Mortal Engines Quartet

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Mortal Engines Quartet  
Hungrycitychronicles.jpg
Original cover designs for the Mortal Engines Quartet
Author Philip Reeve
Cover artist David Frankland
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Genre(s) Science Fiction
Steampunk
Publisher Scholastic
Publication date 2001 - 2006
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)

The Mortal Engines Quartet is the UK and original title of a series of four novels, Mortal Engines (2001), Predator's Gold, Infernal Devices, and A Darkling Plain (2006) as well as the prequel Fever Crumb, written by the British author Philip Reeve. It is known in the US as the Hungry City Chronicles.

Contents

[edit] The World of the Mortal Engines Quartet

The Quartet is set in the distant future, in an age known as the Traction Era. Earth has been reduced to wasteland by a devastating conflict, known as the Sixty Minute War. Nations no longer exist, except in the lands of the Anti-Traction League; Traction Cities - entire cities mounted on caterpillar tracks for mobility - are fiercely independent city-states, using giant jaws to devour one another for resources. Trade is mostly accomplished by airship, though sometimes cities of roughly equal size (unable to devour each other) will stop to trade. Old-Tech (technology from before the Traction Era, some of which is from the 21st century) is the most sought-after commodity.

  • The Great Hunting Ground - Consists of Europe and Northern Asia, and is the domain of the Traction Cities. It is a muddy wasteland, as the constant movement of the cities has destroyed all vegetation. The land is referred to by city-dwellers as the "Out-Country."As it is called the Great Hunting Ground it is likely to be the biggest in the world, with the most traction cities.
  • The Ice Wastes - New name for the Arctic, which is also home to Traction Cities which use iron runners to skate across the ice. In some places the ice is thin and a danger to traction cities as they risk falling in the ocean.
  • Africa - Africa is split between the Sahara Desert, which is a land of Traction Cities, and the southern regions, run by Anti-Tractionists. Areas of the southern continent include the static cities of Zagwa and Tibetsi, and the highland area known as the Mountains of the Moon.
  • The Dead Continent - North America, reduced to an irradiated wasteland by the Sixty Minute War. Rumours abound as to whether it is completely dead or not, which provide much of the focus of Predator's Gold. It is proven not to be completely dead; in the north there a forests with some animals which have managed to survive the Sixty Minute War.
  • Asia - The stronghold of the Anti-Traction League. Eastern China is evidently irradiated from the Sixty Minute War, and the Himalayas are now the centre of civilisation (the mountainous terrain making it impossible for cities to approach).
  • Nuevo Maya - New name for South America, which was severed from North America when "slow bombs" destroyed Central America during the Sixty Minute War. Like Africa and Eurasia, South America is split: static settlements rule the Andes, but the lowlands are filled with ziggurat Traction Cities. Tom and Hester visit Nuevo Maya in the gap between the first two books, but it is never visited in the series itself. On the Philip Reeve site Philip Reeve says that if Fever Crumb survives the events of A Web of Air than she will go on to have adventures in Nuvo Maya, as he didn't have time to explore it in the original quartet.
  • The Hundred Islands - Possibly the islands in the Pacific or the Carrabien Islands. They are mentioned several times during the quartet but never visited directly. It is apparently the home of raft cities.
  • Antarctica - Mentioned only once, and is evidently the domain of oil-drilling Traction Cities. Tom and Hester visit Antarctica in the gap between the first two books, but, again, it is never visited in the series itself.
  • Australia Though not mentioned in the original series or Fever Crumb, Philip Reeve hints on the official Philip Reeve website that Fever Crumb will have adventures in Australia if she survives the events of A Web of Air, as he had no time to explore it in the original quartet.

[edit] ODIN

The Orbital Defence Initiative (abbreviated ODIN) is an orbital satellite weapon; a very powerful remnant of the Sixty Minute War and a major feature of the third and fourth books in the series, Infernal Devices and A Darkling Plain.

It was built as part of the arms race between the American Empire and Greater China. It and MEDUSA are the only superweapons known to have survived until the events of the series, althought there are several references to other orbital superweapons (Diamond Bat, Jinju 14, and the Nine Sisters for example). ODIN is more powerful than MEDUSA and is able to hit almost any target on the surface of the earth - MEDUSA was a ground-based energy weapon while ODIN is based on a satellite. ODIN is supposedly an American satellite as the code for controlling the satellite came off an American submarine. The other orbital weapons are hinted to have broken up over time and fallen from the sky.

