Infernal Devices

By Philip Reeve
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Noelle

This is book 3 in the projected 4 book series, The Hungry City Chronicles. You will definitely want to read the first 2 books in the series, Mortal Engines and Predator's Gold to understand the full storyline and backgrounds of the main characters who reappear for this third installment. In the future, there was a 60 Minute War that devastated the earth. Many remaining cities became towering moving machines, running on wheels. Bigger cities chase and "eat" smaller ones--consuming their resources and people for their own gain. Some cities are anti-tractionist--normal, land-locked places as we know them now. A war has been raging the past 14 years--the Green Storm versus the Anti-Tractionists--trying to dominate the planet. Our heroes, Hester Shaw and Tom Natsworthy, are married with a 15 year old daughter named Wren, living in land-locked Anchorage-in-Vineland, retired and recovering from their many adventures. Wren lives a sheltered life and is eager for adventure. When some Lost Boys (underwater burglars) appear, looking for someone to help them steal something called the Tin Book, Wren is easily pulled in as an accomplice. But things go wrong, and Wren ends up a captive. Tom and Hester embark on a mission to find and rescue Wren. The journeys of all three will include the floating city of Brighton, the demise of the Lost Boys, a tangle with the Green Storm, and the return of some long gone enemies--Pennyroyal and Stalker Grike, to name but two. Secrets will be revealed, new friendships made and betrayed, and fate will take a hand. The story is involving, bleak, terrible, wonderful and visionary. Anyone who loves a great, detailed, in depth story in an incredible future world will want to pick up this series. Thumbs up!