Predator's Gold (Mortal Engines II)

by Philip Reeve

book data

264 ratings, 3.98 average rating, 28 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		31%
4		40%
3		23%
2		3%
1		1%

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published

January 1st 2006 (first published 2003) by Eos

binding

Paperback, 316 pages

characters

Tom Natsworthy, Esther Shaw, Anna Fang

isbn

0060721960 (isbn13: 9780060721961)

description

Tom and Hester are in danger.

Pursued by the grim aviators of the Green Storm, they stumble onto the ice city of Anchorage just in time. Bu...more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 333)

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03/11/08

Brooke rated it:

bookshelves: books-read-in-2008

Read in March, 2008

Who doesn't love dystopic visions of the future? Not I. Especially not one that involves giant cities on wheels -- that EAT each other. The concept of Municipal Darwinism never gets old, baby.

It's taken me forever to get around to the Hungry City Chronicles, of which this is the second. Tom and Hester, our heroes from the first book (read: the only characters left alive after the first book -- sheesh, Mortal Enginges has a bigger body count than Hamlet) are in trouble again. This...more

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01/23/09

Becky rated it:

Read in January, 2009

Freya awoke early and lay for a while in the dark, feeling her city shiver and sway beneath her as its powerful engines sent it skimming across the ice. Sleepily, she waited for her servants to come and help her out of bed. It took her a few moments to remember that they were all dead.

Predator's Gold is the sequel to The Mortal Engines. It continues the story of Tom and Hester; it's been two years since the destruction of London and the pair's close call. Never wanting to lead a dull...more

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12/17/08

Marco Narajos rated it:

bookshelves: mortal-engines-quartet

Read in December, 2008

recommends it for: everyone

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

"Predator's Gold" is set several years later, where we find that Tom and the horribly-scarred Hester are still together, taking on passengers and cargo to make a living. One such passenger is Professor Pennyroyal, a pompous explorer and adventurer with a penance for stretching the truth (think Gilderoy Lockhart) who join the couple as they flee to the Ice Wastes and are saved by the Traction City of Anchorage. The city is ruled over by the young Freya Rasmussen who makes a radical deci...more "Predator's Gold" is set several years later, where we find that Tom and the horribly-scarred Hester are still together, taking on passengers and cargo to make a living. One such passenger is Professor Pennyroyal, a pompous explorer and adventurer with a penance for stretching the truth (think Gilderoy Lockhart) who join the couple as they flee to the Ice Wastes and are saved by the Traction City of Anchorage. The city is ruled over by the young Freya Rasmussen who makes a radical decision to return to the Dead Continent in the hopes of escaping the dual threats of both predatory Traction Cities and the Anti-Traction League.

Unbeknownst to her, her city is being discreetly ransacked by a trio of "Lost Boys" who answer to the mysterious thief-lord Uncle who bears resemblance to the Fagin in "Oliver Twist." He is a man who has his own game to play in the rising tensions. But when Hester witnesses a foolish kiss between Tom and Freya she makes an equally foolish decision to betray the city. From here the action keeps rolling: escapes, intrigue, kidnapping, betrayals, battles... you name it and it's here. As an adventure story, I would be hard-pressed to recommend anything more exciting than this.

Most interesting is Reeve's use of political agendas and intrigue. The world is roughly translated into two groups: the Traction Cities and the Static Communities, who are bitterly at odds. The Static communities (headed by the Anti-Traction League) despise the parasitical scavenging cities, whilst the roaming Cities are arrogantly casual about their allegiance to Darwinism and their right to any prey that comes their way. Naturally, one would expect to be on the Anti-Traction League's side (after all, the thought of consuming smaller cities sounds barbaric to our contemporary ears), and yet the fact that Tom is a citizen of a Traction City and Reeves's deliberate admiration for their roving spirit throws the whole scenario into a hefty shade of grey.

Neither the Traction Cities nor the Static Communities are right (in fact most of the time they are very much in the wrong), and the conflict of the book is not which side wins, but whether Tom and Hester can survive the conflict that goes on between them, living long enough to make a decent life for themselves. This is a great set of books: read them!(less)

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04/07/09

Jjen rated it:

This book isn't quite as good as the first one but it has the addition of my one of my favourite characters, Professor Pennyroyal. He made me laugh a lot. It wasn't quite as action packed as I would have liked (I do love explosions a lot), but the new characters introduced are definitely entertaining. The entire series is completely bizarre and wonderful, I would recommend it to anyone. Though one of the things I don't like is the book titles. I don't know, they just sound a bit corny.

