Book Review: 'Mortal Engines: Book 2 - Predator's Gold' by Philip Reeve

Cover art by Ian McQue

Set just over 2 years after the events of the first 'Mortal Engines' book. Tom Natsworthy and Hester Shaw have been travelling around the world on the Jenny Haniver, Anna Fang's old airship, but after picking up a passenger, Nimrod Pennyroyal - an author of adventure books, they're pursued by the gunships of the Green Storm, who are fanatical about Anna Fang and blame them for her death and 'stealing' the Jenny Haniver, they seek sanctuary on the traction city of Anchorage. A once thriving city that has been devastated by plague, leaving only a handful of people left. But when jealousy gets the better of Hester when she sees Tom spending more time with Freya Ragmussen, the young Margravine (queen) of the city, she does something drastic with repercussions that will haunt her for years.

Another exciting read in Philip Reeve's 'Mortal Engines' series. It expands on the lore and world building of the first book, which I liked, and adding more characters to the mix as well. As protagonists go, the main couple of Tom and Hester are total opposites; one comes across as empathetic, believing that life should be fair, and appearing a bit naive at times, whilst the other is very insecure, and full of hate and anger that boils to the surface on more than one occasion, unfortunately making them a bit unlikeable to me. The surrounding characters of Freya, Nimrod Pennyroyal, Piotr Masgard, and of Uncle and the Lost Boys of the sunken city of Grimsby, on the other hand do add a bit of variety and depth to the story.

As with the first book, I listened to the audiobook narrated by Barnaby Edwards. And once again it's a superb performance, full of great characterisations each with their own personalities, bringing the book to life. Definitely a recommended option!

It's a good addition to the quartet of stories in this series, and due to the time jump in between and the amount of well placed references to what has gone on before, one that could easily be read as a standalone, but it's better if you've read the first in the series.

Available from Amazon, Waterstones, Audible Audiobooks and all good bookstores.