Mortal Engines is the first book in a series which has long been on my radar. After seeing the movie, I decided to check out the books. It was an instant favorite. I think of this book as a very sociological form of cyberpunk.

I would define cyberpunk as literature which contains technology being used in unintended ways in the pursuit of power. This book is essentially entirely that theme, and set in a distant future dystopia. The characters remember the “sixty minute war” a thousand years ago where the ancients destroyed themselves. Those ancients are our contemporary near-future.

The book also has many sociological themes. It attacks head-on social and “municipal” darwinism and its many inherent flaws. I understand that this argument is expanded in the following books in the series. I can’t wait to read them!