Thanks to NetGalley and Scholastic for the ARC.

It has been so long since I've read a Mortal Engines book, and it feels so good to be back. I haven't finished the main quartet so far, but it's not necessary in order to understand this standalone. Just the first book would give you enough background to get by. The worldbuilding is so cool, I think it counts as dieselpunk? Gas-powered, mechanical cities chomping other smaller cities sounds more like that than steampunk. I loved all the main characters, especially Tamzin and Miss Torpenhow. I liked how Tamzin's story and what drove her had nothing to do with romance, which many books tend to rely on like a crutch. Meanwhile, Miss Torpenhow got a cross-country, revolutionary adventure as a 50ish-year-old woman and woo a retired mercenary to boot. It kinda reminds me that you don't have to rush to get your life sorted in your youth, that your life is far from over even if you're middle-aged. The other characters are equally enjoyable. My only issue is that at first, the villain seemed to have some sort of backstory that crossed with Miss Torpenhow, but by the end, he kinda became a stereotypical evil guy and nothing more. Otherwise, I'm really happy with how this turned out.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7063315330

https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/ac7cf032-c2c0-437a-a535-506e725f1085

Check out this review of Thunder City (A Mortal Engines Novel) on Fable. https://fable.co/review/e1f5019f-d78a-4773-8c97-e09cd0374e7e/share

Philip Reeve's Hungry City/Mortal Engines books are set in a far future when cities with familiar names (London; Paris; Manchester) move around the world (tractor treads; wheels) swallowing up smaller cities, or being swallowed: Municipal Darwinism.

Thorbury -- the eponymous Thunder City -- has been taken over by the forces of Gabriel Strega, the Architect, who's a sort of Mao-Stalin-Hitler hybrid, not so much in ideology as in egomania, ruthlessness, and grand design: Thorbury is to be remade as a monster of efficiency and conquest. In opposition: Miss Lavinia (Hilly) Torpenhow, a seemingly maiden-auntish tutor; Tamzin Pook, enslaved on the resort city of Margate, where for the entertainment of tourists she fights animal-machine hybrids called Revenants; Max Angmering, the son of the murdered mayor of Thorbury; Helen Angmering, the mayor's daughter; Oddington Doom, an aging mercenary; Giotto Trubshawe, a painter of historic scenes; and Vespertine, a human-machine Revenant. As it turns out, they're not an isolated band of heroes but succeed as part of a larger movement -- that's almost-not-quite a spoiler, which I'm leaving in because of what it implies about how people can undo tyranny.

I loved the Mortal Engines series but was uncertain, at first, whether Thunder City would succeed. As you might guess from the names and descriptions of the principal characters, on the one hand, and the premise, on the other, the book combines arch/whimsical aspects with real horror and as a result the tone seemed wobbly at first. But over time the characters acquire depth, and what started out feeling like notes of whimsy (Lavinia! Pook! Giotto Trubshawe! Etc.!) began to feel more like the making of a subtle point about how people who might seem foolish or powerless can take on a terrorizing totalitarian force. Thunder City was published before the 2024 US presidential election, but during the battles toward the end, when I read this

"In days gone by, each group would have grumbled loudly about the others. In days to come, no doubt, they would again. But for that night they were united"

I had to stop to catch my breath.

I think specific content notes can be inferred from the premise; Tamzin's life before Miss Torpenhow breaks her out of Margate isn't prettified, for example. I also think that as a middle schooler I would have appreciated the honesty Reeve brings to his narrative.

Thanks to Scholastic and NetGalley for the ARC.

Amazing book. Will definitely recommend to friends and family . Good character development and plot line

Amazing once again. I’m glad I went back into this world. This author is great at what he does. He takes his time when he gives us these masterpieces. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

I have to admit that the concept of moving cities that go around and devour each other and all the other science fiction elements of the novels set in this universe kind of make my head spin. I don't quite understand how it all works, but I don't want to make a judgement call as to whether that could use some additional flushing out within the book or if my nonscientific brain just doesn't get it. But I think that's why I liked Thunder City even more than Mortal Engines which I did enjoy even with the whole head spinning business. Thunder City, though set in the same universe, felt very different. It's ultimately a story of found family and the lengths people will go to keep it. It's also a poignant nod to patriotism and to standing up for one's homeland. I loved this quirky cast of characters, and some of their development was done really well. We get to see people with little confidence gain it, and some with great confidence lose it. I would love to spend more time with them all. The plot is somewhat predictable at least in terms of how it ends, but the way we get there is a rollicking bit of adventure that is not to be missed. Overall, I would recommend this book to those who love science fiction and to those who love found family and are willing to give sci fi a try.

I had never read any other books set in this world, and I really enjoyed this one. I will definitely be looking for the previous books set in this same world. I was briefly concerned early on that I might need to read the earlier books first, but I caught on pretty easily to what was going on. There was enough information to put me in the loop throughout the story so I could enjoy this book as a stand-alone. My favorite character is Small Cat, btw. That is such a cute element to this book, and a fun humanizing characteristic for Small Cat's guardian.