Predator's Gold (Mortal Engines Book 2) - Philip Reeve

Publisher Summary:

"The Jenny was drifting across the shoulder of a big volcano. Beyond it there were no more mountains, just an endless blue-white plain stretching to the horizon. They were at the mercy of the wind, and it was carrying them helplessly into the Ice Wastes. After two years of carefree traveling in the Jenny Haniver, Tom and Hester find themselves back in danger. Fleeing from the grim aviators of the Green Storm, they stumble onto the ice city of Anchorage just in time. But Anchorage is not a safe refuge: devastated by plague, and haunted by thieves - or perhaps ghosts - the city is barely lurching along. The savage Huntsmen of Arkangel are closing in, and the young margravine must make a last desperate bid for survival. She sets a course for the Dead Continent: America... In this breathtaking sequel to the award-winning Mortal Engines, Philip Reeve plunges us into a ruthless and terrifyingly believable world where cities eat each other, betrayal is as common as the blasted land the cities traverse, and loyalty holds the only chance of survival." - Scholastic

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My Review:

Rating: 8/10

Reeve continues the Mortal Engines series with a stunning second book! Predator's Gold lived up to the name that the first book made for the series, resuming the adventures that Tom and Hester had across the globe. Here we get to meet new people in a new city, with their own plots.

Starting off with the writing, I thought it was just as good as that of the first book. I did feel that Freya's character was written a little off, because I didn't feel like her actions or thoughts were explained and touched upon enough to make her a well rounded character. I also felt that the book was also a little bit slower than the first Mortal Engines book, but this wasn't too much of a problem. I loved the different settings we got to experience in this book, and I thought it was done especially well because the world-building wasn't too obvious, but still had enough substance to explain places like Anchorage and the Green Storm headquarters.

The plot of Predator's Gold was just as good as I expected it to be, and more. Hester's background is revealed, and I don't know if I was shocked or if I was kind of expecting it. I thought that this specific point was a satisfactory plot twist, and it did add to the story. Another thing to mention was what happened between Tom and Freya. This I wasn't too satisfied with, but that's just because I prefer the drama in stories to come from outside factors rather than romantic complications. If you don't mind those types of things though, I think this wouldn't be too much of a problem. My bigger problem with this is that it is kind of used as the catalyst to move the plot forward, and I would have preferred if Reeve had used some other plot point as the reason behind Hester's actions. In addition, from what I had understood of Hester's character in the first book, I didn't see Hester as the type of character to undertake these reckless actions. To me, Hester was not a character who would make a rash decisions based on her romantic feelings, but it also has been a while since I've read the book, so I think there could be multiple ways to understand Hester's character. These were my only qualms for the plot though.

Overall, I think that Predator's Gold was a not a bad book, and I would still recommend the series to anyone who likes dystopian adventures. It has a good mix of romance, sci-fi-esque subjects, and action scenes that I think most people would enjoy reading this book.