L'oro dei predoni. Macchine mortali

Mortal Engines Quartet #2

by Philip Reeve

Sono passati ormai più di due anni dalla distruzione di Londra e Tom ed Hester, ancora insieme e sempre più innamorati l'uno dell'altra, vivono solcando i cieli a bordo della Jenny Haniver e commerciando tutto ciò che trovano lungo il loro cammino. Hester si sta persino abituando alla felicità, proprio lei che per anni ha vissuto ai margini, affamata e rassegnata alla solitudine. Finalmente sembra essersi ritagliata il suo posto nel mondo, accanto al suo Tom.

Un giorno, però, dopo essere stati attaccati dallo Stormo Verde, i due precipitano nelle Lande di Ghiaccio, dove vengono soccorsi in extremis da Anchorage, una città un tempo pacifica e gloriosa ma che ora riesce a stento a sopravvivere e che si muove scivolando silenziosa come un fantasma attraverso quelle distese innevate e inospitali. Qui vengono accolti a corte da Freya Rasmussen, la giovanissima e nobile margravia della città. La ragazza, dopo la morte dei genitori a causa dell'epidemia che ha decimato la popolazione di Anchorage, ne ha assunto la guida e ha scelto di darle una nuova, spregiudicata rotta verso l'America, il continente morto. Proprio quelle terre lontane e devastate dalla Guerra dei Sessanta Minuti, dove quasi nessuno è mai riuscito a spingersi e dove si narra si trovino oasi rigogliose e lussureggianti.

La permanenza nella città e, soprattutto, la vicinanza con Freya, con la quale condivide interessi e passioni, risveglieranno però in Tom la nostalgia per la sua vecchia vita londinese e inizieranno a creare un'incrinatura nel suo rapporto con Hester, come una crepa nel ghiaccio, molto sottile ma pronta ad allargarsi. Tanto da spingere la ragazza, furiosa per la gelosia, a prendere una decisione che rischierà di mettere in pericolo tutto ciò per cui ha lottato fino a quel momento.

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

330 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 19, 2003

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

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I liked the first book of this series, but I enjoyed this one even more! I think now that I am more used to this post-apocalyptic, steampunk world of predator cities and crazy flying machines, it is easier to just sit back, soak into the story, and enjoy the ride.

I won't say too much specifically about the story as it could end up spoiling the first book as well. I will say, though, that I figured it would just be more of the same as the first book. However, the author managed to take this specific steampunk universe he created and find new, unique ways to entertain the reader. I was very satisfied and it makes me more excited to get to book 3 than I originally was to get to book 2.

I am very sorry that the first movie didn't fare too well because I feel like this book could have served as the basis for one heck of an awesome sequel. This was even more obvious to me in that I couldn't help but try and picture what it would be like on the big screen. But, *sigh*, I will likely have to just settle for the movies in my head.

Steampunk fantasy fans - read this series!

[Cécile · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let's start with the good, because there's still a lot of good in there. Namely, the world-building. The idea of transforming cities into animals, preying on each other in a broken ecosystem that slowly moves on towards its doom is great, and quite elaborate. Predators, prey, scavengers and parasites compete together in a world that is marching towards its end, as Municipal Darwinism encourages a large-scale destruction of all available resources and brings back slavery and inhuman treatments of prisoners. It's a particularly elegant way to answer the question "are humans just like animals after all?", showing what would become of the world if humans decided that it's okay to behave as if they still lived in a jungle (answer: a massive mess). There are hundreds of possibilities withing the world alone.

Now, the reason why I still gave the book two stars.

Let's start with something simple. Can we please pretty please get a ten-year moratory on stories where female charactrs are solely motivated by their ovaries emotional state? Like, could we try to have plots that are influenced by the action of female characters, but NOT by the stupid things women do when they're in love/attached to someone/bereaved and all? And yeees, I know emotion can be a powerful motive and women can and do feel emotion and some women would really behave like that, and I'd like to get that argument out the the discussion already because there are ALSO women who act out of rational motives, who have political views, who can put their ideals and their personal feelings in the balance, and strangely enough, they sovery rarely make their way into a book. I don't care if "some women would really act like that". Not *all* women would, and I'm stating to feel that nothing less than a ten-year moratory can reestablish the balance.

