Honestly, Philip Reeve kind of ruined things for everybody else. When he wrote Mortal Engines, he didn't just write a story about big moving cities; he built an entire aesthetic that’s incredibly hard to replicate. Most people go looking for books like Mortal Engines thinking they just want more "traction cities," but usually, what they're actually craving is that specific mix of cynical world-building, high-stakes adventure, and the "Municipal Darwinism" vibe where everything is falling apart but still looks cool. It’s hard to find. You can't just slap some gears on a horse and call it a day.
Finding a worthy successor takes some digging.
The problem with most YA dystopian fiction is that it’s too clean. Reeve’s world was dirty, loud, and weirdly British. If you’ve spent any time on Reddit’s r/printSF or r/books, you’ll see the same names pop up over and over, but half of them don't actually fit. They lack the scale. They lack the heart. Or they're just boring.
The Absolute Closest Vibes You’ll Get
If we're talking about the gold standard for books like Mortal Engines, we have to start with The Wind on Fire trilogy by William Nicholson. Start with The Wind Singer. It’s got that same sense of a rigid, bizarre society—the city of Aramanth—where your entire life is dictated by exams and status. It feels just as claustrophobic and grand as London did when it was chasing down small mining towns.
The stakes are personal. The world feels ancient.
Then there’s the Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld. This is usually the first recommendation people give, and for once, the internet is right. It’s set during an alternate-history World War I. You have the "Clankers" (who use massive walking machines, very Reeve-esque) and the "Darwinists" (who use genetically engineered living creatures as airships). It captures that kinetic, mechanical energy that made the Traction Era so addictive. Keith Thompson’s illustrations in those books do a lot of heavy lifting, too. They help you visualize the sheer scale of the machines, which is something you need when you're looking for that specific itch to scratch.
But maybe you want something darker.
Moving Away From the "Young Adult" Label
A lot of readers discovered Tom Natsworthy and Hester Shaw when they were thirteen, but now they’re twenty-five and want something that hits a bit harder. If that's you, you need to look at The Scar by China Miéville.
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It’s not for kids. At all.
It features a floating pirate city called Armada made of thousands of lashed-together ships. It’s basically the nautical version of a traction city. Miéville’s prose is dense—sometimes too dense—but the imagination on display is staggering. It has that "New Weird" flavor where the biology and the technology are indistinguishable. You get that same sense of a city being a character in its own right, which was the best part of the Mortal Engines quartet.
Another weirdly perfect fit is Railsea by China Miéville. It’s basically a love letter to Moby Dick, but instead of an ocean, you have a literal sea of train tracks. Instead of whales, they hunt giant moldy-earth-dwelling monsters. It’s absurd. It’s gritty. It’s fast.
Why Steampunk Usually Fails Where Reeve Succeeded
Most steampunk is just Victorian cosplay with a brass veneer. It’s shallow. What Philip Reeve understood—and what the authors of the best books like Mortal Engines understand—is that the world has to feel lived-in. The machines have to break. People have to get hurt by the gears.
Consider The Lotus War trilogy by Jay Kristoff. Stormdancer is the first one. It’s Japanese-inspired steampunk, or "biopunk." It’s got griffins, but it also has terrifying pollution and chainsaws. It captures that environmental rot that was always simmering beneath the surface of the Mortal Engines books. It’s angry. It’s visceral.
Then you have The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells. While more "gaslamp fantasy" than "traction cities," it has that intricate plotting and the feeling of a massive, smog-choked city (Ile-Rien) that hides a million secrets. Wells is a master of character, and if you liked the prickly, difficult relationship between Hester and Tom, you’ll find something to love here.
The "Dying Earth" Connection
We have to acknowledge that Reeve was heavily influenced by the "Dying Earth" subgenre. This is where the sun is fading, technology is basically magic because no one remembers how it works, and society is a mess of old traditions and weird scavenged parts.
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If you want the roots of books like Mortal Engines, you go to The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe.
Fair warning: it’s difficult. It’s about a torturer named Severian. But the world-building? It’s unmatched. You’re reading about a world so far in the future that the "mountains" are actually ancient carved statues of forgotten rulers. It has that sense of "deep time" that made the 60-Minute War feel so haunting.
