.
My favourite though was Oddington Doom originally from Oztralia where things are always out to kill you. Very funny.
Oh and look out for Eve Vespertine. Really good character.
And we had a villain but again didn't get a lot of airtime.

The plot is also quite interesting and while no surprises it's strong and interesting and really rolls along towards the conclusion.
It can be a bit disjointed and sometimes the really harsh reality and the attempts at humour don't always land but they do keep it humming.
And it really ramps up in the end and the pacing evens out well too.
There's not a lot of themes in it but there's redemption and guilt and finding your place in the world. It's well done.

Overall it was a really interesting story and a great foray back into this world which even with a few shortcomings made it a good read.
I also found out there's another trilogy called fever crumb which I've never heard of and might need to check out.
Definitely highly recommended read.

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you, Philip Reeves, for another glimpse into the Mortal Engines universe. I’ve had an atrocious week and this was a glorious escape, if only for a little while.

[Michelle Graf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Scholastic for the ARC.

It has been so long since I've read a Mortal Engines book, and it feels so good to be back. I haven't finished the main quartet so far, but it's not necessary in order to understand this standalone. Just the first book would give you enough background to get by. The worldbuilding is so cool, I think it counts as dieselpunk? Gas-powered, mechanical cities chomping other smaller cities sounds more like that than steampunk. I loved all the main characters, especially Tamzin and Miss Torpenhow. I liked how Tamzin's story and what drove her had nothing to do with romance, which many books tend to rely on like a crutch. Meanwhile, Miss Torpenhow got a cross-country, revolutionary adventure as a 50ish-year-old woman and woo a retired mercenary to boot. It kinda reminds me that you don't have to rush to get your life sorted in your youth, that your life is far from over even if you're middle-aged. The other characters are equally enjoyable. My only issue is that at first, the villain seemed to have some sort of backstory that crossed with Miss Torpenhow, but by the end, he kinda became a stereotypical evil guy and nothing more. Otherwise, I'm really happy with how this turned out.

[Libby Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so excited to see another for the Mortal Engines series, one of my favourite series hands down.

I’d read some of Reeves’ other stuff like Fever Crumb etc to try and fill the gap and I think I’d put Thunder City in the same sort of category as them. Basically it’s sort of more of a children’s story than the original 4 from the series, and it’s all new characters set in a different time period to the originals.

I enjoyed it, definitely worth a read if you loved the imagination of Reeves. It’s relatively short and it’s a quick read, the characters are great and the storyline is enjoyable. As a stand-alone even, I’d recommend it.

However, it’s definitely not as good as the originals and this is why - I think the originals were always set up to be like a series that you could get your teeth into. They went deeper and the timescales were longer. It’s hard to explain but this one is kinda lighter and quicker if that’s makes sense. I get the impression it’s very much just a stand-alone brief visit to the mortal engines world. So that’s totally fine and I did enjoy it, but it’s not got the same grittiness of the OGs that’s all.

Anyways, give it a read!!

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun, satisfying adventure story. Hand this to kids who love Six of Crows or Drowned City, or even the hunger games. This is the first mortal engines book I have read, but definitely not the last.

[Sifa Poulton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. It has not affected my opinions.

THUNDER CITY is a brilliant return to this best selling world, bringing a new adventure and new characters to life.

I loved being able to return to the world of MORTAL ENGINES. It's so imaginative and richly drawn, and has a lot of nostalgia for me. Cities eating cities, moving across a world that is not quite ours, thanks to wars. There really isn't anything else like it out there. I enjoyed all the little references to our world, tiny easter eggs of the every day that made me laugh when I came across them.

In some ways, this is a tighter, smaller stories than the other books in this series. The stakes aren't world-wide, affecting many cities and peoples. Instead, it is about a small group of oddballs who find themselves trying to save one city from a coup. I really liked that, getting an up close and personal portrait of one city and these found family that coalesces due to various accidents that bring them together.

It is a story full of action as the motley crew evade various attempts to capture or kill them. There are arena fights and the big final sequence, of course. Around all of this, there is a lot of character work as the cast come together and decide to fight for one another, rather than themselves or running away. It was nice to watch them become this family of their own and having a chance to find their strengths as a unit.

[Paul M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Philip Reeves writes in a somewhat cartoonish style. His stories are set in a world where child slaves fight to the death, and their dead bodies are harvested into death machines. Yet compared to other, deathly serious dystopian novels, like the Hunger Games or Scythe books, there is always a hint of levity. In his books, when our hero's are captured, they will nervously giggle and say something like, "at least we won't have to cook tonight".
it's a unique pitch, as another writer would take his universe in a much more somber direction.

