Mortally Off-Engineered
I was inspired to try this novel on the back of the recent film adaptation, not that I went to see the film you understand, I just observed some posters. Anyway I figured that if the gentleman who brought The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit to the cinema had decided that the source material here was worthy of a film, then it was probably deserving of a look. Having now read the book I can report that there are few similarities between Mortal Engines and The Lord of the Rings, in fact the only one that springs to mind is that Peter Jackson directed film versions of both (I’m pretty sure that in Microsoft Excel, we’d be in circular reference territory here). There is one additional link that I can draw to The Hobbit, intended audience, this is definitely one for the kids.
The premise for Mortal Engines is an interesting one, society has regressed following a presumably cataclysmic war, large swathes of knowledge, particularly technological, have been lost. So far, so standard post-apocalyptic, where Mortal Engines diverges from other novels of this ilk is in the nature of settlements, some cities and towns have become mobilised and predatory, these are known as traction cities. Larger traction cities such as London prey on smaller conurbations, chasing them down on giant caterpillar tracks and assimilating their raw materials. It’s a dog eat dog world, every traction city for itself.
London itself is ruled by an elected Lord Mayor who oversees four main guilds, Engineers, Historians, Merchants, and Navigators. Each guild supposedly has an equal voice and role in the running and continued success of London, however the current Mayor, Magnus Crome, is an Engineer and so the power of that particular guild has grown above the other guilds. The story follows the adventures of Tom Natsworthy, a young Londoner apprenticed to the Guild of Historians after the death of his parents, who comes to realise that all is not what it seems within the bowels of the city. Along the way he is accompanied and driven by Hester Shaw, another orphan, out for revenge against the man she believes is responsible for the death of her parents, Thaddeus Valentine, London’s Head Historian, right hand man of Magnus Crome, and all time hero of Tom Natsworthy (awkward). Additional perspective is provided by Katherine Valentine, daughter of Thaddeus, who has led a life of privilege within the upper echelons of London’s social classes, until Tom and Hester plant the seeds of doubt regarding the behaviour of her peers.
After reading the first few chapters of Mortal Engines, I checked the publication date and was surprised to discover that it was released in 2001, this is a book which feels much older than it is, I attribute this to the very matter of fact, stiff upper lip reactions of the main characters. It reminds me of some of the classic children’s books, where a character dies and someone would say “Hard lines old bean, chin up though, no time to worry about that” and carry on with whatever they were doing. The sparseness of emotional extrapolation does keep the story moving at a quick pace, but it also prevents it from creating depth, the main characters are likeable enough but you only experience their actions rather than their emotions which leaves the whole book a little hollow.
The premise is enough to make this book an interesting diversion, but it’s more like a mid-morning snack than something to really get your teeth into. Read it as light relief after something big, Lord of the Rings maybe.