Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
A Great Read, 4 April 2005
I don't usually rate books this highly but Infernal Devices, the sequel to Mortal Engines and Predator's Gold, truly deserves 5 stars. Although the story is nothing incredible to begin with, by the last 200 pages it is clear the story is nothing short of an Oscar-winning action film on paper. Philip Reeve once again shows his skill at storytelling, as you find yourself totally encapsulated by characters and their exhilarating surroundings.
Anyone who has read Reeve's previous books will know what to expect from Infernal Devices. Set in the distant future, the author creates an incredibly real setting out of a concept that is difficult to get one's mind around; that of huge cities that trundle around eating one another.
Characters new to the series slot effortlessly in with the old. In the third book we meet a few new characters as well as learning what has happened to older characters and how they've developed in the 16 years between this book and Predator's Gold. Tom and Hester don't take such a central role as they did in the first two books. Instead the story is focused on their 15-year-old daughter, Wren, born shortly after the end of the 2nd book.
Wren is fed up with her life in Anchorage-in-Vineland and it's tiresomely normal inhabitants: like Miss Freya (ex-margravine turned school teacher) and Caul (ex-Lost Boy turned lonely recluse). So when Gargle (now all grown up!) and the Lost Boys turn up looking for a mysterious Tin Book, Wren is almost too eager to get herself wrapped up in the adventure. The story takes us to never before seen cities, with devious new characters committing dastardly deeds, with kidnap, disguise, betrayal, murder, Slave traders and Pennyroyal thrown into the mix, with the ongoing war between Green Storm and the Traction Cities becoming evermore part of the tale.
Fans of previous books will not be disappointed, with Philip Reeve's witty humour still ever present. I loved the way he built up the pace of the book towards the end so you could really feel part of the spectacular events taking place on the page and also the great little details and hints about "Ancients", "Old-tech" and "the sixty minute war" that links his futuristic yet historic world with our own. I am 15 and recommend this book to anyone between the ages of 9 and 18. It's a great read and personally I cannot wait for A Darkling Plain, the conclusion of this fantastic series, in which, I hope, we learn more about the secret of ODIN (Read the Book!). These books definitely belong up there with Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl and Lord of the Rings. One of my favourite series.
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35 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
Infernal Devices, 5 April 2005
Plot and basic idea of the series - The three books by author Philip Reeve are set in the distant future, some thousand years in fact. They are set hundreds of years after "the great war" in which the "ancients" (that's us!), destroyed their world in sixty minutes. After this, cities have become movable, now named traction-cities; they roam the wastes of the world in search of smaller towns to eat.
Having read and thoroughly enjoyed the first two books in the series (Mortal Engines and Predator's Gold), I must admit that I had very high expectations of this third book. Was I disappointed? Well, yes and no.
In a way I felt let-down before I'd even looked at the first page, since I realised that the two main characters from the first two books, Tom and Hester, would not be the same, as the book is set fifteen years after their initial adventures. However I felt that the author overcame this problem quickly. Although the first few chapters are centred on a new character, Tom and Hester's daughter - Wren, the book felt the same, and was as gripping as the previous instalments.
For me, the main attraction to the books is the world that Philip Reeve conjures. The books are set in the distant future, and although the breathtaking ideas are somewhat like a fairytale, they are in a strange way, believable.
The fact that the author creates a whole new world means that the reader needs to explore it. And the first two books are perfect for this, as the travels of Hester and Tom, allow you to see the many wonderful ideas that Philip Reeve has.
However this whole book mainly takes place in Anchorage, Grimsby and chiefly Brighton, which made me feel frustrated as there wasn't the chance to see more of the strange world.
The plot surrounding Anna Fang and Dr Zero is interesting, as is the whole idea of the Anti-tractionists and their war to make the world "green again". But the highpoint of the book has to be, the shocking, thrilling ending. The final chapters of the book, and indeed the final pages, are incredible, the twists and turns are unbearable, but left me waiting for the final book - A darkling plain.
Putting this book aside (if you can), and looking at the series as a whole, Philip Reeve's books are certainly some of the best I've ever read, which is why I bought this book the day after it was published. In his first book, Mortal Engines, he succeeds in painting an utterly original picture of the future. In a way it's partly science-fiction, and I say partly, because it's nothing like star trek, it has a completely unique feel to it, I myself am not a great fan of sci-fi, but I thought the books were amazing.
I really don't want to put anyone off buying this book, it, and the two previous tales make absolutely essential reading. On the whole the series is one to rival Harry Potter, absolutely brilliant. However be sure you buy the first two books as well, as you definitely shouldn't miss reading the whole story.
In my opinion the book is suitable for most between the ages of 12 and 16.
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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
Philip Reeve's 'Infernal Devices', 30 Mar 2005
After reading Mortal Engines and Predator's Gold (the first two books in the series), I was pleased to find that there was a new one out. Infernal Devices had to be very good to top them, and on the whole, it is.
The story is set around fifteen years later than the previous books, with Tom and Hester as adults. Hester's character takes a very interesting twist, with her lust for killing bad people still there, and she sometimes wishes that her fifteen year old daughter had never been born.
If you read predator's gold, you will know that Hester becomes pregnant with Tom's baby at the end of the book. They named their daughter Wren, and she serves as the main character for the first half of the third book. The story is that Wren is bored with Anchorage, the small static settlement in the lost continent of the Americas. She longs for an adventure and finds it when the Lost Boys pull up on the beach led by Gargle who was a young boy in the other books. They are looking for the Tin Book, a legendary book of Anchorage, and they lure Wren into stealing it for them. Wren decides to stow away with them and she ends up a slave in Brighton, a floating settlement. Hester and Tom find out about her leaving and chase her.
I gave it only four stars because Tom's character is too stereotypical and you never really read about his feelings. But the main reason is that it doesn't really seem like a proper adventure. The most part of the book are set in Brighton, and there is that great sense of Journey that was felt in Predator's Gold.
Those petty complaints aside, this is an amazing, breathtaking, riveting read that I just couldn't put down. I'm twelve years old and I thought that it would be good for about 11-15 year olds. I highly recommmend this book. Excellent work by Philip Reeve once again.
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