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40x40

David McK (3562 KP) rated Mortal Engines (The Hungry City Chronicles, #1) in Books

Nov 20, 2019  
Mortal Engines (The Hungry City Chronicles, #1)
Mortal Engines (The Hungry City Chronicles, #1)
Philip Reeve | 2004 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy
6
6.9 (8 Ratings)
Book Rating
Well, that was … unusual .. to say the least.

This was one of those stories that I'd been meaning to read for ages, but had never really got round to, and proved to (effectively) be a mash-up of Young Adult dystopian future with steampunk.

Steampunk, as a genre, is not one that I've really read all that much in - ab out the only other one that currently springs to mind is Jim Butcher's Cinder Spires series (all one book, so far!), but I tend to associate it more with an alternate past or present than the far future, which is when this one is set.

The main draw for me - and, I'm sure, many others - was the central concept of cities on wheels, cities that need to keep mobile and scavenge/attack each other in order to keep going - or, as it is described here by characters within, of 'Municipal Darwinism'.

While I found the writing and general plot a bit - how shall I say? - lacklustre? flat? I did enjoy the central premise of the story, and may come back to the world to see what else happens in future instalments.
  
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Sarah (7800 KP) rated Brave New World in Books

Sep 10, 2019  
Brave New World
Brave New World
Aldous Huxley | 1932 | Fiction & Poetry
5
7.7 (44 Ratings)
Book Rating
Interesting idea, but poorly executed
I tried to read this many years ago, and I remember getting a couple of chapters in and giving up, but I couldn't recall why so decided to give it another go.

I can now see why I gave up on this book. The plot itself is a great idea, and similar in a way to the wonderful 1984. However unlike 1984, I found this book to be very poorly executed and i just couldn't get into the writing style at all. I love the idea of a dystopian future, but a lot of the features of this future society feel like they've been named by a child and a lot aren't explained enough to truly comprehend what's going on. The writing style too comes across as very confused and I really struggled with it. The characters are a good idea and flawed, but rather underdeveloped. In fact the whole book feels quite underdeveloped and its only a chapter or so at the end that I truly enjoyed.

I really wish this had been better written, as it's a fantastic idea for a novel.