LoveReading4Kids Says
LoveReading4Kids Says
Winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2006.
All the interweaving stories of the first three titles in the Predator Cities quartet are brought together in this breathtaking climax. The quartet is a stunning blend of past and future technologies where the world of the traction era and mobile cities fight for survival in a post-apocalyptic future. Truly action-packed and set in a richly inventive world with a cast of inventive characters. It is a creation on a vast and imaginary scale.
Click here for FAQs, audio clips and loads more on Philip Reeve's website.
A comment from the author's publisher and Editor, Marion Lloyd
Philip Reeve's Predator Cities quartet defies easy categorisation, but its brilliantly inventive fantasy world immediately grabbed the attention of readers, reviewers and literary prize-givers as soon as the first book appeared. In the futuristic, post-apocalyptic setting, moving cities trawl the Earth. They attack and consume each other in wastelands where natural resources are scarce, and Ancient technology is fought for. Fast-paced, sometimes violent, always surprising and original, Reeve's epic sequence of love, war and adventure are richly rewarding for both adults and children.
A reader review from Hugh: "It is a brilliant mix of action, suspense and emotion. I love how you can really understand the character's feelings. Hester isn't just Hester, but a sad woman who lives with a robot. She has a kind heart but pretends not to show it. I have now read the full series and I will be sad because there won't be another!"
Charlie Higson, April 2012 Guest Editor on Lovereading4kids says: "Reeve is my favourite living children’s author. His book, Here Lies Arthur, is a really clever and exciting reworking of the King Arthur legends that looks at the power of story telling, and his Predator Cities quartet was one of the series I looked at when I was starting to write for kids. I wanted to take the temperature, get some tips and pointers – how complex could you make the stories? How much violence was permitted? Could you kill off swathes of favourite characters? The answer was you can do what you like if you write well and draw your readers in, two things that Reeve does masterfully. The concept of this series – that in the future the oceans will dry up and our cities will be placed on giant caterpillar tracks so that they can trundle around fighting each other, is irresistible. Even if you think you don’t like sci-fi, you’ll love these adventures.
The fourth and final brilliant and breathtaking instalment in Philip Reeve's award-winning quartet.
To read the Predator Cities series in order:
1) Mortal Engines
2) Predator's Gold
3) Infernal Devices
4) Darkling Plain
Perfect for Reluctant Readers as well as keen readers. To view other titles we think are suitable for reluctant readers please click here.
If you love Philip Reeve's Predator Cities sequence you should also read Haywired by Alex Keller. Also, click here to read Alex Keller's interview with Philip Reeve in The Solitary Bee.
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About
A Darkling Plain: Predator Cities 4 Synopsis
Agents for peace are bringing an end to the devastating conflict between the roaming Traction Cities and their fanatical enemies while Wren and her father Tom travel the Bird Roads in their airship, trying to forget that Hester has betrayed them. In the ruined wreckage of the city of London they make a discovery that willhange the world, while Hester must face an implacable foe with the means and the will to destroy the entire human race. The fourth, spectacular instalment of the award-winning quartet.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781407131252 |
| Publication date: |
7th June 2012 |
| Author: |
Philip Reeve |
| Publisher: |
Marion Lloyd Books an imprint of Scholastic |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
568 pages |
| Series: |
Predator Cities Quartet |
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Press Reviews
Philip Reeve Press Reviews
Praise for Philip Reeve:
‘Conveys big truths while being witty and playful...clever and moving’ The Sunday Times on Fever Crumb
‘Intelligent, funny and wise’ Literary Review on Fever Crumb
‘I felt as if the pages themselves were charged with electricity... Fever Crumb is a terrific read, a sci-fi Dickens, full of orphans, villains, chases and mysteries’ Frank Cottrell Boyce, Guardian on Fever Crumb
‘Reeve drives his juggernaut of a talent through the streets of a mob-crazed futuristic London with Cecil B DeMille grandeur. Resent being suckered into sequels? Fever Crumb is a complete story – but it may prove addictive’
Geraldine McCaughrean, Daily Telegraph on Fever Crumb
‘A bold, brightly honed narrative that grabs and holds the attention from the start’
Interzone on Fever Crumb
‘A masterpiece’ Sunday Telegraph
‘Big, brave, brilliant’ Guardian
‘A majestic achievement’ Sunday Times
‘Mind bogglingly well-imagined’ Independent
‘Marvellous… utterly captivating in its imaginative scope and energy’ Daily Telegraph
‘The Mortal Engines quartet is one of the most inventive and ambitious
children’s novel sequences of recent years’ Nicolette Jones
‘Brilliant… an absorbing and emotionally engaging work’ Amanda Craig, The Times
Author
About Philip Reeve
Philip Reeve was our Guest Editor for June 2012. Click here to see his books and some that inspired him.
Philip Reeve was born and raised in Brighton, where he worked in a bookshop for years while also producing and directing a number of no-budget theatre projects. Philip then began illustrating and has since provided cartoons and jokes for around forty books, including the best-selling Scholastic series Horrible Histories, as well as Murderous Maths and Dead Famous. He's been writing stories since he was five, but Mortal Engines was the first to be published.
Mortal Engines defies easy categorisation. It is a gripping adventure story set in an inspired fantasy world, where moving cities trawl the globe. A magical and unique read, it immediately caught the attention of readers and reviewers and won several major awards. Three more Predator Cities novels followed, and Philip's latest project are the Fever Crumb books, prequels set centuries before the events of Mortal Engines. Philip has also written Buster Bayliss, a series for younger readers, and stand alone novels including Here Lies Arthur, which won the Carnegie Medal. Philip lives in Devon with his wife and son and his interests are walking, drawing, writing and reading. You can keep up with Philip here on Instagram @thesolitarybee
Photo © Sarah Reeve
Click here to see a Philip talking about his new adventure book, Oliver and the Seawigs, a collaboration with Sarah McIntyre.
Philip Reeve's fiction publisher, Marion Lloyd, describes his Predator Cities series:
“..inspiring adventure stories, in whose futuristic, post-apocalyptic setting, moving cities trawl the Earth. They attack and consume each other in wastelands where natural resources are scarce, and Ancient technology is fought for. Fast-paced, sometimes violent, always surprising and original, Reeve’s epic sequence of love, war and adventure are richly rewarding for both adults and children.”
Praise for Philip Reeve:
‘Conveys big truths while being witty and playful...clever and moving’ - The Sunday Times on Fever Crumb
‘Intelligent, funny and wise’ - Literary Review on Fever Crumb
‘I felt as if the pages themselves were charged with electricity... Fever Crumb is a terrific read, a sci-fi Dickens, full of orphans, villains, chases and mysteries’ - Frank Cottrell Boyce in The Guardian on Fever Crumb
‘Reeve drives his juggernaut of a talent through the streets of a mob-crazed futuristic London with Cecil B DeMille grandeur. Resent being suckered into sequels? Fever Crumb is a complete story – but it may prove addictive’ - Geraldine McCaughrean, Daily Telegraph on Fever Crumb
‘A bold, brightly honed narrative that grabs and holds the attention from the start’ -
Interzone on Fever Crumb
‘A masterpiece’ - Sunday Telegraph
‘Big, brave, brilliant’ - Guardian
‘A majestic achievement’ - Sunday Times
‘Mind bogglingly well-imagined’ - Independent
‘Marvellous… utterly captivating in its imaginative scope and energy’ - Daily Telegraph
‘Brilliant… an absorbing and emotionally engaging work’ - Amanda Craig, The Times
More About Philip Reeve
