Mortal Engines: 1 (Mortal Engines Quartet)

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Thaddeus Valentine – a dashing and handsome Historian often idolised by younger Historians, though his less public image involves murder and thievery as an agent of London. He is killed in the destruction of London by MEDUSA. He is, in fact, Hester's biological father.

Mortal Engines Quartet - Wikipedia

Jenny Haniver – named for the carcass of a dried-out skate or ray resembling a demon (this ship is later renamed the Arctic Roll) Kit" is a moniker for someone with the name "Christopher". "Solent" refers to the Solent, a strait between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain. Shrike freed himself, and he and Hester went to the Town Hall. They found a warm fireplace and food, and Shrike attempted to tell a Midwinter story about a girl with a dog. Noticing his difficulty, Hester reminisced on the events of the past day instead. Bujak, Gabrielle (13 November 2020). "Why HBO Should Reboot Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines UnBoxed Life". unboxedlifemag.com. UnBoxed Life. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021 . Retrieved 17 January 2020. Children might enjoy Peter Bunzl's Coghearttrilogy, which explores an alternative Victorian era, full of silver ships and mechanical marvels, or Vashti Harrison's Brightstorm, the story of 12-year-old twins Maudie and Arthur who journey to South Polaris.The novels take place in a post-apocalyptic future where a third world war, called the 60-minute war, has eradicated most life of planet earth. Now, humans survive on giant mobile cities called Traction Cities. Cities and towns scuttle about on the earth’s surface getting supplies by airships or destroying smaller cities and utilizing them for scraps and slave labor. Think Mad Max meets Agario. While I’m clearly coming down hard on the book – I didn’t hate it. I’d be hard pressed to recommend it given so many other good books out there. However, it does have a charm to it. Reeve’s prose is well done and the concepts he utilized, while ridiculous, are fun and engaging. I’ll give the book a 3/5 but even then I’m being generous. The allusion here reflects on the character's true nature, a common occurrence in the naming scheme of Mortal Engines. Other examples are MEDUSA and ODIN. The Mortal Engines Quartet…". Philip-Reeve.com. Archived from the original on 1 June 2014 . Retrieved 17 July 2014. Valentine is sent away by Crome on a "secret mission", much to Katherine's dismay. Suspicious of her father, Katherine begins investigating events in London, along with Apprentice Engineer Bevis Pod, whom she befriends after discovering he witnessed Tom chasing Hester. They discover that Valentine salvaged an Old Tech weapon called MEDUSA for London, and that the Guild of Engineers have reassembled it inside St Paul's Cathedral. The Cathedral's dome transforms to reveal the weapon, which is then used to destroy a much larger city pursuing London.

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve Plot Summary | LitCharts Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve Plot Summary | LitCharts

Antarctica – Mentioned only once and evidently the domain of oil drilling Traction Cities. Tom and Hester visit Antarctica between the first two books, but it is not described in the text of the books. There are factions of people in traction cities and static ones engaged in a war to end each other’s way of life, but little is done to convince the reader that either side has much of a point. We never spend enough time with the characters enjoying the fruits of living in rich London to become appalled at the dark truths that allow such decadence. We only learn of injustices and dystopian concepts once they are revealed to characters. Thaddeus Valentine’s daughter Katherine is a major character in both the book and the film, but she has a significantly expanded role in the novel. For starters, the truth about Valentine’s past and about London’s development of MEDUSA is revealed through Katherine’s investigation into what happened the night Hester tried to kill her father. This investigation also leads to her forming a short-lived and rather touching relationship with Bevis Pod, an apprentice engineer. Like Katherine, Bevis also appears in the film in a reduced role. The title is a quotation from Act III, Scene iii of William Shakespeare's play Othello ("Othello: And O you mortal engines whose rude throats/Th'immortal Jove's dread clamors counterfeit..." – Line 352). In the novel, it refers to the fact that the society of Municipal Darwinism is not sustainable living and that the cities' engines are indeed mortal.Tom Natsworthy is a 15-year-old orphan and an apprentice at the Museum of Natural History in London. He idolizes the head Historian Thaddeus Valentine. One day a mysterious scavenger girl from the muddy area outside London boards the city and attempts to assassinate Valentine. Tom stops her at the last minute, chasing her when she flees. The girl has a large scar on her face and reveals that her name is Hester Shaw. Before jumping down a trash chute, Hester warns that Valentine isn’t who he seems to be. When Tom brings up Hester Shaw to Valentine, he pushes Tom down the same trash chute, attempting to kill him. Which got us wondering, whats the big deal with these books anyway? So let’s t ake a look at the source material. Chudleigh Pomeroy, the Deputy Head of the Guild of Historians and Tom's overzealous boss, who assists Katherine. SFFS Guest Talk – Philip Reeve. Nottingham University: YouTube. Archived from the original on 6 June 2016. Wren, employed in Pennyroyal's household, befriends fellow slaves Cynthia Twite and Theo Ngoni. Upon arriving in Brighton, Tom meets with Skhin to negotiate Wren's release, but is captured. Skhin plans to use Tom and Wren to expose Pennyroyal is a fraud and sell the Tin Book to the highest bidder. When Wren and Theo steal the Tin Book for Skhin, they discover that Cloud9 has been set adrift. Hester releases the Lost Boy slaves and kills Skhin's men in the pandemonium. Meanwhile, Fishcake informs Tom that Wren is on Cloud9.