I really liked the mortal engines books, so it was a nice surprise to see another addition. I did miss Hesta, and Tom, but our new protagonists make nice replacements. I love that the nvp is a slightly prim, middle aged tutor. Hilly is a fantastic character, and I was cheering her all along. I don't know if it quite hit the heights of the original epic, but I enjoyed it, and I hope Reeve continues to write adventures for this new oddball collective in his truly unique universe.

[Shebby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun world with interesting technology and lore. I could see these books adapted as animes. It didn't really affect my experience, but I was confused because for some reason I thought this book took place thousands of years after the events of the first series.

Tamzen felt like a recycled Hester. Eve felt like another Shrike/Fang companion. But the other characters and settings felt unique and interesting. I loved the idea of a stalker/revenant gladiator ring. I think what makes fantasy and sci fi ideas successful is when they introduce a living world where you can spin countless situations and stories. Just extrapolate everything that's been introduced to us and of course there are slaves fighting stalkers for sport. This world is alive.

I always like a natural found-family story. This didn't feel forced. Everything was fun and fast.

[AnnaLePanna PatatboerMozart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet again an epic story by philip reeve. I just have never even read worldbuilding in books that comes even remotely close to how the world building feels like in his stories. Philip creates enchanting characters and an even more epic storyline that captures your attention. I love the writing style and will definitely keep up as soon as new stories are to be released!

[Jules Readner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book by Philip Reeve!

As always, the world is exciting, the characters are charming and the plot is adventurous!

Tamzin, the gladiator, is an interesting character, contrasted by the governess Lavinia "Hilly" and her grand plans to reclaim her town from a psychopathic usurper.

The group becomes complete with the "prince" Max, the drunken veteran Oddington Doom and the pompous artist Giotto Trubshawe.

I also enjoyed the Stalker Eve Vespertine but her character made me wonder. Having read the other instalments, nobody really managed to create stalkers that were 100 % sentient, but she seemed VERY human. Given that this is incredibly hard (or even impossible), I wonder how Mortmain did it? I hope this will be explained or at least touched upon in the next books.

I keep wishing for some time to breathe, for a truly a cozy moment in these books filled with action. But they are what they are and that's okay too!

Honestly, I would have celebrated if Reeve would have pulled a "Rogue One" with this one and killed all the main characters off. Maybe even failing in their mission.

But alas, I'm looking forward to continuing the story of this found family eventually!

[Mar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed returning to mortal engines, lots of fun.

[Ash smells · Rating 5 out of 5]

For starters, any review of this book series coming from me is going to be so insanely biased, because I have followed them for going on 8 years and have possibly not gone over a week without thinking about these books in that whole time.

I adored this book, Reeve never fails to deliver insanely compelling characters in a way that feels so real and earnest. Tazmin is another fantastic protagonist that I’m sure the next generation of young girls will flock to, just as I did to Hester. The rest of the cast were also greatly interesting, none of them ever feeling like a rehash of other characters in the series and I loved seeing such an interesting older woman in Torpenhow.

Once again, the world of the books just jumps at you from the page and takes you back into such a rich and gorgeous mythos that it becomes impossible to stop thinking about it. I’m so happy Reeve came back to write another book in this world, as much as I enjoyed Here Lies Arthur and Rail Head, Mortal Engines will always just hold that special place in my heart.


Also Vespertine and Small Cat are adorable

[M. Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

At long last, after the linked short-stories of Night Flights, a return to the Traction Era in a story that takes place around 100 years before Mortal Engines. New characters and new cities, but in many ways the story feels very familiar - the tale of Thorbury even starts with Helen Angmering taking the Tom Natsworthy role of wanting to watch the hunting of towns instead of paying attention to their chores (being tutored in Helen's case, sweeping the Museum in Tom's case). The main thrust of the story again involves a quest to find a solution to a problem, and a dramatic finale aboard a traction city. I suppose the parallels are understandable: Philip Reeve and his agent and editors want this to work, so it's back to a tried and trusted successful formula. Personally, I would have liked him to have taken more of a chance, but after the rocky reception of the (dreadful) cinema adaptation of Mortal Engines, caution is probably to be expected; Reeve has left things open-ended, presumably waiting to see if a second book gets green-lit, so maybe in the next one? It's fun, and by the end I was very much engaged, but it took a while. Three stars plus one for nostalgia, and in hope that we'll start to see some different sides to the Traction Era (more submarines? Nuevo Mayan battle-frisbees?) in books to come.