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03/04/08

Megan rated it:

bookshelves: adventure, political-theory, science-fiction, steampunk, young-adult

Read in March, 2008

I liked the second book in the Hungry City Chronicles series more than the first, which I thought was a little stilted in places and tough to get off the ground. There's not a lot to these books other than interesting political allegory and rollicking good adventure but sometimes that's enough. I think there's at least one more book left in the series and after the way this one ends I am curious to see where things will go next. I actually wish this book had been a lot longer as I felt there was...more

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06/10/09

Laura rated it:

(review of isbn 0060721936)

Read in June, 2009

Fact of life and the facts of the book as well: Bigger eats smaller, USUALLY. People you love don't betray something you love, USUALLY.

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09/01/08

Brian rated it:

bookshelves: steamy

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in December, 2007

The first book I read in this series and WOW! I loved it. At Powells books they had a little sign under this series if you like His Dark Materials and something else, then you'll like these books. I liked the cover on this one the best and so I grabbed it. I was hooked, I love the non-traditional lead female character and the idea of the story is very good. I laughed out loud when Pennyroyal was describing his visit to America and the names of the people he met there. Hilarious.

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03/14/09

SF SQRL rated it:

bookshelves: books-2009, fiction, science-fiction

Read in March, 2009

What they used to call a rollicking good read. Reeve doesn't flinch from the awfulness of some of the situations he describes, nor does he hesitate to make his characters real people who make mistakes, and are capable of dreadful acts as well as redemption.

No fluffy bunnies here.

Charity shop find.

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1 comment

05/11/09

Michael rated it:

bookshelves: fantasy, science-fantasy, science-fiction

Read in June, 2009

Rollicking sequel to Mortal Engines. I thought Reeves had grown as a writer between the two books. Favourite character has to be Hester.

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02/01/08

Kelsey rated it:

bookshelves: booksforfun

Read in February, 2008

This is the second book in the "Hungry City Chronicles" and it's almost as much fun as the first! In fact, in some ways it's a more interesting read because the main characters are older and there's more grown-up-type problems. Also, I really enjoy all the allusions to Conrad's "Heart of Darkness." Once again I must say this is a fun, light read.

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03/09/07

katie rated it:

bookshelves: done-reading

Read in February, 2007

I really liked this! Perhaps more than Mortal Engines. I loved the whole ice-and-snow setting, and I thought Freya and Anchorage were great. But the established Tom/Hester was a little - well, just not my thing. I loved Hester's development though, and I love that she actually killed. Tom's still a bit bland, although he had his moments.

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09/26/07

Scott rated it:

(review of isbn 0060721936)

bookshelves: 4-5stars

Read in September, 2007

recommends it for: teens

VERY, VERY, VERY, good book this was heartwarming as well as thrilling and carrys you through it so quickly it took me one night to read. If your the type of person who like short series this is perfect for you, It isn't the last book but the ending is a perfectly good ending for anyone, I think.

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03/13/08

Allanna rated it:

Read in October, 2008

It didn't move as fast as Mortal Engines did, but it's a good continuation of the story.

Some intrigue involved. Some good twists. Even though it took me a while to get through this, I do plan on reading the rest of the series. (I hope that the next books are a little faster-paced.)

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03/30/08

Michael rated it:

Read in March, 2008

The second in the series is just as engaging. I like how the characters have grown and the story fleshed out a bit with some very human emotions on show, with redemption for past wrongs emphasized. Again quick read.

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12/17/07

Alex rated it:

Read in December, 2007

Book Two in the series, involves Tom and Hester on the run from Green Storm, ice pirates, and other parasites. I really enjoyed this page turner, and raced right through it. I can't wait to read the next in the series.

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09/21/07

Baco rated it:

bookshelves: airships, apocalypse, favourites, fiction, sci-fi, ya-lit

kflksjklslkg SUCH an awesome follow-up to Mortal Engines, building on everything there and introducing new twists. I've hardly ever read a book that surprised me as many times as this one did. Just awesome.

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09/10/07

Logan 8-3 rated it:

Read in September, 2007

recommends it for: anyone that loves suspense.

This book shows the future of our world. Cities on big rolling wheels, that eat other smaller cities. This is a sequal of another book, Mortal Emgines.

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