Reviews

• Habe jetzt alle Bände in englischer Sprache gelesen. Im Dezember kommt die Verfilmung des ersten Bandes. Alle Bände sind lesenswert und das Universum der fahrenden Städte schreit förmlich nach Spinoffs. Wenn Peter Jackson (von „Herr der Ringe“) das so gigantisch im Film umsetzt, wie von ihm zu erwarten, dann werden alle Bände verfilmt und ein Kracher! Beste Unterhaltung und im Film bestes Popcorn-Kino! Das Potential der Romane ist riesig! Klare Empfehlung! P.s.: wann kommt das Computerspiel? Baue und verwalte deine eigene fahrende Stadt! Ich würde es kaufen!

• A Darkling Plain is the fourth, and final, book in the wonderful "Hungry City Chronicles." Beginning with Mortal Engines, the world that Mr. Reeve has created is one of the best in the young adult science fiction that I have read. Period. The story takes place hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years after the 60 Minute War where humans unleashed every known weapon on themselves (biological, nuclear, space based energy rays). The books revolve around Hester Shaw and Tom Natsworthy and their adventures on mobile cities that try to "eat" each other. Hester, in my view, is one of the great characters in young adult literature: strong, ruthless, vulnerable, and determined to get her way. Tom, in contrast, believes in the basic goodness of people and it is, ironically, this belief that proves to save the day in this story. I won't reveal details other than to say that all four books are highly recommended. If you want action, although with a high body count, then these are for you. In fact, I have rarely had the emotional impact of a series of books stay with me as these have. The ending is absolutely draining, but perfect. Finally, I must disagree a bit with some of the other reviewers about the third book, Infernal Devices, where they wish that Hester and Tom had not gone from their teens in "Predators Gold" to their mid-thirties. One of the themes of A Darkling Plain is that life moves on: people grow up, fall in love, have children, and pass the world on to them. Thus, Tom and Hester have a child, Wren, and it is central to the book's ending that she is old enough to be out on her own and have her own life. I certainly hope that Mr. Reeve has other stories set in this marvelous world, but there is very little that I would change with Hester and Tom's.

• I loved this book. It really caught my feelings. Would recommend to read it. But first read the rest of the series

• Just finished the fourth book really loved it Excited to read the prequels A lot of fun Good night friend

• I suppose this review applies to all four books in the Mortal Engines Quartet. It's pointless coming into A Darkling Plain without having read the first three installments. Unlike the first two, this one makes no attempt to stand up as a self-contained narrative. We need to be familiar with the characters, the environment in which they exist and the things they've done over the course of two decades. Lucky for us, however, that the preceeding books were so good (the third being, in my opinion, the weakest of the bunch, but still enjoyable stuff). Throughout the saga, Philip Reeve is very generous in allowing his characters to change, grow and - in some cases - become more flawed and unlikeable as the adventures proceed. regardless of how novel, rich and exciting his future vision of hungy cities and Municipal Darwinism might be, it's the continuous character evolution that keeps us hooked. In this final tome, it's also become clear that Reeve is aware of Mortal Engines' potential as a movie franchise, as the language and structure become quite explicitly cinematic. If the rumours are true that an option of the series has been bought by Peter Jackson's Wing Nut Productions, this could have been a very sensible career move. Regardless, the yarn is a ripping one from start to finish. We actually care about the characters. The sci-fi world that Reeve creates is novel and intriguing without ever feeling contrived. It's violent and bloody and gritty and merciless at times, but there's also some nice innocent humour there too (I especially liked the fact that we meet two brothers named Lego and Duplo). A Darkling Plain is more action-packed than its predecessors, but that's not a complaint - I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. The ending is emotional and moving. Sad, but also quite uplifting in its final pages. Apparently, it's a good read for kids too - this reviewer is aged 39. I would never offer it as a bedtime read for my six-year-old, but as soon as he's old enough to handle books of that length and complexity, I'll give him strict instructions not to touch anything so violent and scary, while making sure to leave them carelessly lying around the house...

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