In the dangerous future, moving traction cities travel
throughout the world, feasting on each other for survival. After London catches a small town, Salthook Tom meets a mysterious assassin, Hester Shaw. They must work together to discover the deadly truth about London’s Mayor Magnus Crome and his historian pet, Thaddeus Valentine.
They must trek across the sodden earth, ride together as prisoners in a small town, ride in an airship and survive multiple fatal situations.
Tom tries to find hope that not all of London is evil, but all hope
is lost once he discovers that Magnus has engineered the deadly MEDUSA, an
extremely cruel machine that will help London to survive for hundreds of years
by destroying other towns, leaving no survivors.
Katherine Valentine is the daughter of Thaddeus Valentine. She has never questioned her identity or her existence, until her father leaves for a journey commissioned by Magnus Crome and she discovers the lies her father has been telling her.
When she meets an apprentice, Bevis Pod,
together they uncover the MEDUSA. While Katherine has always thought of London
as a wealthy city, she realizes it has morphed into an evil district with
poverty lurking in the depths of its engines.
I enjoyed this book tremendously. Philip Reeves
writing style is so delicate and yet sets the plot of the book down so strongly
that you are left questioning the direction in which every action of the
characters will lead. The twists and turns are unexpected and even I couldn’t
predict them, even though I love to predict possible twists. I recommend this
book to all readers above the age of 9 or 10.
Author: Philip Reeve
Illustrator: Ian Mcque
Publisher: Scholastic Australia, $18.99
Publication Date: September 2018
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781760661878
Type: Young Adult Fiction
