That series got me back into reading, as a teenager

Mortal Engines! by the Irish Samurai on 2018-11-19 19:18:00 UTC Reply

It was a dark, blustery afternoon in spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-out bed of the old North Sea.

No, not the opening line to a bizarre fanfic, but the opening line to one of the most brilliantly mad young adult book series I know.

It's the world-building that I like the most; it takes a ridiculous premise - that towns and cities have all become giant mechanical monsters that eat each other for resources - and then just runs with it.

I'm so excited for this movie, and really hoping that it lives up to my expectations.

Any other fans of the series out there? Or anyone that hasn't heard of it before but thinks the trailer looks cool?

-Irish

That series got me back into reading, as a teenager by Larfen J. Stocke, esq. on 2018-11-21 02:33:00 UTC Reply

I'm damn excited, needless to say. I feel like my tastes in speculative fiction, especially of the weirder variety, were all spawned from this. It's so cool. Cannibal cities. And man, does it have the visuals down!

It's a really weird childhood ghoul rising up and boy do I hope it's good.

It seems Hester's going to be the main character, here, where, in the novel, she was a sort of lesser protagonist to the viewpoint guy. Er. Tom, I think.

Which is great! She was a way more interesting character, I recall, than he was.

Re: That series got me back into reading, as a teenager by the Irish Samurai on 2018-11-21 13:03:00 UTC Reply

I do like the weirder fantasy settings like this - I think when I discovered them I'd been reading a lot more 'grown up' fantasy where things like politics, economics and logistics were a heavy part of the setting, so these books were a real breath of fresh air.

My other go-to series for 'fantastical fantasy' is the Edge Chronicles; are you familiar with those? They're intended for younger readers again, and feature skypirates and all manner of weird and wonderful creatures - and the artwork in the books is just stunning!

Yeah, the designs of the cities they show off in the trailer look incredible. One thing that didn't match my expectations is the designs of the aircraft. I'm pretty sure that in the books they always refer to them as 'airships', so I've always pictured them as being sort of zeppelin/blimp-like, but these seem to be more sci-fi winged/hover (anti-grav?) designs - which I actually think looks far cooler than what I was picturing before.

Yeah, I think Hester was always the main character in the sense that the story is about what happened to her, but was often told from the point of view of the people around her.

-Irish

I haven't read those, actually by Larfen J. Stocke, esq. on 2018-11-21 23:51:00 UTC Reply

I ended up spiralling far into Weird Fiction, with Lovecraft (specifically his Dream Cycle stuff, which read more like bizarre fantasy stories) and China Mieville and John Langan and all.

Ahhh, and is it fantastic! It really did define my favourite stuff. Like you said--an absolutely ridiculous concepts, played totally straight, just all being cool and fun.

I recall, I think, weren't a few aircraft more sci-fiey hovery things? Alongside a few blimp fellas?

But, honestly, I think the cities are perfect. London is brilliant looking. Fits how I saw it perfectly. What a goddamn brilliant image, hey, the sort of, recognisable buildings atop all that industrial crunching mess?

I think, even if the movie is sort of, written as a mess, the visuals, at least, will ensure it's a grand old viewing experience.

I'd been meaning to read it... by Delta Juliette on 2018-11-20 01:50:00 UTC Reply

And the trailer has managed to convince me to buy the book. It looks... like the sort of story where Peter Jackson's hallmark over-the-top work will be put to very good use.

Well then! by Delta Juliette on 2018-11-21 04:53:00 UTC Reply

I read the book in one day. I am now excited, this is going to be awesome.

Glad you liked it :) by the Irish Samurai on 2018-11-21 12:50:00 UTC Reply

There's actually 4 books in the series (plus apparently a prequel trilogy that I've only just found out about).

It's been a while since I've read them, so I'm not completely sure, but I've got a feeling that of the original books the first 3 are a trilogy, and then the 4th one is a little bit separated - after a time skip, or focusing on a wider set of characters or something? But still following on the world and events from the previous stories.

So yeah, if you enjoyed the first book I definitely recommend the others. I'm just hoping that this first film does well enough for them to do the whole set. It should do - the trailer looks brilliant, but as evidenced by the Rick Riordan discussion further down the page, adaptations can be a bit hit and miss.

-Irish

Oh yes, I intend to carry on. by Delta Juliette on 2018-11-21 14:05:00 UTC Reply

Not stopping after just one! That was much too good to stop there, and I've got a long holiday weekend to read in.

I heard about it a few years ago... by 61516 on 2018-11-19 22:33:00 UTC Reply

... on this episode of a podcast: https://loadingreadyrun.com/lrrcasts/view/589/Fight-the-Future-21-Mortal-Engines/AU