[SOYAMRG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hurrah! A new novel set in Reeve’s Mortal Engines world! Reeve sets Thunder City after his Fever Crumb series and a century before the Mortal Engines series.

Thornbury is a fairly benign traction city. It follows all the rules of Municipal Darwinism; that is, until it is taken over by Gabriel Strega and a hired band of mercenaries with seven Revenants. Strega is determined to turn Thornbury into an apex predator gobbling down cities and growing ever larger. Lavinia Torpenhow, tutor to the former mayor’s nearly grown children, Max and Helen, sets out to save Thornbury. Leaving Helen hidden with friends, she sets out to find Max, heir to Thornbury’s mayorship. Max is fearful and not interested in facing danger. Ms. Torpenhow plots the daring abduction of Tasmin Pook, an extraordinary Revenant gladiator. Tasmin is thankful for being freed, but doesn’t want to be part of the revolt on Thornbury. Eventually, Torpenhow collects a small group willing to try to free the city, but success is unlikely.

Reeve again creates some wonderful characters. All the main characters are complex with strengths and weaknesses. The characters grow as they learn to rely on each other and battle demons from their pasts. The “bad guys” are truly evil, clever and hard to kill. The plot moves quickly with lots of twists and turns. The action is exciting and the battles are deadly. Reeve fans will not be disappointed with this latest novel. This is classic Steampunk! I really liked some of the characters and hope that they will be in future sequels.

I recommend this novel for school and public libraries serving grades seven through adult.

M.A.C.
Ret.

[Kyle Theobald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Respect to Philip Reeve for ditching all the previous characters/locations to tell a completely original self-contained story here. The universe of Mortal Engines is so richly crafted and unique that it is a world which ought to have more stories told within it. Besides, if everything revolves around the same characters or locations and is too interconnected, it can run the risk of the universe feeling smaller, which the original quartet of books was in danger of at times with how Tom and Hester seemed to coincidentally be close to the epicentre of every major event happening in the world.

Thunder City is set a hundred or so years before those books during the "golden era" of traction and revolves around a group of misfits plotting to take back control of the city of Thorbury following a brutal revolution. It's a deceptively simple plot on the surface, with themes of found family and patriotism, however there is an underlying melancholy about the irreversible tide of history, also calling back to the themes of A Darkling Plain. Even if you take back Thorbury and replace Strega, the ruthless new mayor, it will never be the same city again, and perhaps Municipal Darwinism will never be quite the same again. I don't think it is any coincidence that one of the main characters we first meet is a history teacher, while Strega, the antagonist, is really the antithesis of that, someone with bold new ideas who wants to tear down the past and remake everything from scratch. Despite not getting a huge amount of focus or development, I do believe he makes for an intriguing villain.

[Peter Hilliard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ish seems about right for this one. this was an excellent return to the series. the pace was fast enough that I didn't feel the need to go and chase butterflies at unusual instances. but not so fast as to appear rushed though, in truth, the ending bordered on this). It would take a brave or foolhardy individual to start their Mortal Engines journey here as it doesn't build the world to the same extent. But it is a welcome reset for those of us who have driven through the lengthening tomes that preceded it. I would highly recommend this book and it has me, once again, recommending the entire series to any hapless fool who happens to look my way on public transport (yes, this has gone poorly and yes, I have been slapped, spat on, stabbed and robbed of my 1980's Casio calculator watch as a result (not really, but it does make a good story)). The characters are all new, but the setting is still the same. there arr new aspects presented and there is plenty of room for more to come. So I do endorse this product or service.

for the record... 5 is reserved for a rare few in my system. Books that truly engulf you and leave you altered at yhe end. 4 is for books that are very good in their own right and well worth reading. For me, even a 3 is a good book and worth your time. 2 is usually a bit meh and a 1 is not worth your time at all and should really be sent to the corner to think about what it has done with no dessert!

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit that the concept of moving cities that go around and devour each other and all the other science fiction elements of the novels set in this universe kind of make my head spin. I don't quite understand how it all works, but I don't want to make a judgement call as to whether that could use some additional flushing out within the book or if my nonscientific brain just doesn't get it. But I think that's why I liked Thunder City even more than Mortal Engines which I did enjoy even with the whole head spinning business. Thunder City, though set in the same universe, felt very different. It's ultimately a story of found family and the lengths people will go to keep it. It's also a poignant nod to patriotism and to standing up for one's homeland. I loved this quirky cast of characters, and some of their development was done really well. We get to see people with little confidence gain it, and some with great confidence lose it. I would love to spend more time with them all. The plot is somewhat predictable at least in terms of how it ends, but the way we get there is a rollicking bit of adventure that is not to be missed. Overall, I would recommend this book to those who love science fiction and to those who love found family and are willing to give sci fi a try.

