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Monday, October 22, 2007

The Hungry City Chronicles







Philip Reeve's four book series will make fantasy/sci fi fans very happy. These sizeable books are packed full of technical details as well as action, adventure and intrigue. Set in a futuristic society where cities move about, and large citie "eat" smaller ones, the main characters, Hester and Tom, are trying to live quiet lives and not succeeding.
I am not a great fantasy or sci fi fan, so these were a challenge for me. Better than Pullman's His Dark Materials series (involved the dreaded talking animals) but not as good as Pierce's Song of the Lioness, these were on par with Artemis Fowl. In fact, that's what they most reminded me of, because I couldn't find much likeable in any of the characters. Also, the whole society was so unpleasant that I really didn't want to spend time there. These are, however, very personal reasons. The writing is strong, and students will not have these objections. I would not recommend these to students who were not very avid fantasy fans, but for those students, these will be a good selection.

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