That's not the only problem. I'm sorry to say the characters are, on the whole, either cliché or completely underdeveloped. There's constant talk that the hero, Tom, is such a nice altruistic person, but we never see him do something nice and altruistic in the whole novel, so he just comes out as flat. Hester is mostly a conventional girl-hero with low self-esteem who will do all sorts of stupid things because she's in love with her man (wising up in the end, but still). All right, so she's disfigured and therefore she has to be interesting somehow, because it's so audacious of the author to have an ugly female hero. I'll grant it's an unconventional choice, but I'd like to point out that 1) since we never hear the end of how ugly she is, in the end, that's pretty much her only salient trait, and 2) so now it's enough to create an ugly female character to make her interesting? Nice way to reduce women to their looks, folks. Saying that only beauty makes value or that being ugly is a sufficient condition to make a female protagonist interesting is about the same in my book.

In the end, I finished the book because the world still fascinated me, but even that fascination is not enough to counter the profound boredom the characters and the flimsy, fee-fee driven plot have instillated in me. I won't be reading on.

[Brooke Shirts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who doesn't love dystopic visions of the future? Not I. Especially not one that involves giant cities on wheels -- that EAT each other. The concept of Municipal Darwinism never gets old, baby.

It's taken me forever to get around to the Hungry City Chronicles, of which this is the second. Tom and Hester, our heroes from the first book (read: the only characters left alive after the first book -- sheesh, Mortal Enginges has a bigger body count than Hamlet) are in trouble again. This time they've landed on the peaceful ice city of Anchorage, which has been ravaged by plague. Oh, and it's being chased by the evil city of Arkangel. Add to this picture a dimwitted professor, a thief with a heart of gold, a group of terrorist environmentalists, and an evil cyborg or two -- oh, and Le Love Triangle -- and you've got the same buckle-on-the-swash fun that made the first book so enjoyable.

Up next: Infernal Devices aka Book Three.

[Sara Saif · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hello? Excuse me! Last book of the year coming through!

I really, really liked this one! The world is exciting and fun and crazy in a way I've never read before. All YA dystopian books feel like copy cats in varying degrees and levels these days but this is original stuff and it becomes wholly evident in this book especially. It's madness! Chases and betrayals, cheating and close-calls, things are happening all over the place. And the most satisfying thing is seeing it all coming together like clockwork. The world expands and connections are made beautifully in the book.

Tom was sticking like a sore thumb throughout the book. It's a shame since I really liked the guy in the first one. What a sniveling jerk. Okay, I get that not every man is macho and perfect and all but this dude had no dignity. Not only did he cower behind Hester all the time, depended on her, never stood up, but he had the gall to cheat on her and all the while she clung to him and loved him and made excuses for him. Hester was the man and Tom was the baby. How could he live with her for TWO whole years and then kiss the first girl he met because she was beautiful and Hester wasn't? I would have smacked him into kingdom come if I could. Hester deserves better so I hope he grows some spine. Especially since she's pregnant! That ASSHOLE.

Besides that it was a wonderful last read of the year if my finishing it in less than 48 hours is any indication.

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

Originally posted here.

[Alaina · Rating 3 out of 5]

It definitely had it's ups and downs.

I'm not quite sure if Predator's Gold fell into the second book syndrome.. but it did have it's fair share of moments. I love the world building and all that jazz.. but the romance part of this book just threw me for a loop. I don't really understand the drunken kiss.. or why that girl thought she could replace my girl Hester in his mind.. but whatever - the kiss happened.

I love Tom and Hester, nothing will make me unlove them. But something was definitely off between them this time around which kind of annoyed me to no end. Throw in a love triangle.. and I'm annoyed even more. I just want Tom and Hester - no one else.

Other than all of that, the audios are entertaining but I really hope that the next book will be tons better than this one. Oh, and no love triangles please!

[catherine ♡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was just...annoying? There was some world-building and potential here but everything was reduced to an unnecessary love triangle and pettiness. The plot moved forward because people made dumb, petty decisions, and honestly there was just no overarching storyline.

