Infernal Devices

In the third installment of the Mortal Engines Quartet, "Infernal Devices" propels readers back into Philip Reeve's unique steampunk post-apocalyptic world. Sixteen years after the events of "Predator's Gold," Tom and Hester Natsworthy have settled in the static city of Anchorage-in-Vineland with their teenage daughter, Wren. Bored with her peaceful life, Wren seeks adventure and falls prey to the Lost Boys, who trick her into stealing a mysterious artifact, the Tin Book. This act sets off a chain of events, leading to Wren's kidnapping and enslavement in the ruthless raft city of Brighton. Tom and Hester embark on a desperate journey to rescue her, confronting their own pasts and navigating a world embroiled in a brutal war between the Green Storm and the Traction Cities. The book explores themes of family loyalty, the allure of adventure, the horrors of war, and the moral complexities of survival, making it suitable for mature late elementary to middle school readers.

At first there was nothing. Then came a spark, a sizzling sound that stirred frayed webs of dream and memory. And thenwith a crackle, a roara blue-white rush of electricity was surging through him, bursting into the dry passages of his brain like the tide pouring back into a sea cave. Anchorage has become a static settlement on the shores of the Dead Continent, at peace for sixteen years. But now trouble is approachingin a limpet sub, and fast. The Lost Boys are back, and theyll do anything to get what they want. Tom and Hesters daughter Wren is their eager dupe, bored and desperate for adventure. When Wren is snatched away in the limpet,Tom and Hester set off to rescue her, in a journey that will stir up old needs, old secretsand send them into perilous waters...