Mortal Engines

It's a town eat town world and Tom, an apprentice historian, has been brought up to believe that municipal Darwinsim is a noble and beautiful system. He joins the celebrations as the great traction city of London speeds across the Out-Country gobbling up smaller towns in its path and recycling them for spare parts. But Tom is an historian and the lessons of the history have not been digested as London goes to war with a deadly Old-Tech weapon, against the Anti-Traction League. This is an exceptional debut novel - both imaginatively and intelligently conceived, it bursts with ingenuity and wit. The plot is reminiscent of Star Wars crossed with James Bond with each chapter ending on a cliffhanger which impels the reader forward. For Tom, the disfigured Hester (a bold innovation) who is determined to avenge her parents' murder and the beautiful Katherine there are no predictable outcomes in this tale where the characters grow convincingly in response to their trials. Tom even wets himself at one of the more terrifying moments - is this a first for children's fiction?