“It was a dark, blustery afternoon in Spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-out bed of the old North Sea.”
…And from that opening sentence on, I was hooked.
In the distant future, in the aftermath of the Sixty Minute War which put paid to the world as we know it, a system called Municipal Darwinism arose. Evolving out of the need to dodge the volcanoes and earthquakes that rocked the earth following the war, mechanical cities now wheel across the land, preying on and devouring one another in their fight for survival.
While this one may be aimed at a slightly (ahem) younger audience than moi, thanks to some great ideas, good world-building, memorable characters (the best of which being the ladies) and a surprising emotional punch come the end, I’m eager to dive into the rest of the series.