[YSBR · Rating 5 out of 5]

The wheeled city of Thornbury has been seized by the Architect - a ruthless man hellbent on turning the mobile city into a conquest machine. It will be up to six people to stop the tyrannical rules and restore in the city:

-- Tamzin Pook, a slave-warrior in the Arcade-fighting Revenants - dead brains powering machines for the  entertainment of the rich,

-- Miss Torphenhow, a teacher who hopes to find the mayor’s son and rid the city of the brutal regime,

-- Max Angmering, the good-for-nothing and jailed son of Thornbury’s late mayor, 

-- Helen Angmering - Max’s sister, stuck with the Architect,

-- Oddington Doom - an old, drunken mercenary,

-- Giotto Trubshawe - an idealistic painter prone to great exaggeration, and

-- Eve Vespertine - a much-too-human Revenant. 

Mortal Engines is a superb science fiction series, and Thunder City, a standalone novel set in the same universe, lives up to the series’s standard. When Tamzin and Miss Torphenhow cross paths, it sets a great and daring adventure in motion. Readers will follow the motley crew as they escape slave-catchers, battle assassins, and try to save Thornbury before it eats any more cities, with Tamzin and Miss Torphenhow being the main protagonists. The juxtaposition between the two is interesting; one is a wild, daring teenage girl, and the other is a lady-like auntie, but both find common ground to bring peace to Thornbury. The others bring spice to the story, with funny and emotional interactions, and the found family aspect makes for some heartwarming moments. The story is action-packed and the world building is awesome, creating a unique science fiction environment of machinery, moving cities, and advanced bio-robotics. Lastly, the way the narrative combines high-stakes action with humor, and horror science with whimsical discovery is very well done and balanced, creating a unique and fresh story. Overall, Thunder City is a fantastical stand alone novel, and I highly recommend it to any science fiction lovers who are looking for something new. Link to complete review: https://ysbookreviews.wordpress.com/2...

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I realise I'm a bit late in getting round to Thunder City, Philip Reeve's latest book set in the World of Mortal Engines, but the wait didn't dampen my appreciation of this amazing book.

For me - and I love all the books in this world - this was the best since the 2001 original, Mortal Engines.

Thunder City is a vivid - and surprisingly violent - ensemble action-adventure about a plucky group of rebels trying to retake an usurped traction city in the far-distant future of a reshaped Earth.

A postmodern Victorian scientific romance, peppered with sly jokes (the one about a certain tourist attraction in Paris made me laugh out loud) and cinematic references, as well as the usual rich assembly of engaging and interesting characters, Thunder City was a blast from start to finish.

The ending certainly leaves the door open for more stories about the protagonists and I just hope we don't have to wait quite so long for our next visit to the World of Mortal Engines.

[Candy Wood]

My recollection is that Philip Reeve brought the Mortal Engines Quartet to a satisfactory conclusion, so I wasn’t expecting a fifth volume. But here it is, and I’m glad. Thunder City isn’t a sequel but rather adds to the story of the Traction Era, where large cities travel around gobbling up smaller ones. Tamzin Pook is a sort of gladiator in the raft town of Margate until Miss Lavinia Torpenhow (who wants to be called Hilly because her surname has the word for hill in three languages) enlists her in an effort to save her city of Thorbury from a tyrant who has taken it over. Tamzin is an expert at defeating Revenants, aka Stalkers, but is also an orphan and resistant to human connections. The adventures of the unlikely team move right along and emphasize that family can be what you find, not necessarily what you’re born into. And there’s plenty of Reeve’s characteristic wordplay besides.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25*

This was a fun, highly adventurous, deiselpunk-esque story with globe trotting, revenant battles, and municipal darwinism. This is basically set in a world where cities and towns are mobile and able to effectively 'eat' smaller, weaker cities. When the city Thorburg is taken over by a power hungry architect who doesn't want to follow the peace keeping rules, a history teacher must adventure all over the world looking for companions to help take back the town.

