Tom and Hester are now 17 and their epic battle alongside Anna fang (leader of the Anti-Traction League) was 2 years ago. They have travelled far in Anna’s beloved airship, the Jenny Hanover. They also have a paying passenger – the famous writer and explorer, Professor Pennyworthy.

But they are being pursued by those who believe Anna Fang died because of them. It is believed they stole the Jenny and they must pay! Fleeing from this new splinter group called the Green Storm, Tom and Hester find themselves on Anchorage, a huge snow city ruled by an uncertain young girl. Freya is the last of her line of rulers after her people were ravaged by a plague, and she is leading them across thick sea ice to the fabled green lands of America.

Pennyworthy’s book about his adventures in the dead country of America is famous, and he is quickly put in charge of their journey, all the while as Hester watches a close friendship grow between Tom and Freya.

Her revenge sends them all spiralling into action aplenty, with a predator city, angry members of the Green Storm still grieving for Anna Fang, and another Shrike-like creature. Can Hester ever make it up to them? Will Tom die because of it, and who really is Professor Pennyworthy?

Set in a snowy landscape of ice beneath them and Northern Lights above, this episode packs just as much blood-pumping (and spilling), action as the first book in the series. We see Hester’s intense love for Tom flounder, which results in a plan doomed to fail, then another to achieve the redemption she seeks. But this plummet of guilt lets loose the girl she was born to be – her father’s daughter.

Excellent. Can’t wait to gobble up the next in the series – Infernal Devices.

Author – Philip Reeve

Age – 11+

(Steampunk, Darwinism, Love, Jealously, Revenge, Romance, Action, Thieves, Robbery, Lies)