[Eeva · Rating 2 out of 5]

My main problem with this book is my girl Hester.
First of all we hear how ugly she is at least every five minutes. It's getting tiresome pretty quickly..
Second of all everything Heater does os motivated by Tom. Like, she has no agency of her own. Only Tom, Tom, Tom. Jesus, girl, get a life. I would have loved it if after leaving Anchorige Hester would have built up a new life for herself.

[Mohamed Metwally · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are two types of multi book sagas, those who from the first to the last book tells a single story line, and those who are telling different stories in each book under an over arching theme or in the same fictional world.

Predator's gold follows the latter model, since the first book in the quartet was a start to end complete story, with no loose ends that need a seconf book to tie them, or an open end that can be used as material for an extension of the story. Book two, is using the same protagonists from book one, Tom, Hester and Anna, to take us back to the dystopian world of municipal darwinism and the roaming cities. since the first book gave us a happy ending with Tom and Hester finding refuge in each other, it was sure to have their relationship disrupted to keep the spice element in the story, and it was the main driver for the events taking place in book two. Overall, the book is an adventure within, but with nothing much to add to, the world of municipal darwinism.
The story ends with a conclusion that both serves in having a complete tale, and at the same time, leaving an opening for part three's entry.

MiM

[HP Saucerer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Predator’s Gold takes the action of Mortal Engines this time to the polar Ice Wastes, where we board the once majestic, now largely deserted, fallen city of Anchorage. Reeve continues the creative flair he showed in the first book; pages abound with mercenaries, parasitic vessels and pirate lairs and diabolical scientific experiments. Once again, the world-building is nothing short of staggering, but these books are so much more than that, as it is Reeve’s ability to paint a visual picture with words along with phenomenal characterization that really make these books so utterly compelling and so highly rewarding to read.

[Lesincele · Rating 4 out of 5]

El primero me gustó mucho pero este me ha gustado mucho más. Su punto fuerte son los giros argumentales, que los hay a patadas pero increíblemente, ninguno metido con calzador . Y el final deja con muchísimas ganas de más. Y qué decir del mundo....¡me vuelve loca!

[Sławek (Żółwie Książkowe) · Rating 4 out of 5]

OCENA: 4,5 ⭐️

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

And so on to the second of the Mortal Engines series. Now as usual I will try and capture my thoughts here without giving away any spoilers - lets see how successful I am at that.

Anyway this book is although clearly from the work of the Mortal Engines - it has a slightly different feel to it, I guess not having to introduce to characters and the rather unique way the world runs makes things a little easier and yes the pace of the story a lot faster.

That said you can see how the relationship of Hester and Tom has developed but not beyond recognition, the fact you can still see flashes of the daughter of Valentine there is a great touch and keeps on reminding you how dangerous she potentially can be.

But as always its the machines and cities which for me are the crowd stealers. In this book we are introduced to more of them and in different ways (as well as get the hint there are even more to find) which I really love. (As a side note there will be a visual guide coming out early November which I expect will be a mixture of reprinting a much earlier edition and a tie-in with the release of the film).

But considering the events of the first book we are now moving on to new adventures but do not think for a moment that with a new chapter older scores and repercussions are forgotten.

One think I noticed that yes you could read this as a standalone book and not feel you are missing out on key or worse, critical events however there are enough references to previous events that if you know the story you can have a quite nod to yourself and think ah yes I know what they are referring to.

So how long do I resist picking up the third one and starting that I wonder as you do now get the feeling that there are bigger tales to tell and that future books will be more closely linked to each other.

