Mortal Engines

By Philip Reeve

The epic city-eat-city adventure is now a major motion picture produced by Peter Jackson!

"A breathtaking work of imagination, Hester Shaw is a heroine for the ages. The moment we finished reading this book we knew we wanted to make it into a movie." -- Producer Peter Jackson

* "Reeve's [Mortal Engines] remains a landmark of visionary imagination." -- School Library Journal, starred review

Now a major motion picture produced by Peter Jackson!

London is hunting again. Emerging from its hiding place in the hills, the great Traction City is chasing a terrified little town across the wastelands. Soon London will feed.

In the attack, Tom Natsworthy is flung from the speeding city with a murderous scar-faced girl. They must run for their lives through the wreckage -- and face a terrifying new weapon that threatens the future of the world.

Beloved storyteller Philip Reeve creates a brilliant new world in the Mortal Engines series, called "phenomenal... violent and romantic, action-packed and contemplative, funny and frightening" by the Sunday Times.

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Published May 30, 2017

320 pages

Average rating: 5.75

12 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

scienceVSmagic
Jun 07, 2026
6/10 stars
We loved the original worldbuilding, the action-packed plot, and the concept of Municipal Darwinism. We were not as impressed by the immature characters (though there is the promise of development in later books), the juvenile fiction-style of writing, and the lack of development of key characters. While over half of us gave the book a tepid "OK" rating, there was nobody that truly hated it... which is a win all by itself : )
Oodledoodle
Jul 06, 2025
Awesome world building

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