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.

"Picking up roughly two years after Mortal Engines ended, Reeve's second adventure, nearly as impressive as the first, continues to explore a future world in which cities navigate on wheels and prowl the surface of the earth, devouring other cities. Heroes Tom and Hester, who joined forces (and forged romantic ties) in the previous book, now live as traders aboard the airship they inherited from the great adventurer Anna Fang. Damage to the ship forces them to take refuge in the city of Anchorage. The city's matriarch, Freya, wants to steer the town back to America — which long ago was nicknamed 'the Dead Continent' for the wasteland it had become. Meanwhile, the Green Storm, a radical environmental group, introduced in the previous book as groupies of Anna Fang, wants their airship. Complicating matters are a trio of burglars hiding within Anchorage; Dr. Popjoy makes another appearance, reviving Fang as a stalker much like Hester's beloved Grike in the first book; and Hester's impression of a blossoming love between Freya and Tom brings out her darkest inclinations (let's just say that the title is the name given for payment to one who betrays a city's whereabouts to a predatory entity). The stock character of Professor Pennyroyal (an author and world-traveling blowhard with endless tales of his brave exploits but no truth or skills to back them up) is the only disappointment in a novel that continues to invent original settings and characters, and to deepen the connections between those introduced previously. Fans of the first book will not be disappointed. Ages 12-up. (Sept.) " Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Philip Reevewas born in Brighton, England, and worked in a bookshop for many years before breaking out and becoming the illustrator of several highly successful children's book series in the United Kingdom. He has been writing since he was five, but Mortal Engineswas his first published book. Mr. Reeve now lives on Dartmoor with his wife, Sarah, and their son, Samuel.