[Liviu Szoke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aventurile se țin lanț în această demnă continuare a mult mai celebrului „Mașinării infernale”, volumul care deschide tetralogia „Cronicile orașelor flămânde”. Tom Natsworthy și Hester Shaw formează acum un cuplu și hălăduiesc împreună din oraș în oraș cu nava lor furată, Jenny Haniver. Numai că lumea parcă se sălbăticește din ce în ce mai tare, căci pe măsură ce tehnologii străvechi sunt trezite la viață, lăcomia, prostia și nebunia ating cote din ce în ce mai alarmante, nebunii devin și mai nebuni, tâmpiții devin și mai tâmpiți, iar lăcomia, la fel ca și prostia, sunt singurele chestii sigure din Univers.
Un explorator mitoman, un oraș, Arkangel, mai lacom decât toate orașele la un loc, un orășel din pustiurile înghețate, cicatricea și complexele de inferioritate ale lui Hester (dar și sămânța de maniacă moștenită de la adevăratul ei tată), sufletul prea bun al lui Tom, care de multe îi împinge în niște belelele mari cât Terenul de Vânătoare, Cuibul Tâlharilor, Grimsby, Hoțarium, Băieții Pierduți, o răpire, nenumărate urmăriri...
Cum ziceam, aventurile se țin lanț și parcă am mai scăpat nițel și de tonul ușor copilăresc din primul volum, parcă scriitura a devenit ceva mai serioasă, căci e drept că și mizele sunt mult mai mari. Nu doar Londra, ci o jumătate de lume.
Alegerile, greșite sau corecte, căci nu e loc de gri, mi s-au părut a fi tema principală a acestui al doilea volum al seriei lui Philip Reeve. Să dăm vina pe Hester? Pe aventurierul nebun Pennyroyal? Pe margrafa Freya Rasmussen? Pe Tom, că e prea credul și bun al suflet, într-o lume mult prea nemiloasă și crudă? Pe toți?

[Klinta · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was pretty fucking horrible. It was a cheesy cliche with an incredibly slow start and way too much romance that came out of nowhere. The character's I previously liked, I didn't like anymore and most of the new ones were too minor to like or major, but plainly unlikable. I felt like this book was written by a 14-year-old girl (no offence 14-year-old girls, please), compared to the previous one.

I pushed forward with this book against my will because, I think, if I wouldn't have I would never finish it.

[Jo Berry ☀️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m enjoying this series of YA novels. This second book follows a similar format to the first, as in we meet different groups of people who are all brought together somehow by the end, usually in a fireball of death and destruction. This book isn’t quite as strong as the first, but I love the worldbuilding and the clear storytelling. It’s quite different from the sort of books I normally read, but it makes a refreshing change and offers some genuine escapism (even if it is to a bleak, dystopian future Earth:-)

[searching_for_words_ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Auch den zweiten Teil habe ich als Hörbuch gehört. Der Leser übertreibt es auch hier wie schon im ersten Teil teilweise etwas, sodass manche Charaktere extrem nervig und aufgesetzt gesprochen werden.. Was mir tatsächlich etwas die Freude an der Geschichte nahm.

Die Charaktere bleiben irgendwie leider so blass wie im ersten Teil. Schade. Die erste Hälfte hat sich zudem sehr gezogen. In der zweiten Hälfte kam dann erfreulicherweise doch nochmal mehr Action rein. Vom Hocker hat es mich aber leider nicht gerissen. Trotzdem verdient dieses Worldbuilding wirklich Anerkennung.

Ich werde erstmal pausieren und was anderes hören. Ob ich irgendwann Lust habe Teil 3 und 4 zu hören.. mal sehen. 🤷‍♀️

[Stefan · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5* Just like the first novel in this series, there is some good in its sequel. World building is, once again, where this book excels. Cities are turned into animals and they compete for survival as predators, prey, scavengers and parasites. This sequel has the same problems as the first book. Again characters fall short as underdeveloped and flat. And god forbid that anyone who reads these books forgets that the heroin is ugly. The author sure doesn’t want you to forget that the only factor that makes the lead FEMALE role interesting is her hideous looks. Thanks for the constant reminders instead of developing her or anyone else more. I will finish this series and I will be hoping that it eventually fills out to be as good as my own imagination believe it could be. it is still a very clever concept that is being poorly executed. Maybe just take a bit more time and write a longer book.

[Alex Givant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will continue to read, so far so good.

[فاطمة رمضان · Rating 4 out of 5]

بتكمل قصة توم وهيستر، اللي كنا اتعرفنا عليهم في الجزء الأول.
هنا بقى، بيحصل حاجات كتير جديدة، زي ظهور مدينة زراعية اسمها أنكوراج، وشخصيات زي فريا، اللي هي زعيمة المدينة دي، وبتضيف نكهة حلوة للقصة.
بس الصراحة، الشرير الجديد، أو بالأحرى الحاجات اللي بتحصل من ورا المدن الجائعة، هي اللي بتدي الرواية طعمها.
الجزء ده أفضل من الجزء الأول والقصة هنا مليانة أكشن ومغامرات، والوصف بتاع العالم ده بيخليك تحس إنك عايش جواه.
الكاتب فيليب ريف عنده موهبة يرسم الصورة في دماغك، يعني وانت بتقرأ حتحس إنك شايف المدن الضخمة دي وهي بتجري ورا بعض.
كمان، العلاقة بين توم وهيستر بقت أعمق، وفيه مشاعر وصراعات بتخليك تتعاطف معاهم، بس من غير ما تبقى دراما زيادة عن اللزوم.

