Product Description

Tom and Hester have been thrown together. Truly-thrown out of a city on wheels that's left them stranded and starving in the middle of nowhere while it hares off after its prey. Hester is desperate for revenge, and Tom is only desperate to get back on board his beloved London. This is a stunning literary debut from Philip Reeve. A novel that defies easy categorisation, it is a gripping adventure story set in an inspired fantasy world, where moving cities trawl the globe. Peopled with convincing and utterly likeable characters, this story is a magical and unique read.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5592 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 293 pages

Customer Reviews

Didn't like it!
This book is terrible! My friend and I both agree, it is boring! EVERYBODY DIES!

I like a book that has characters that actually LIVE, in this book loads of them die!

I wholeheartedly agree with the person who says it is like Marmite.

But I like Philip Reeve overall so I gave it 2 instead of 1 star.

What a surprise!
I was presented with this book by a pupil of mine, as a reader for his weekly evening lesson. I read a couple of chapters each week and he would re-read the last few paragraphs. At the end of the first chapter I was not looking forward to the rest of the book. I thought it contrived and so far beyond the realms of probability that it completely failed to engage my interest. I suggested that he look for a different book. However, the following week he produced the same book again and, without any alternative reader, we continued. Within a few chapters, I was hooked. I had to exert self-discipline to prevent the book taking over the whole lesson and, by the time we had reached about a quarter of the way through, I used to anticipate the next lesson's instalment with impatience. I was gutted when the last lesson before the summer holidays was cancelled with only five chapters to go! Although I tried to predict what might happen next at various points, I found the imaginative twists and turns of the plot reapeatedly confounded me.
All in all, I found it stimulating due to its plot, its poetic language, its frequently dry and grotesque humour and its emotional portraits. Its range of vocabulary and widely informed referencing makes it a challenging read for today's average teenager and, therefore, all the more recommendable - to young and old alike.

Great fun
I read this book because my 13 year old son gave it me to read. I was expecting a novel for children, and mostly that's what it is: lots of action, some wild ideas, plenty of humour. There's also enough to keep most adults interested though, with many references to events, people and places in our own world. It's good fun trying to spot all of them!

It's very much a fantasy novel, and the subject matter (mobile cities which eat smaller towns) may appeal more to boys than girls. I found the writing excellent, with good description, dialogue, humour and pacing. The characterisation of some of the main characters is surprisingly weak, whereas some other, lesser characters really stick out.

It's fairly standard goodies vs baddies stuff, with the baddies being (mostly) stereotypically geeky engineers. But there are some surprises and plot twists which definitely put this in the top league of 'children's books'. This must be one of the few popular books with a historian and an ugly, partially blind girl as two of the main characters.

Overall an excellent book with plenty to keep you hooked