Mortal Engines is Philip Reeve’s vision of a world that is hundreds of years in the future after humanity is all but wiped out and the world is left a desolate wasteland. Resources are scarce, and the surviving people prey upon each other in competition for them. The world is barely recognizable, though some pieces of the modern world linger to be dredged up by the scavengers, treasure-hunters, and archaeologists of the post-apocalyptic society.

The narrative follows the story of several young people from different walks of life who are thrust into the political and military machinations of people older and further up the social ladder than they are. These young people are forced to be brave and accomplish things that they would never have thought themselves capable of. Teen readers, in particular, should find these characters to be sympathetic. Reeve artfully develops both his main characters and his supporting cast, so that even the characters that wander in and out of the protagonists’ tale are interesting.

What sets Mortal Engines apart from other books of its type is the setting. Dystopian fantasy is a mainstay of young adult literature right now, but Reeve’s world-building makes his book stand out among the many other books of similar theme. His imagined ecology of cities that prey upon other cities for resources is unique, and it makes an interesting backdrop on which to stage the action of his story and to provide a place to showcase his characters. He has a gift for describing a scene in such a way that even the most fantastical setting seems believable.

This book is a well-written fantasy that is fast-paced and will keep teens and adults entertained.

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 7 mild obscenities.

Violence/Gore:Characters punch each other; a few reports of past deaths; a character is disfigured from previous wounds; a few fights with melee weapon and martial arts resulting in minor injury; several reports of murder; a few verbal threats; characters are dragged; report of a fight with minor injury; report of deaths due to human experimentation; characters are shocked with prods; a male character hits a girl; characters are threatened with guns and swords a few times; report of riots and looting; characters are shot at; a few reports of many people killed in an attacks on a cities; mention of a past apocalypse; report of a beheading; characters discuss a plan that will kill many people; a character considers planting a bomb; a character wears bloodstained clothing; characters hear distant gunfire; characters jump and are shoved from perilous heights; a character is shot by an arrow, causing a bloody wound which is mentioned a few times; a character hits another with a heavy object; vehicles fire rockets at each other; a few towns and cities are destroyed; a character with robot and biological parts is described, as well as a process by which it was created, and this may be disturbing to some readers; a few dead bodies are discovered; a character is run over by a vehicle (with no gore described); characters are thrown around and property is destroyed by explosions in a fight; a few vehicles are destroyed; a few animals are shot to death; a few fights with guns and melee weapons in which characters are shot, stabbed, decapitated, or thrown and property is destroyed; a character is found wounded and covered in blood; a character is killed in a swordfight; a vehicle is destroyed and its occupants burned to death; a character dies of exhaustion; a few characters are shot to death; characters fight with each other to escape from a situation where not everyone can survive; characters drown and are shot in a nautical battle; a bystander is killed as the result of a vehicle accident; a few characters are killed in explosions; a character is killed by a sword, with a description of coughing up blood. 

Sex/Nudity:  A boy dreams of rescuing pretty girls from danger; boys try to impress girls; a boy has a crush on a girl; men cat-call at a girl; a character suggests various girls to a boy as potential romantic interests; children swim naked (not sexual); on a few occasions, characters contemplate the possibility of falling in love; characters hug and kiss a few times; characters flirt verbally; characters kiss, hold hands, and caress each other’s faces; it is implied that two adult characters had a physically intimate relationship in the past.

Mature Subject Matter:

War (conventional and nuclear in the past); bullying; social/class inequality; death (of parents, friends, loved ones, child); slavery; bounty hunting; piracy.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Characters use drugs to make others unconscious; painkillers and motion sickness herbs are used medicinally; mention of parties with wine; adults smoke cigarettes; an adult smokes a pipe.