The Hungry City Chronicles by Philip Reeve

So, I'm deep in the heart of City of Ashes right now and loving it. It made me start thinking about other series I love which of course led me to one of my favorite series of all time, Philip Reeve's Hungry City Chronicles.

This amazing series starts with Mortal Engines. Here's the synopsis thanks to bn.com

It was a dark, blustery afternoon in spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-out bed of the old North Sea ...

The great traction city london is on the move again. It has been lying low, skulking in the hills to avoid the bigger, faster, hungrier cities loose in the Great Hunting Ground. But now, as its great mountain of metal lumbers along in hot pursuit of its quarry, the sinister plans it has harbored for years can finally start to unfold behind its soaring walls ...

Thaddeus Valentine, London's Head Historian and most famous archaeologist, and his daughter, Katherine, are down in The Gut when the young assassin with the black scarf strikes. Only the quick intervention of Tom, a lowly third-class apprentice, prevents Valentine from being stabbed in the heart. Madly racing after the fleeing girl, Tom suddenly glimpses her hideous face: scarred from forehead to jaw, nose a smashed stump, a single eye glaring back at him. "Look at what your Valentine did to me!" she screams. "Ask him! Ask him what he did to Hester Shaw!" And with that she jumps down the waste chute to her death. Minutes later Tom finds himself tumbling down the same chute and stranded in the Out-Country, a sea of mud scored by the huge caterpillar tracks of cities like the one now steaming off over the horizon.

In a stunning literary debut, Philip Reeve has created an unforgettable adventure story set in a dark and utterly original world fueled by Municipal Darwinism — and betrayal.

The other three books in the series are:
Predator's Gold
Infernal Devices
A Darkling Plain

I love these books. It was one of those things I just picked up on a whim and I couldn't put it down. I love the characters of Tom and Hester. And Hester is one of the most tragic and yet badass characters in YA. You want to simultaneously hug her, hate her and hang out with her.

If you like Sci Fi, dystopian literature, steampunk, or just a great adventure story, then you should check these out. You might have to hunt for them now, but it's totally worth it.




While I was thinking about these books again, I decided to visit Philip Reeve's website and what should I see, but a new title called Fever Crumb, which is a prequel to these stories. It comes out May 4th in the UK and I will probably be buying it from Amazon UK, because I can't wait for a US release date. I actually squealed when I saw that there was a new Hungry Cities book. I can't wait.