Predator Cities - Art & Music

Remember the amazing Mortal Engines concept art by Jaguar Lee which I posted here a few months ago? Well, he's still at work, and has just sent me some comics pages which fill in a bit of the books' backstory - from the Sixty Minute War, through the development of larger and larger tanks and tracked vehicles to the appearance of the first Traction City. (They'd also make a great title sequence for a Mortal Engines movie - the way they hint at so much history in just a few images reminds me a bit of the credits sequence of Miyazaki's Laputa - Castle in the Sky. And talking of unlikely flying cities, Jaguar has also done some work on Airhaven, but I'll save that for next week.

And while you're looking at these, you could have a listen to some music by Adam Wheeler, inspired by a recent re-reading of the Quartet.  Dramatic and earbending, it's based on the sound of a Traction City rumbling by.

Jaguar Lee's Sixty Minute War

All images © Jaguar Lee

Traction London by Kyran Samy

I haven't written much about the Mortal Engines / Fever Crumb books here for a while, but it's good to see that they are still inspiring illustrators and model-makers on the internet. There are a couple of recent examples I've been meaning to blog about, but this one is so impressive that it deserves a post all of it's own. Creator Kyran Samy writes:

I am a compulsive reader of Mortal Engines and its sequels. I couldn't resist the urge to build a model of London for my A level Product Design! It stands two feet high, weighs about 12 kilos and features moving arms to dismantle prey and an opening jaw. It's currently biding its time in my school library next to a display of your books. I hope you like it!

And I do!

 

All images by Kyran Samy.

Some Intricate Mortal Engines Art

I'm slowly working my way through a bit of a backlog of artwork which readers have sent me - if you're waiting for yours to be posted here, I'm sorry it's taking so long.  Anyway, here's the latest, an incredibly detailed Predator Cities drawing by James Cassir. It proved quite difficult to reproduce, so I've added a detail below to show just how detailed.  James tells me that the original measures about 5 x 4 inches, and took about nine hours to draw, using a 0.2mm Pentel lead pencil and a normal Helix ruler. He says, "It’s not supposed to be a depiction of a particular city, although the cathedral on the top is a reminder of St. Paul’s. I drew it last December simply because I liked the idea of Municipal Darwinism...   it isn’t for any “project” or exam-related coursework. "

It is, however, amazing; I wish I had James's patience...

Predator Cities re-published in the U.S.A

For various reasons Mortal Engines and its three sequels (or The Predator Cities Quartet, as they are now collectively called) have been unavailable for the past couple of years in the U.S.A.  During that time I've had lots of e-mails and facebook queries from American readers wondering how they can get their hands on them.

Now, at long last, I can give them an answer which doesn't involve second hand copies or expensive imports, because in June 2012 Scholastic will be releasing these snazzily-jacketed new paperbacks:

There's an interesting disjuncture between the first two and the last two covers (though maybe that's a reflection of the books themselves). The first two echo the heavily decorative, steampunk-y covers of the US editions of Fever Crumb and A Web of Air, which is fine (the U.S Fever Crumb (right) is one of my favourite covers ever) but I think Infernal Devices and A Darkling Plain are a great new approach, full of atmosphere and detail,  and hinting at the landscapes and action within.  And I love the way that the symbols which David Wyatt designed for the Lost Boys and the Green Storm have found their way onto the Limpet's nose and the controls of that flying machine...  

I guess that, as books which are nearly ten years old, the Predator Cities Quartet may not be piled high on booksellers' front tables, or widely advertised, but they should be available from bookstores and all the usual online sellers as of next week.  Please spread the word! 

Mortal Engines: New Look, New Series Title.

There are some changes coming to the world of Mortal Engines. As of next month the original quartet will be re-launched in the UK with new covers, and a new series title: PREDATOR CITIES.  Here are what the new versions will look like:

The covers are certainly an improvement on the previous ones, which had no illustrations at all. Personally I far prefer the original covers or the David Wyatt ones, but I'm heaven knows how old and I guess these are aimed at, y'know, the kids...  The Bookzone For Boys blog has a very generous assessment of them, and some interesting responses from young readers, here.

The Predator Cities series title is a good move, I think, and this is a good time to make the change as the series will be re-published in the USA next month, too (with yet more new covers, which I'll post here shortly).  If I'd set out to write more than one book when I started Mortal Engines I expect I would have come up with a series title back then, and perhaps it has been a handicap to the books that they didn't have one. Also, it was always my intention that the Fever Crumb books would be a separate series with a slightly different feel, so it makes sense to split them off from Predator Cities.  Perhaps the Fever books will end up with a series title of their own one day.

(Of course, the chances of me actually remembering to call them Predator Cities after thinking of them as The Mortal Engines Quartet for ten years, are minimal.)