Mortal Engines
by Philip Reeve · first published 2001
6mentions
2recommended by
6HN commenters
2019–2025first – last mentioned
33% recommend50% neutral17% critical
"London is hunting its prey" Cities have been turned into giant vehicles that roam around the world, eating each other for fuel and metal. Mortal Engines is the first in a series of four books set in this imaginative universe, and follows the adventures of Tom Natsworthy and Hester Shaw as they voyage from the heart of London to what remains of rural China. It covers the conflict between the traction cities and the anti-traction league - some of the last people living directly on the ground.
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…huge surprise to me and lots of fun. I've never read anything else quite like it. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August - This is usually my go-to book recommendation for "whats your favorite book" Mortal Engines - The first book of a surprisingly poignant YA series which is not only fun throughout, but has one of the greatest and most thought provoking endings of all time. Cloud Atlas - A beautifuly written…
on “Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books of the 21st Century (So Far)” ↗"Mortal Engines" begins... (One of my favorite Sci-Fi Young Adult series I read growing up) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortal_Engines tl;dr = Post apocalypse, cities are giant mobile machines that eat and integrate…
on “Robot metabolism: Toward machines that can grow by consuming other machines” ↗It was Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve. Was an ok book. (Better than the film)
on “SpaceX Super Heavy splashes down in the gulf, canceling chopsticks landing” ↗It is already - in the my opinion deeply silly book/movie series(?) Mortal Engines. I haven't read or watched them but saw a video ad and thought that it was the stupidest thing I had ever seen. Anyway it is effectively landships except they are massive steampunk mobile cities which…
on “Simple, solar-powered water desalination” ↗Bad movie, not so great book, but aren't Stalker's from Mortal Engines basically the same thing. Dead and brought back to serve. I will be curious if they can not only resuscitate but also influence what is left? plus would it matter if your a victim of a seizure? would…
on “Pig brains partially revived four hours after death” ↗Sounds like Absolution Gap and/or a less annoying version of the Mortal Engines movie (please tell me the book was better than this).
on “NASA plans to launch a spacecraft to Titan” ↗