Mortal Engines is a book set in the far future, where humanity has starved the Earth's resources to its bare minimum and now must strive off each other in ways of Traction Cities. This book certainly has a strange premises with how city's now much survive off each other (as in with slavery, salvaging the resources off recently ‘devoured’ cities, etc) and it works beautifully in the world that Phillip Reeves has created.

The story starts off quick with a scared girl attempting to assassinate a famous adventurer and well loved man. This leads itself to a beautifully planned plot full of love, betrayal, hate, and surprises as we follow the adventures of Tom and Hester, whom you'll fall in love with instantly. The twists in this book are perfectly executed and truly amazing, with the ending one of the best I've ever read. Though this is supposedly a book aimed at pre-teens the story is just so deep and sometimes so dark with the world so richly inhabited, I'd recommend this to anyone that loves rich diverse worlds, sci-fi, steampunk influences and just a beautifully woven tale.