Book Review: Predator's Gold by Philip Reeve (Mortal Engines Quartet #2)

I’m getting back into the Hungry Cities hype again as I both finished this book plus the movie adaptation of Mortal Engines on the same day. The movie nearly made me cry, it was that awesome. I love it so much. 

But you’re here to hear me ramble about the second book in the Hungry Cities Chronicles/Mortal Engines Quartet. This is the second book in the series: Predators Gold. Slight spoilers ahead. 

Two years after the events of Mortal Engines, Tom and Hester are now flying solo across the world on their ship, the Jenny Hanniver. But trouble arises when they are attacked by a group called the Green Storm. With a new passenger aboard, a man called Pennyroyal, they take refuge in the traction city of Anchorage. But not all is well in that place, with the city heading towards the Dead Continent of America, and a bunch of burglar boys aboard.

I thought this was a good follow up to Mortal Engines. Not perfect, but still a good book. I wasn’t quite as devastated by this one as I was with the movie or book of ME, but I did enjoy this book.

The plot kept me engaged. I liked seeing the new locations Hester and Tom traversed now that they’re both aviators. Anchorage had to be one of my favourites, alongside Arkangel. I was also greatly interested in the part where one of the characters of the first book was resurrected as a Stalker. 

The characters are still lovable. Tom and Hester still remain some of my favourites. They are both likable but at the same time very flawed characters. Both of them make decisions in this book that are less than stellar, but it just shows that these are flawed and realistic characters. At no point did their dumb decisions feel like an unrealistic response to what was happening.

We are also introduced to a few new characters this book, including Freya, the margravine of Anchorage, and Caul, one of the Lost Boys. At first I thought I was really going to dislike the former, but she actually developed into a likable character by the end of the book. Caul I thought was a great character, too.

The pacing felt a little slow at first in my opinion, with us slowly getting to know the new locations, mostly Anchorage, but it later picked up.

The climax was once more a great one. What I loved so much about the one of the first book is that everything, all of the point of views and characters, come together so well. Pretty much the same happened in this book.

Overall, I thought this was a good follow up on the first book. While not as heart-wrenching as the first, it still kept me engaged and I really wanted to know what was going to happen next to Tom and Hester.

Rating: 4/5