Mortal Engines

In the distant future, the world has undergone a catastrophic transformation. Cities have evolved into enormous traction cities, supported by massive wheels and legs, roving the globe in search of sustenance. These behemoths, ranging from towering metropolises to hulking city-states, perpetually circle the Earth, devouring even the smallest towns and villages in a relentless pursuit of resources. This age of scavenging and oppression is said to be a result of the world's downfall at the hands of human ingenuity and catastrophic climate change. In the heart of the old London, a massive traction city supported by six imposing legs, Tom Natsworthy has lived a rather mundane life. Tom works as a Historiker, a role responsible for preserving and studying the world's past on a vast, cinematic archive known as the Great Library. With his pale complexion, emaciated appearance, and obsessive attention to historical details, Tom has always been an oddity among his peers, shunned for his book knowledge rather than his practical prowess. On a fateful day, a precarious encounter in the London's traction city's periphery sets the stage for unraveling the world's established balance. An intriguing young woman, Hester Shaw, escapes from the mercy of Pursers - ruthless city guards tasked with maintaining the grip of the traction cities on their prisoners - right before them. Out of duty, Tom steps in to save the young woman, but her angry gaze drives home the severity of her desperation and her avowed plan of vengeance against Thaddeus Valentine, Tom's esteemed boss and High Speed of the London traction city, who engineered her disappearance to protect the city's reputation. When Tom becomes intertwined with Hester, their encounter takes an unforeseen turn, forever altering the course of their individual lives. Hester and Tom join forces as a resolute duo against the strongholds they grew up in, setting a collision course that could change the trajectory of future history. They escape to the grey wastelands outside the traction cities to track down Valentine. Under the dark skies and forsaken environments they navigate against Thaddeus, crossing paths with other unusual and beleaguered characters on their extraordinary journey. While chasing Thaddeus, the young couple must navigate the desperate world beyond traction cities. With Hester seemingly trapped between a lifetime of rage and revenge against Thaddeus and the memories of her complicated motherly past and affectionate feelings for Tom, her actions create perpetual instability and are used by antagonist forces. Her unfazed conviction and steady grit of purpose are set in stark contrast to Tom, forever caught between a tranquil, almost predictable past and the precarious risks ahead. As they face off against their perpetrators and the reckless pursuit of the planet's limited resources, they recognize the global forces pushing for war, including London and many other traction cities. London and Stockholm traction cities engage a cold war with their fellow city states - the New Utopia cities - that are also trying to maintain their pace in their neverending, cannibalistic contest for existence. Hester's journey soon raises awareness of deeper ethical, moral, and global dilemmas surrounding globalism. Their epic journey will span across uncharted territories of these traction cities as well as introduce to characters with varied motivations; Anna Fang, a fugitive, adventurer and stowaway for supplies in these abandoned cities whose real identity was hidden even from Hester, along with a family bond shared between Hester and Anna that may connect Hester with reasons not originating from Valentine. However, it must be admitted that these fragile, intimate bonds as well as valuing knowledge of history may also become the springboard and fuel for the world's immense catastrophe they face. As the heart-stopping adventure proceeds towards its climax, several revelations shake the foundations of Tom's loyalty, trust, and expectations toward the grand traction city he believed in; questions that will call into question the value of resource-driven dominance in the 24 other traction cities. Hester, Tom and Anna face off with the oppressive institutions of the traction cities at a series of crossroads with dramatic confrontations whose result echoes loudly on the future of not just their city of origin, but the entire planet that's under the shadow of limitless cities - where survival is determined by consumption.