[Dulce María · Rating 3 out of 5]

Toda la primer parte que fue puro drama romántico del que se soluciona hablando m aburrió muchísimo, pero la segunda parte logro atraparme hasta terminar.

SPOILERS
Me molesta que todos los personajes siempre que piensan en Hester (incluyendo a Tom) lo primero que piensan es en lo horrible que es ¿Por qué no piensas en lo inteligente que es? ¿En la increíble capacidad para sobrevivir que tiene o solo en lo que sienten por ella? Todo el tiempo nos están recordando que es fea y se que no tiene la mejor personalidad del mundo y en este libro hace cosas realmente malas pero ¿que esperaban de una niña que vio morir a sus padres, su hermana, su padre biológico y el stalker que la salvo y crió en frente de ella?
Odie que Tom se la pasé insistiendo en que ama a Hester pero al primer par de ojos coquetos que lo pelan la ignora y la hace a un lado ¿Como espera que tome buenas desiciones?

[Anna Quilter · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

The two main characters Hester and Tom are about the only returning characters in this second book of the series..
..remember high body count.
As the first one was..it's an exciting read..full of twists and turns and some brutal events and deaths..a little surprising for its target audience.
But the world constructed around our heroes is pretty amazing...and the secondary characters are all fun or particularly nasty.

[Lesia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Друга частина Хронік Голодного Міста мені більше сподобалася. Нарешті двійко головних героїв розкрились для мене. Том часто уявляється в образі Роберта Шіена, який зіграв його у очікуваній екранізації. Хестер трохи подоброшіла через кохання і, відповідно, стала ну дуже ревнивою через свою закомплексованість споствореною зовнішністю. Так-так, у цій частині багато любовних моментиків. Все ж таки це янг-едалт.

Якщо перша частина нас познайомила лише з Лондоном, то тут у нас з гігантів виступає злісний хижак Архангельськ (Archangel), а серед добрячків такий собі Anchorage - скандинавський мікс, що пересувається засніженою частиною Європи і нікого не чіпає, сам остерігається.

А ще ми дізнаємося, принаймні початково (бо далі тут вже нас чекає третя частина), що сталося з Америкою після війни, що знищила сучасний світ (Sixty Minutes War). І придатна вона до життя чи ні.

А ще, а ще тут в нас такий собі пролог до, мабуть, великого протистояння між містами і партією суперників - Antitractionist League.

Читатиму далі.

[Banshee · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second book in the quartet expanded on the world-building, which continued to be the strongest element of the series. I enjoyed learning about new regions, new cities and the introduction of new players such as the Lost Boys.

All characters were on the unlikable side, and their development left a bit to be desired. The only source of emotion for me came from feeling sorry for less unlikable characters being wronged by more unlikable characters.

The pace felt slightly off, the atmosphere was lacking and the language was lackluster. I suppose the only thing that shined for apart from the world-building was the occasional humor. Otherwise, it was a very average book.

[Jeraviz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Si te pones en modo juvenil estos libros son muy divertidos. Tienen de todo: ciudades que se mueven y se comen unas a las otras, escenario futurista y en una Tierra desolada, misterios ancestrales, acción, malentendidos, etc. Si lo hubiera cogido con 12 años sería de mis lecturas favoritas. Si tenéis alguien cercano de esa edad recomendarle esta saga porque la va a disfrutar.

[Loredana Mariana Bublitchi · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://bookwormsinacozycorner.home.b...

[Camila T 🍉 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listen, I very much enjoy this story and am already attached to the characters. SPOILERS SPRINKLED HERE AND THERE, BEWARE.


