About

The Mortal Engines Quartet^[1] is a series of four post-apocalyptic, steampunk science fiction/fantasy stories written between 2001 and 2006 by Phillip Reeve.

History

Philip Reeve has stated that he originally thought of the idea of traction cities when people where complaining about the growth of a city that threatened to engulf smaller towns. Before the first book was written, Philip Reeve wrote the short story Urbivore. It has several similarities and differences to the eventual settings of the story. The characters where originally going to be adults, but he later changed them to teenagers. As Philip Reeve was an illustrator when he was writing Mortal Engines, it took over six years to write between different jobs.

Film Adaptation

In 2009, Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, expressed interest in directing the film adaptations. He ended up producing and co-writing the film adaptation of the first book in the Quartet. The film is directed by Christian Rivers. The movie is based on the novel Mortal Engines, adapted to screen by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson. It stars Hugo Weaving, Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Jihae, Ronan Raftery, Leila George, Patrick Malahide, and Stephen Lang. The film was released in theaters on 6 December 2018, received mixed reviews and was a commercial failure.

TV Adaptation

There was some saying on social media that the failed 2018 film would have worked better if it were to be a TV series.^[2]

Video Games

Currently, the Mortal Engines videogame is currently limited to fan projects, particularly in space combat simulators at the moment. In an interview with Polygon on 30 October 2018, producer Peter Jackson explained an absence of a game based around the 2018 Mortal Engines movie, saying if that film performs well enough to make a sequel, there will definitely be a videogame to follow.^[3]

Reception

The books itself has attained a cult following. The film, however, was widely panned by critics and fans alike.

Impact

The publishing of the Mortal Engines had an impact on the YA steampunk genre.

Fandom

The fandom is revolved around the books. Many fans cosplay, draw fan art, and make fan videos.

Cosplay

Related Memes

Search Interest

External References