Fever Crumb

By Philip Reeve
Rating: 4 1/2 stars

If you are a fan of Reeve's Hungry City Chronicles, you will certainly want to read this book, which is a prequel taking place centuries before the Chronicles begin.  However, even if you have never picked up that series, this book is still an excellent read.  Fever Crumb is a teenaged girl, adopted as a baby and raised by the Engineers in a futuristic London where technology of our time is misunderstood and lost. She has been taught to be rational and to put feelings aside.  On her first assignment outside her home, Fever is almost immediately taken to be a Scriven--a race of outsiders who once ruled London and were noticeable by their spotted skins but have since been exterminated in riots of years past.  Despite her lack of markings, Fever is pursued by a violent mob.  But that moment touches off both a search for Fever to discover who she truly is and a revolution against the reigning government in London.  As Fever tumbles breathlessly through the next couple of days, revelations and adventure befall her and the people around her at every turn.  A fantastic story with a well-imagined world of the future that fans of scifi will eat up.