Mortal Engines

I was not looking forward to this book. Somehow I had the idea it would be a story driven by plot and technology. I was wrong.

Mortal Engines is the tale of cities on the move. London is on wheels and it travels far, seeking to find and eat other cities. The world has apparently been crushed by some sort of awful debacle in the recent past, and there are guilds of professional engineers and historians who are in charge of the world and fuel the move of the cities.

I can't remember when I read a book with a more deeply flawed main character. Hester was cruelly disfigured by Valentine, her presumed father, who Valentine discovered while he was killing her mother. Hester has become cruel herself at times from the ill treatment she has received from others, yet underneath she has kindness and goodness that only people who care about her can uncover.