Everything was so imaginative and fun to read. The revenants (think, mecha/robots with brain donors from animals and sometimes humans that are no longer living) were really cool to read about. Having multiple villain characters added a lot of fast-paced action to a highly adventure-based setting. Overall, a great quality, unique, and refreshing young read

[Stephen Brennan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The mortal engines books are one the great contemporary young adult fiction series, and it's such a joy to be able to return to that universe.

As ever, Reeve matches deft storytelling with comprehensive world-building, whilst still having time for the odd wink at the audience gag (zebra crossing will never have the same meaning)

Having completed the original arc in the first four novels, this book smartly manages to be a prequel without falling into pitfalls of fussy continuity, and instead opens the world up further through the eyes of well-rounded characters- Tamzin Pook and Max Angmering, in particular, are beautifully developed through the story, and hopefully future novels will offer more.

[Ashley Phelan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell out of this world a little bit with the Fever Crumb series so 4.5 stars to this one for bringing me back! It brought back the humor that I felt was lacking a little bit in Fever Crumb. I also loved the misfit band of characters. They were each so much fun and balanced each other out really well. I loved their successes even though all of their plans and schemes almost immediately fell apart. I loved Vespertine's devotion to Small Cat. And I think Mr. Coldharbour and Mr. Lint were two of my favorite characters in the whole Mortal Engines world (probably thanks to the audiobook and their similarity to Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar from Gaiman's Neverwhere). I definitely wouldn't mind joining this gang on a few more adventures.

[Iain Hawkes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I. Loved. This.

Not to say the book is perfect, and TBH, my experience with Mortal Engines thus far is seeing the movie adaptation of the first book, reading Predator's Gold and Fever Crumb, and now, this. I'll say off the bat that even if you aren't familiar with the Mortal Engines setting, the book explains said setting well enough. There shouldn't be any problem understanding what's what.

Anyway, I won't do a plot summary, but above all, the book is fun. It's fun, it's adventerous, it's outright hilarious in places, and again, it's fun. While obstensibly a JF/YA book, at no point did I feel it was juvenile. It's a steampunk/diselpunk adventure story that takes place in a bonkers post-apocalyptic world, and damn it did I enjoy the ride.

So why, then, did I give this four stars rather than five? Well, there is a problem with the book and that's that there's a lot of characters and not all of them get fleshed out enough. The main hero party steadily gets members added to it over time, which, ipso facto, means that some characters are more fleshed out than others. And while that's understandable, other characters introduced earlier on just don't get fleshed out that much. For instance, the antagonist of the story - we get a sense of his ideology, but his long term goals are extremely vague. When he's actually present, he's effective, but that's only for a fraction of the book's duration.

Still, like I said, absolutely loved this.

[Rosemary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever since Reeve's first Mortal Engines novel, when we were introduced to mobilized cities preying on smaller towns in the name of municipal Darwinism, I've adored his complex dieselpunk dystopian world. This new addition to the series introduces wonderful characters seeking to save their small city from becoming a ravenous predator. If you've never encountered the mortal engines, this would be a nice starting point. For fans, enjoy a lovely return to a world full of airships, mechanized cities, and robots powered by the brains of the dead.

[Ronald McCutchan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was musing about how sprawling this is for a relatively (336 pages) short book. Reeve covers the spectrum of traction-era civilization, from a floating seacoast town, traction cities from a tiny hamlet to large-ish Thorbury to the great city of Paris, takes us up to a flying spa city, and onto a submarine. And even with all that world-building, the characters are memorable, fun, and surprising as they blossom out of what might be described as "types" into finding more about themselves, leaving you wanting to find out more about their pasts and future adventures.

[Colton Stock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Philip Reeve is one of the greatest to ever do it. Thunder City recaptures the magic of his other Mortal Engines books without skipping a beat, this time weaving a tale of found family and revenge so propulsive it was hard to savor (I found myself inhaling it in three sittings). I love this series so much. The prime Traction Era is such a perfect setting that I can’t believe this is the first time he’s written in it. If Tamzin, Vespertine, Doom, Hilly and Max are ready for another adventure, so am I.

[Rain · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the beginning was interesting but as the book went along it started to drag for me. I liked Tazmin and Miss Torpenhow but I didn’t really latch onto any of the other characters and even the two of them seemed to get less interesting as the book went along. It kind of just felt like they were going from one place to another at random before Tazmin gets caught. And then they’re like oh yeah, we gotta go save the city!

I really wanted to like this one since I liked Mortal Engines when I read it in high school. But I couldn’t get into this one.