/rant ON But I could live without Jon's Yeah Hesta is ugly, but... and the same explective from EVERYONE. Is it really necessary? What more could we say about such a rich character, with such a moving backstory, who overcomes A LOT in her past AND her present? The solution is to call her UGLY to her face and her back? Even by her BOYFRIEND?

Also, WHY is Jon such a pushover? Grow a spine, dear.

Freya is a product of her upbringing and did A LOT of growing throughout the book. You should learn a thing or two from her, Jon.

Pennyroyal was an interesting character, absolutely one we love to hate.

/rant OFF

Although some could say this story dragged, I rather think it took its sweet time to pace a lot of stuff and bring us to book 3. Many things happened, and I needed the time between them to digest properly. I mean, the Jenny Haniver being stolen? Hesta acting as a scorned woman? Caul almost dying? STALKER FANG???

Severely disturbing, though, is Hesta getting pregnant at the age of fifteen. Well, if you don't mind Paul and the girl from Dune, this won't be a problem.


Sorry if I got some of the names wrong, I listened to it.

[Montse R.D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

3'5 en realidad

[Olly Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

2nd book in. 2 more books to go in this remarkable series. Such a cool world.

[P. Kirby · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Yes," she whispered, and smiled at how unalike they were, because when she thought of the death of Masgard and his Huntsmen she felt no guilt at all, just a sort of satisfaction, and a glad amazement that she had gotten away with it.

Oh, Hester, I love ya. I really do.

My grumble with this series is Tom Natsworthy's stupefying naivete, a characteristic mirrored by a new character, Freya, the teenage margravine (major) of Anchorage. Fortunately, there's Hester to inject some* common sense and hard pragmatism to the story. (*Hormones/insecurity wreck her smart train briefly.)

Previously, in Mortal Engines, Tom Natsworthy, orphan, dreamer, and apprentice Historian on board the great Traction city London, found himself betrayed by his hero, Valentine, and thrown from the city onto the unforgiving earth. All because he saved Valentine's life from a mysterious young woman, Hester, foiling her assassination attempt. With no other choice, he allies with Hester in a futile attempt to return to London. Along the way, he gets a hard dose of reality--which doesn't entirely cure his naiveté--falls in love with Hester, and in the process contributes to the end of London.

Two years later, in Predator's Gold, Tom and Hester have been plying a trade at transport, moving goods using Anna Fang's erstwhile airship, the Jenny Haniver. Things are going well until they take on a passenger named Nimrod Pennyroyal, author of many exciting tomes recounting his explorations throughout the world. (Pennyroyal is pretty much Gilderoy Lockhart's fatter, less-charming doppelganger.) Soon after, Tom and Hester find themselves under pursuit by a rogue and especially virulent branch of the Anti-Traction league. Nearly blown from the sky by the league's airships, the Jenny Haniver drifts deep into the Arctic wastes, where it happens upon the Traction city of Anchorage.

Anchorage, its population obliterated by a recent plague, is limping northward. Freya Rasmussen is the only surviving member of her family, and directionless, clings to her family's old pomp and circumstance. She's thrilled to welcome renown explorer Pennyroyal on board her city and immediately names him Chief Navigator. Meanwhile, an awkward love triangle happens, which, like Pennyroyal's navigation, can only end badly. Anchorage is heading toward a fool's dream in a lost American paradise, all while parasitic thieves' guilds and warring forces in the Anti-Traction league move events toward a future, worldwide conflict.

Like the previous book, this story suffers from its young tone, with the thematic elements and violence at odds with the innocent and brief exploration of topics such as slavery, municipal [read: "social"] Darwinism, kindness and justice. Most of the characters feel like background, placeholders for real characters. I never warmed up to Freya much; she spent too much of the story mooning over Tom and whining like a privileged brat.

On the upside, Freya does redeem herself at the very end, leaving girl rivalries and becoming a proper leader. Teen hormones do factor in the plot--but the narrative is action-packed and spends little time on angsty, navel-gazing. I like romance, but honestly? What's with the preponderance of it in modern YA?

(Dear authors: it's possible to tell a great story without an overwhelming [or underwhelming, as is often the case] love story. Seriously. Give it a try.)

That, and the story's brevity continue to be a huge plus for me about this series.

3.5 stars.

(Library book)