ODIN is an energy weapon which apparently converts the energy of a small nuclear weapon into a directed beam of incinerating energy. This has the power to exterminate cities (both traction and static) and provoke volcanic eruptions. Its beam can be seen for very long distances and seems to interfere with the mechanical minds of Stalkers. Only Shrike's Old-Tech Stalker brain has the mettle to withstand this, although he goes into a fit-like state and it is hinted he is saved by Dr Oenone Zero. Anna Fang, whether because of her connection to ODIN or her particular mix of Old-Tech and modern Stalker brain, is unaffected. Other Stalkers just lose all power.

The Tin Book, copied from a US Military document recovered by the refugees of the original Anchorage from a submarine, is a codebook for controlling ODIN. It is stolen by the Lost Boys and, later, Brighton. It then falls into the hands of the Stalker Fang, who memorises its and contents and then leaves it to be destroyed on Cloud 9 when she is attacked by Shrike. It is then destroyed in a fire; however, when Fang is rebuilt by Fishcake, her Stalker alter-ego travels towards Batmunkh Gompa to firstly steal parts for a transmitter with the power to reach ODIN and then onto Anna Fang's living residence, where there is enough Old-Tech to finish the transmitter. The journey is delayed by Anna Fang's confused and caring personality coming to the fore. But at Batmunkh Gompa the Stalker takes control until the final scene (apart from a brief period of a few seconds as Dr. Popjoy examines her mechanical brain).

When ODIN is fired, confusion ensues as both the Green Storm and Traction Cities are targeted. Both sides try to find the transmitter, leading to the Storm's assault of London, but it is Tom, Hester, Shrike and Pennyroyal who find Fang. As Fang prepares to target all the volcanoes on the earth and so destroy humanity, a final confrontation brings Anna to the fore once more and she orders ODIN to turn its beam weapon upon itself, destroying it completely.

As well as its immensely powerful weaponry, ODIN appears to show signs of intelligence. When it is awakened, it queries its new position and briefly searches for its old masters, it also notes the vast difference in geography since its last awakening. It can also zoom in to an individual's face on the Earth and, although the picture is grainy, it is still impressive. It can change its orbit when directed to target all over the globe. This, as well as the Stalker minds found among old-tech (and Shrike) seems to prove that what we loosely call robots had, by the time of the Sixty Minute War, achieved sentience.

[edit] Prequel series

As well as the main quartet, Philip Reeve has also written a prequel called Fever Crumb. The story is set a thousand years before the events of Mortal Engines, during the time of the Great Nomad Wars. Traction Cities have not yet been created. The main character is Fever Crumb, and odd looking girl and adoptive daughter of Dr Crumb. A sequel to Fever Crumb called A Web of Air is intended for release in April 2010. Reeve also hints that there might be future books if she survives A Web of Air.

[edit] Characters

Main article: List of characters in the Mortal Engines Quartet

[edit] Names

A few of the people in the books are named after places in Devon, where Reeve lives. Miss Plym and Chudleigh Pomeroy are both in the Guild of Historians, and Tamarton Foliot is an "Alternative" historian.

Many of the characters are named after ancient brands: Windolene Pye, Daz Gravy, Nutella Eisberg, Nabisco Shkin for example.

Friends of Phillip Reeve are also occasionally mentioned in the books; for instance 'Poskitt' is included as a god, clearly referring to Kjartan Poskitt, friend and author of books that Reeve has illustrated in the past.

[edit] Airship Names

Airships in the quartet carry unusual or quirky names sometimes reminiscent of the style of the names of ships in Iain Banks' Culture novels.

[edit] Possible Adaptions

On the Variety website, the president of Scholastic Media Foundation Deborah Forte expressed interest in creating movies for the Mortal Engines Quartet. She tells Variety that they are looking for material which would supply for a very special family franchise, rather than just adapting a book. She then goes on to say that the first movie would combine Mortal Engines and Predator's Gold, while the second movie would combine Infernal Devices and A Darkling Plain. However, whether or not the movies will be made or if they will be combined is unknown as yet.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

Patience is Scholastic's Forte
Reeve FAQs

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Mortal Engines Quartet by Philip Reeve
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