Mortal Engines

Tom and Hester travel mostly in silence. When Hester talks, she says things about how moving cities have outlived their usefulness, which makes Tom think she’s part of the Anti-Traction League, an organized group of rebels against moving cities who live in static settlements beyond the barrier wall to the east. After dark, Hester tells Tom her story—how she was born outside a city in a beautiful area too difficult for moving cities to get to. About seven years ago, Valentine killed Hester’s parents for not giving him MEDUSA. He scarred Hester, but she ran before he could kill her, and she has lived in the Hunting Grounds ever since. The timeline of Valentine murdering Hester’s parents matches when he became head of the Guild of History, and Tom remains awake long into the night, wondering what’s true and what’s lies.

The next morning, London is further away, and Hester’s wounded leg is worse. They come across Speedwell, a tiny town that’s picking through a trash heap in London’s wake. Tom trades the seeds he took from the salt town’s remains for food and inquires about catching up to London. Over plates of gruel made from algae, Speedwell’s mayor explains that he won’t take the risk of going near a big city, but he’ll take Tom and Hester to the trading cluster, where they can find someone who’ll take them to London. Suddenly, Tom feels sleepy. Distantly, he hears the mayor’s wife say that the algae took a long time to work as he falls into “a sleep that was as soft as lamb’s wool” (62).

The top tier of London has three buildings: the Guild Hall, where the guilds hold monthly meetings; the Engineerium, where the Engineers work to keep London moving; and St. Paul’s Cathedral, a magnificent church from London’s days as a static city. Crome goes to the Engineerium, where he feels at home. He has clawed his way to head of the city and the Guild of Engineers to make sure London never stops, but first he must make sure “the Shaw girl can make no more trouble” (65). Crome sends Grike, a Stalker who’s part man and part machine, to make sure Hester and Tom are dead.

Hester and Tom wake in the bowels of Speedwell. The mayor intends to sell them as slaves at the cluster’s market the next morning so that he can buy parts for Speedwell’s engine. Tom feels around the walls until he finds a loose plank and works it free. Speedwell finally stops at the cluster, and Hester and Tom escape into the night.

Back where Hester and Tom fell out of London, Grike finds the remains of Tom’s torn shirt. He announces that Hester was there and then “begins sniffing for her scent” (81).