Mortal Engines (signed by the author)

Reeve, Philip

ISBN 10: 0439993458 / ISBN 13: 9780439993456

Published by Scholastic: London, 2001

About this Item

Young adult sf novel: first in the series. First printing with ''10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1''' on copyright page. SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR. This first volume was adapted into a 2018 feature film produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Christian Rivers. ''UK illustrator from 1996, mostly of picture books for younger readers, and author of Young Adult fiction, most prominently to date the Mortal Engines series, the main sequence of which, the Hungry Cities Chronicles, comprises Mortal Engines (2001), Predator's Gold (2003), Infernal Devices (2005) and A Darkling Plain (2006). The tightly composed series is set in the Ruined Earth northern hemisphere of Earth a thousand or so years hence, where moving Machine-like cities vie for lebensraum. In a telling parody of Social Darwinism, their predatory behaviour is known as Municipal Darwinism, and is as tragically dysfunctional as its model: the Cities, including a ruthless London, eat each other, while at the same time causing further Ecological damage to their stamping grounds. The long tale is told vividly, with an extensive use of Steampunk imagery including Balloons and Airships; only some members of the extensive cast survive the Holocaust generated by a final War between the moving cities and the stationary civilization to the East. In the end, not perhaps entirely convincingly, a pastoral Utopia, clemently supping from a non-exploitative new Power Source, takes over'' (John Clute/Encyclopedia of SF, 4th Edition). Fine copy in a fine dustjacket (as new).

Seller Inventory # 07656

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Mortal Engines (signed by the author)
• Publisher: Scholastic: London
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0439993458
• ISBN 13: 9780439993456
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First edition (& 1st printing).
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Signed: Signed

About this title

Synopsis

Tom and Hester have been thrown together, literally thrown out of a city that's left them stranded and starving in the middle of nowhere while it hares off after its prey. Hester is desperate for revenge, Tom is desperate to get back on board his beloved London. This is an adventure story set in a fantasy world where moving cities trawl the globe.

About the Author

Philip Reevewas born in Brighton, England. Inspired by the Asterix and Tintin books he loved as a boy, he became a cartoonist and, many years later, the illustrator of several highly successful children's book series in the United Kingdom. He has been writing since he was five, but mortal engines, the first book in the Hungry City Chronicles, was his first published novel. He has since followed that with Predator's Gold, Infernal Devices, and the Victorian space opera Larklight. Mr. Reeve lives on Dartmoor with his wife, Sarah, and their son, Samuel.