I just finished reading this book to my son (now twelve) last night. We read the final four chapters in one go, and by the end I could hardly keep my voice even enough to read out loud because I felt so emotional. On the whole the book was very good (as are all the books in the series) I personally found the start of the book a little slow, although maybe that was because my hopes were so high, and to be fair, my son didn't think it started out slow. Both of us agreed, however that from about half way through the pace was relentless - building up tension, excitement, and emotional attachment to so many varied and flawed but believable and lovable characters (even Pompous Pennyroyal and poor Fishcake). As other reviewers have said, the ending was so well done. A perfectly fitting conclusion to the epic Mortal Engines series. The ending is still resonating with me, so much so that it made me cry again when I was out walking my dog this afternoon, and I had to blame the wind in my eyes. The whole series is very good for reading aloud - teachers should consider it as a class read for this reason, because the language is very poetic, without ever getting in the way of the characters or the plot. I have to bow to Philip Reeve's brilliance - I don't think there's a better series for young people out there. My son and I are going to read Here lies Arthur next, although we might do a Marcus Sedgwick in between just to refresh our palattes.