This book was okay; I like the idea that traction cities have evolved differently depending on where their hunting ground is. The characters were better than in the previous book, however I found everything a little too predictable. Also, every character is kind of just mean. There's no one to really get behind because they all have almost-driving personalities and then they say something like 'oh, I forgot how ugly she is.' It rubbed me up the wrong way a little bit. Still, I think I'll continue for more traction cities and Stalker action.

Enough twists to keep the best readers on their toes, with descriptions that bring this world to life. I can't wait to read the last two books in this series!

Rezension auf meinem Blog

Unbezahle Werbung/Rezensionsexemplar

Vielen Dank an den FISCHER Tor Verlag für das Zusenden dieses Rezensionsexemplar. Meine Meinung zum Buch hat dies allerdings nicht beeinflusst.

Meine Meinung:

Nachdem der erste Band der Mortal Engines – Reihe letztes Jahr wirklich eins meiner Highlights war, hab ich mich umso mehr auf den 2. Band gefreut.

Auch der 2. Band ist wieder sehr rasant geschrieben, weshalb man, wie im ersten Band, einfach so durch die Seiten fliegt. Das Buch lässt sich dadurch sehr flüssig und einfach lesen.

Wie der Titel erahnen lässt befinden wir uns in der Eisstadt Anchorage, welche auf dem Weg nach Amerika ist. Ob es diesen Kontinent wirklich gibt oder alles nur eine Lüge ist, das weiß keiner so genau.

Tom und Hester erwarten in diesem Band nicht nur neue Bekanntschaften, sondern auch eine Menge neuer Gefahren und Herausforderungen, die nicht nur ihre Welt sondern auch die Beziehung der beiden auf die Probe stellt.

Die Beziehung der beiden Protagonisten hat sich in den letzten beiden Jahren sicherlich entwickelt, aber Hestern, welche ich im ersten Band für ihren Mut und Toughness geliebt habe, ist in diesem Band sehr unsicher und stellt vieles in Frage. Tom ist ihr da leider keine Hilfe und ich bin etwas enttäuscht, dass er teilweise wirklich ein Waschlappen ist und sich einlullen lässt von Freya. Freya als Charakter wurde sicher mit Absicht so gestaltet, aber aaaargh, ich hasse sie. Wirklich…wäre sie die Hauptprotagonistin, hätte ich das Buch vermutlich nach 30 Seiten in den Müll geworfen. (Aber was sie alles so macht, lest ihr am besten selbst!)

Ein anderer Charakter, der mich ein bisschen abgenevrt hat war Nimrod Pennyroyal. Mit all seinen Geschichten, welcher er so verbreitet hat er mich durchaus sehr an Gilderoy Lockhart erinnert. Nur das er nicht ganz so “schön” war.

Die Geschehnisse in dem Band sind teilweise überraschend, aber teilweise auch vorhersehbar, was der Geschichte aber nicht unbedingt schadet. Der Autor schafft es mit Worten und Spannung alles sehr gut zu verpacken, sodass man unbedingt weiterlese will und muss.


Fazit:

Obwohl Actiongeladen und durchaus spannend, konnte mich der 2. Band nicht ganz so Begeistern wie der erste. Dennoch bin ich sehr gespannt auf den 3. Band, welcher am 27.02.2019 erscheinen wird.

This book finishes sweeter than the universe it is set in should allow.

Not quite to the level of Mortal Engines, but sequels rarely attain the same enjoyment, always building to a finale.

I am unsure if I will finish the quartet.

Entertaining quick read. Definitely YA so many of the twists and turns were fairly expected but still enjoyable.

❗❗Contains major spoilers❗❗




A great sequel to Mortal Engines. I'm such a sucker for a good dystopian story and this is fast becoming one of my favourite series's.

Reading other reviews I have realised that opinions are decidedly split about this book, especially the "and they all lived happily ever after" nature of the ending. My opinion on this is completely positive. I understand where these negative opinions come from, but to me the way the ending was crafted makes sense, and I'll use this review to explain why.

