Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Mortal Engines, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Social Class
Sacrifice
Dangers of Technology
The Importance of History
Prejudice and First Impressions
Friendship
Summary
Analysis
Above Tier One is an even higher tier of London called Top Tier. Top Tier consists of just three buildings: Guildhall, where all the Guilds meet once a month; the Engineerium, a big back building for the Guild of Engineers where the city’s real power resides; and St. Paul’s, an ancient Christian temple that Quirke elevated when he converted London into a Traction City but which currently needs scaffolds to stand. Crome heads into the Engineerium and asks to see Doctor Evadne Twix.
The juxtaposition of the Engineerium with St. Paul’s suggests that in this future version of London, science (specifically a version of engineering focused on forward progress) now plays the role that traditional religion once played in London society.
Themes
A monorail inside the Engineerium takes Crome to the heart of the building. He is satisfied to see his Engineers at work on new experiments. Crome reflects how, back in his apprentice days, people thought Traction Cities like London would run out of prey, but Crome advanced his career by promoting strong recycling and anti-waste laws to help London survive. But he has yet to unveil his real plan to keep London functioning.
Monorails have a strong association with theme parks, suggesting that for people like Crome, science is a playground. The slightly whimsical nature of the Engineerium suggests that the Engineers neglect to account for the possible downsides of their research.
Themes
Crome arrives at the lab of Dr Twix. She and her team of Engineers have spent years studying Stalkers, a type of Resurrected Men (cyborgs from a prior era) who sometimes appear in the earth outside London. Crome asks if Dr Twix has finished her research on Shrike, one of the Stalkers. She says yes, and leads Crome to Shrike.
Shrike and the Stalkers remain mysterious at this point in the story, but Shrike’s origin will be explained in greater detail later. The appearance of the Resurrected Men in the dirt suggests that they are relics from a previous era, a type of old technology like the CDs and like MEDUSA.
Themes
Shrike speaks in a harsh, metallic voice, asking if Crome has encountered Hester. Crome explains everything, then says Shrike must go out and either kill Hester and Tom or retrieve their already-dead bodies. In exchange, Crome will grant Shrike’s greatest wish.
Bounty hunters and mercenaries are common character archetypes in fantasy, and in this novel, Shrike fulfills that role. Despite his apparently strong desires, Shrike seems to be partly robotic, which raises questions about what it means to be human.
Themes
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Meanwhile, London continues to move quickly across the Hunting Grounds, despite the lack of nearby towns to devour. At her home, Katherine complains to Valentine about how he has to leave on an airship reconnaissance mission, but Valentine promises he won’t be gone more than a month.
Katherine knows more about Valentine’s upcoming trip than she lets on (due to the conversation she overheard earlier), but she doesn’t want to let on what she knows.
Themes
Katherine and Valentine head toward the airship hangar. It’s been millennia since a catastrophe known as the Sixty Minute War, and though the war destroyed old technology, some of the new technology has far surpassed the old. Katherine tries to get Valentine to take her with him, but he wants her to stay behind and become a proper lady.
The Sixty Minute War is a fictional conflict that nevertheless recalls fears of what might happen in the real world during an all-out nuclear war. The shortness of the war reflects how powerful weapons technology was at the time of the conflict.
Themes
Valentine isn’t supposed to tell anyone where he’s headed, but Katherine convinces him to reveal he’s going to Shan Guo. Shan Guo is the leader of the Anti-Traction League, which controls land in what used to be China and India, outside of the Hunting Ground. Katherine fears what would happen to London if it heads toward Shan Guo, but Valentine assures her he’s only going on a recon mission. Katherine can tell he’s hiding something. The two of them watch as an airship leaves the Engineerium.
Shan Guo has a Chinese-inspired name but may also be a corruption of the English phrase “shan’t go,” since it’s the place where London can’t hunt. In the real-world past, Britain established colonies in China and India, often violently, and in this fictional world, London seems to be preparing to do the exact same thing.
Themes
