PREDATOR’S GOLD

Readers thrilled by the titanic mobile cities savagely preying on one another across a ravaged post-holocaust Earth in Mortal Engines (2003) will find more of the same in this even better sequel—along with plenty of intrigue, danger, spying, violence, and romance. The spotlight shines on disfigured young Hester Shaw who, with her lover, apprentice historian Tom Natsworthy, must land their airship on Anchorage, a nearly depopulated city. Their reception is a little too friendly, and when Tom’s head is turned by Anchorage’s lonely, attractive young Margrave, Hester flies off in a huff to report the city’s course to Archangel, a raving “urbivore.” Happily, Hester repents in time to return for the climactic, large-scale clash. Adding several characters to the cast and even giving his leading couple a bit more complexity than standard types are normally allowed, Reeve moves his world-spanning tale briskly along toward what promises to be a second apocalypse. High marks for action and breadth of vision—but urge readers to start with the previous episode, as this one doesn’t comfortably stand alone. (Fiction. 12-15)