Review: Mortal Engines

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The world in which this book lives is fascinating. I think the concepts in it of the traveling cities, the rebuilding of civilization, and the opposition to it is ripe with possibility. There is a decent amount of action in this book, and I found some of it hard to follow. There was a lot of travel, action, fighting, intrigue, and world building crammed into a relatively short book. It was a quick read. I read the first 100 pages in one sitting.

And yet, I still didn't love it. I felt like everything was set up to be amazing, and I loved the concept of many of the characters. But as I spent more time with a character they seemed to fall flat. It felt like I was reading the outline of a great book, and not something fully realized. I wanted more with the characters. I could see elements of them that had potential, but I ended up reading almost all of them as similar and indistinguishable. There were a few exceptions where intention, characterization, dialogue and choice made characters breathe a little more life and individuality. The two that come to mind are Fang, and Shrike; and yet, neither make it to the end of the book.

I didn't feel connected with the two "main" characters that will continue the series, as I felt they were so bland. Which is odd because they both have great back stories and have done some incredible things. I don't think I will seek out the sequels, but if I happen upon them I might read more. I read so much potential. Seriously it is like an outline of an amazing epic tale, that never found the details to make it come alive.

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