For something a bit more accessible in the Dying Earth vein:
- Inverted World by Christopher Priest. There is a city on tracks. It must keep moving to stay ahead of a crushing gravitational anomaly. If you liked the logistics of Traction Cities, this is your holy grail.
- The Pastel City by M. John Harrison. It’s short, atmospheric, and incredibly melancholic.
Breaking Down the Mechanical Hunger
Why do we even like these stories? It’s usually the scale. The idea of something man-made being so large it defies logic.
The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau is often dismissed as being for younger kids, but the atmosphere of a failing, giant machine-city is pitch-perfect. It’s the anxiety of the lights flickering out. It’s the sound of the generator dying. That’s the same anxiety that fueled the pursuit of the "Medusa" weapon in the first Mortal Engines book.
If you’re looking for that specific feeling of humanity living inside a giant, decaying structure, try Wool (Silo series) by Hugh Howey. It’s not steampunk—it’s more post-apocalyptic—but the mechanical claustrophobia is identical. Everyone is trapped in a giant underground cylinder. The rules are harsh. The machinery is failing.
What to Avoid
Don't just pick up anything with a gear on the cover. A lot of "Steampunk Romance" focuses way more on the corsets than the combustion engines. If you want books like Mortal Engines, you’re looking for "Engine-Punk." You want grease. You want the smell of coal smoke.
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Avoid the Boneshaker series by Cherie Priest unless you’re okay with a very slow burn. It has the aesthetic, but it lacks the frenetic, "city-eating-city" pace. It’s more of a zombie-inflected mystery. Good? Yes. Similar to Reeve? Not really.
Broadening the Horizon
Sometimes the best matches aren't even books. But since we're sticking to the page, look at The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Hanrahan. It’s fantasy, but the city of Guerdon is undergoing an industrial revolution fueled by "god-war" technology. It’s got "Tallowmen" (humans turned into wax statues) and "Ravellers." It’s as inventive and horrifying as the Stalkers (like Shrike) were.
Shrike is a hard character to beat. That "undead machine" vibe is rare.
However, The Iron Council (also by Miéville) features "Remade"—criminals who have been surgically altered with machine parts or animal limbs as punishment. It’s disturbing and brilliant. It carries that same sense of "the body as a tool" that made Shrike so tragic.
A Quick Checklist for Your Next Read
When you're browsing the shelves or Kindle store, look for these three elements. If a book has two of them, it's probably a safe bet for a Mortal Engines fan:
- Macro-Engineering: Huge things moving or breaking.
- Scavenger Culture: Using the "Old Tech" because the "New Tech" doesn't exist.
- Moral Grayness: No one is truly "good." Everyone is just trying to keep their engine running.
Where to Start Right Now
If you want an immediate fix, go buy Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. It’s the most logical bridge. If you’re a more seasoned reader who wants to be challenged, grab The Scar by China Miéville.
Don't bother with the movie tie-ins or the dozens of "me-too" YA trilogies that came out in 2012. Most of them have been out of print for years for a reason. Stick to the authors who actually care about the physics of their world.
The "Traction Era" might be over in Philip Reeve’s head, but the genre he accidentally perfected is still alive in these titles. You just have to be willing to get a little grease under your fingernails to find them.
Actionable Steps for the Hungry Reader
- Check out the "Fever Crumb" series: People often forget Philip Reeve wrote a prequel series. It’s actually better written than the original quartet in some ways. It explains how the cities started moving in the first place.
- Explore the "New Weird" genre: Use this term in search engines rather than just "steampunk." You'll find much more imaginative world-building.
- Look for "Industrial Fantasy": This is the sweet spot between magic and the steam engine.
- Track down "Inverted World" by Christopher Priest: It is the closest thematic match to the "city on tracks" concept ever written, even though it predates Mortal Engines by decades.
The hunt for something as grand as London eating Salthook is a long one. But between the floating cities of the Bas-Lag series and the genetically warped airships of the Darwinists, you've got enough fuel to keep your own engines running for a few more months.