⚙ Book Review: Scrivener's Moon
My travails through the Mortal Engines saga are nearing an end with this review of Scrivener's Moon, the second sequel to the wonderful Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve. I started this novel slightly apprehensively as I was disappointed with how A Web of Air turned out.
That book had some great moments but it just sort of went nowhere despite having an ending. It did, however, give Fever Crumb room to grow emotionally, which is pretty handy, as I get the feeling Scrivener's Moon is going to rain down on her parade pretty heavily...
The story begins with an aside of sorts about Godshawk himself. Goodness knows what it all means to the reader, but we then get into the set-up in earnest. We have a restless Fever, reunited with her parents, trying to settle into life as the giant mechanical city of London is built.
A traveling circus comes to town and while it begins with the cliched dwarf character, Reeve manages to marvelously tilt the concept on its head. This sets up the MacGuffin of the book (to find a mysterious place which may have answers to Fever's heritage), and so Wavey and Fever set out on an adventure.
A fine start from Reeve, but where to from here?
There are two story arcs being set up here. The first is, of course, Fever's as she continues to struggle with her identity as a Scrivener, her relationship with her parents, and the legacy of Godshawk.
The second is the story of the city of London being built. This side of things features Charlie, whom readers will remember from the first novel. He's a bit of a wheeler and dealer (or so he thinks) and his machinations help twist the plot along quite nicely. Doctor Crumb does a fine turn as an emotionless engineer.
The two stories come together in a fine ending which returns Reeve to form. He is very good at setting up story angles and bringing them home quite acutely. He adds some great plot reveals which give some real insight into Fever's brain (literally?). Fever comes of age (again?), which is a delight for those who like strong character development.
I really enjoyed this novel. I would continue to only recommend the Fever Crumb series to those who have already read all four original Mortal Engines novels.
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