Worldshaker
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- £5.49
Publisher Description
Col lives on the Upper Decks of the juggernaut Worldshaker, a mobile city as big as a mountain. He has been chosen as next Supreme Commander - but then a girl Filthy escaped from Below appears in his cabin. 'Don't let 'em take me!' she begs.Will he hand her over, or will he break all the rules?Col's safe, elite world is about to fall apart.'Worldshaker is a terrific adventure, full of sly humour, weird and wonderful characters, and plot twists I never saw coming. More, more!' Ian Irvine'I loved Worldshaker! A claustrophobic setting of rivets, iron and steam, rustling silks and stiff collars and even stiffer manners; dark, twisting, bustling, brilliant. I was very, very glum when it came to an end.' D.M. Cornish'I was captivated from the beginning.' Samantha, 15
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sixteen-year-old Col Porpentine is the grandson of the supreme commander of the city-sized ship Worldshaker and has just been named his successor. But Col's rarified world is turned upside down by a girl named Riff, who is a Filthy Worldshaker's lowest class, confined to the bottom deck as laborers. Col has always been told that Filthies are practically beasts, but Riff is smart, confident, and beautiful. In trying to help her, Col finds himself among the Filthies, who are severely mistreated but otherwise no different from him. Having learned Worldshaker's dark secrets, hidden for generations by his family, he must decide whether to help the Filthies. Harland's steampunk alternate history is filled with oppression, class struggle, and war, showing their devastation on a personal level through Col's privileged eyes. Like the behemoth Worldshaker itself, there's little subtlety in Harland's portrayal of a stuffy, imperial upper class subjugating a noble, abused underclass (complete with a Cockneyesque accent). But the writing is sharp and the story fast-paced, demonstrating that, despite his elite status, Col may be just as trapped as any Filthy. Ages 12 up.