Firstly, the "happily ever after" part. A lot of dystopian books don't have such positive endings, so I can see where there is a level of expectation for a bitter-sweet ending. Personally I think that in this hostile, post-apocalyptic world and after all the hardships these characters have been through they definitely deserve a happy ending.

Secondly, the "they all lived". This seems to have more opposition then the aforementioned nature of the ending. But I can see a logical way all the characters survived, which is revealed by the finer details of the book. I shall split this explanation into two parts.
1) The people of Anchorage Vs the Huntsmen of Arkangel
- On the surface it does seem unlikely that a group of untrained townspeople could defeat a group of mercenaries with no major casualties. However the Huntsmen are not soldiers. They are rich young men with expensive equipment who rely on intimidation tactics and the reputation of their city to achieve their goals. Any resistance is quickly crushed by the Huntsmen inflicting damage on the prey town. Therefore it is logical they have little to no combat talent as they have no need for it, and end up out of their depth against the determination of the people of Anchorage to protect their town.
2) Tom surviving a bullet to the chest
- To a 21st century audience, being shot in the chest is almost certainly a death sentence. But this is not taking place in the 21st century. The weapon is described as a "gas pistol" and later the projectile is seen to be spherical. This heavily implies that these weapons are not to an audiences modern standards, but to a standard we would consider historical. For weapons of such types the cause of death was infection, internal bleeding and/or blood loss for the majority of the time, not the impact itself. Therefore with medical care it is very much possible to survive being shot. Additionally Tom was wearing several layers of thick, arctic-weather clothing. This paired with the spherical shape of the bullet (meaning it has a large forward-facing surface area) would create a lot of resistance, slowing the projectile significantly, in this case meaning the bullet did not puncture Tom's heart and he was able to make a recovery.

One main drawback of Predators Gold was the way Freya's character was crafted. Starting off as an entitled and selfish girl, she had the potential for a lot of development. She did see this development to a partial degree : transgressing the traditions of her ancestors and becoming more open and friendly. However near the end of the books she still has some very cruel thoughts about Hester, which I was hoping she would have moved past by that point. Also, I will never like the "in the way of a relationship" trope. I can appreciate how Hester leaving and informing Arkangel of Anchorages' location was a large part of the plot, but that doesn't mean I have to like the reason she left.

Finally, the plague on Anchorage seemed a bit redundant to begin with, as it wasn't actually a plot device. However I soon changed my mind as I realised the diminished population allowed for minor characters to have their own development, and to form a team that would probably have never met under normal circumstances.

Overall a very good book, I'm very much looking forwards to reading the rest of this series.

This book was infuriating AND YET I think I ended up liking it more than the first.

I do have one note though: can we just stop talking about how hideously ugly Hester is? At one point someone sees her who hadn't seen her in a long time and it SAYS "[they] forgot how ugly Hester actually was." Come on.

I enjoyed the listen, but I probably won't read the next in the series. These people are too realistic (so not escapism) but there's no great moral purpose or point. Not my cup of tea!

https://petrovsvet.com/grabljivcevo-zlato-filip-riv/

1,5*

In the sequel to [b:Mortal Engines|6474710|Mortal Engines (The Hungry City Chronicles, #1)|Philip Reeve|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512OgnF1mOL._SL75_.jpg|3981652], we find two years have passed and Tom and Hester are in love and traveling aboard their airship, the Jenny Haniver, which they had 'inherited' at the end of the previous novel.
Their simple life is interrupted when the Green Storm, a group that fights for static cities, discovers them and wants the airship of their comrade back. They crash on Anchorage, where Tom and the Magravaine Freya crush on each other, much to Hester's dismay. Due to the scar that runs across her face Hester suffers from low self esteem and had just begun to feel confident in Tom's feelings for her. She leaves as soon as the Jenny is fixed, leaving Tom behind.
This book is much funnier than the first. For example, Christopher Columbo is mentioned, the famous explorer detective. It is done is such a serious manner that makes it even more hilarious.
Themes: Love, betrayal, control, change, movement vs staying static, violence.