Philip Reeve (born 28 February 1966) is a British author and illustrator of children's books, primarily known for the 2001 book ''

Mortal Engines ''Mortal Engines'' is a young-adult science fantasy novel by Philip Reeve, published by Scholastic UK in 2001. The book focuses on a futuristic, steampunk version of London, now a giant machine striving to survive on a world that is runni ...

'' and its sequels (the 2001 to 2006 '' Mortal Engines Quartet''). His 2007 novel, ''

Here Lies Arthur ''Here Lies Arthur'' is a young-adult novel by Philip Reeve, published by Scholastic in 2007. Set in fifth or sixth century Britain and the Anglo-Saxon invasion, it features a girl who participates in the deliberate construction of legendary K ...

'', based on the legendary

King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...

, won the Carnegie Medal.

Biography

Born on 28 February 1966 in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, Reeve studied illustration, first at Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology (CCAT – now Anglia Ruskin University), where he contributed a comic strip to the Student Union magazine, and later at Brighton Polytechnic (now the

University of Brighton The University of Brighton is a public university based on four campuses in Brighton and Eastbourne on the south coast of England. Its roots can be traced back to 1858 when the Brighton School of Art was opened in the Royal Pavilion. It achieve ...

). Before becoming an illustrator he worked at a

bookshop Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librar ...

in Brighton for several years. During his student years and for a few years afterwards he wrote for and performed in comedy sketch shows with a variety of collaborators under various group names, among them The Charles Atlas Sisters. He lives on Dartmoor with his wife Sarah and their son Sam. With Brian Mitchell, Reeve is the author of a 1998 dystopian comic musical,'' The Ministry of Biscuits''.

"Stop! Think before you eat that biscuit! Is it in any way fancy? If so, then you are a criminal! In Post-War London, The Ministry of Biscuits casts its sinister shadow over every tea-time and elevenses in the land. Established to 'control biscuits, and to control the idea of biscuits', it prohibits decadent sweetmeats, such as the Gypsy Cream."UK Theatre web listing for The Ministry of Biscuits
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This was performed at the Pavilion Theatre, Brighton, the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, and the 1999 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It underwent a revival in 2005 at the Sallis Benney, Brighton, and began playing at Brighton's ''Lantern Theatre'' in November 2017.Ministry of Biscuits listing on the Foundry Group website
It has also toured to various other locations throughout the United Kingdom. Reeve provided cartoons for books, including those in the '' Horrible Histories'' and '' Murderous Maths'' series. He wrote the

Buster Bayliss series ''Buster Bayliss'' is a series of books written by British author Philip Reeve, intended for younger readers. The main character of the series is Buster Bayliss. In the stories, Buster must stop someone or something taking over the world. The c ...

of books for young readers, which includes ''Night of the Living Veg'', ''The Big Freeze'', ''Day of the Hamster'', and ''Custardfinger''. He is the author and illustrator of a Dead Famous non-fiction book: ''Horatio Nelson and His Victory''. Reeve's first book for older readers was ''

'', which won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize in age category 9–11 years and made the

Whitbread Book Award The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

shortlist. ''Mortal Engines'' is the first book in a series sometimes called the '' Mortal Engines Quartet'' (2001–2006), which includes ''

Predator's Gold ''Predator's Gold'', the second book in the ''Mortal Engines Quartet'' series, is a young-adult science fiction fantasy novel written by Philip Reeve and published in 2003. In the book, Tom and Hester stumble across the ice raft of Anchorage. ...

'', '' Infernal Devices'' and ''

A Darkling Plain ''A Darkling Plain'' is the fourth and final novel in the ''Mortal Engines Quartet'' series, written by British author Philip Reeve. The novel won the 2006 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and the 2007 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young ...

''. The books feature two young adventurers, Tom Natsworthy and

Hester Shaw Hester Shaw, later known as Hester Natsworthy, is the lead heroine of Philip Reeve's ''Mortal Engines Quartet''. Background and life Hester Shaw, aged around fifteen at the beginning of the Quartet, is the daughter of Thaddeus Valentine and Pa ...

, living in a lawless post-apocalyptic world inhabited by moving cities. For the fourth volume, Reeve won the once-in-a-lifetime 2006

Guardian Children's Fiction Prize The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award was a literary award that annual recognised one fiction book written for children or young adults (at least age eight) and published in the United Kingdom. It was conferred upon the author ...

, judged by a panel of British children's writers. Reeve spent more than ten years on ''Mortal Engines'', coming up with ideas in 1989 or 1990, leading to publication in 2001. He was working on it part-time between illustration jobs, but as he became sure he could complete such a project, he cut down his illustration work and devoted more time to writing. The 2007 novel ''

'' is an alternative version of the Arthurian legend. Reeve and ''Arthur'' won the annual Carnegie Medal from the

British librarians British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

, recognizing the year's best children's book published in the UK. The ''Larklight'' trilogy (2006–2008) is

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or ...

set in outer space. The first book ''

Larklight ''Larklight, or the Revenge of the White Spiders! or to Saturn's Rings and Back!'' is a young adult novel written by Philip Reeve and illustrated by David Wyatt. It is the first book in the Larklight Trilogy. ''Larklight'' is a space opera s ...

'' was being developed as a film by the Indian director Shekhar Kapur, but he is no longer involved. Reeve professes that when planning out a novel, "I see it as a film that I run in my head, and I just keep running alternative versions of it until I come up with a cut I like. The future of the film is now in the hands of the Swedish director Tomas Alfredson. Reeve began a series of ''Mortal Engines'' prequels with '' Fever Crumb'' (Scholastic UK, 2009). The first was one of eight finalists for the 2010 Carnegie Medal. In March 2020 Reeve said he did not intend to finish or publish a fourth book in the Fever Crumb series, as too much time had passed, thereby forgoing the world of ''Mortal Engines''. In 2013, Reeve had his first co-authored, highly illustrated book with British-American writer-illustrator

Sarah McIntyre Sarah McIntyre is a British-American illustrator and writer of children's books and comics. She graduated in 1999 from Bryn Mawr College with a degree in Russian and a minor degree in History of Art and earned her Master's Degree in Illustration ...

published by Oxford University Press: ''Oliver and the Seawigs''. This went on to win the UKLA Award. Their third book, ''Pugs of the Frozen North'', won an Independent Bookshop Week children's book award. The pair have a contract with the same publisher for a series of four more books, beginning with ''The Legend of Kevin''. In 2018, Reeve praised the 2018 ''Mortal Engines'' film adaptation, saying the director,

Christian Rivers Christian Rivers is a New Zealand storyboard artist, visual effects supervisor, special effects technician, and director. He first met Peter Jackson as a 17-year-old, and storyboarded all of Jackson's films since '' Braindead''. He made his di ...

, had "done a fantastic job – a huge, visually awesome action movie with perfect pace and a genuine emotional core.... There are many changes to the characters, world, and story, but it's still fundamentally the same thing." In the ''Reevening'' in March 2020, he acknowledged the film's shortcomings, but thoughts of the filmmakers liking the books led him to welcome the US-New Zealand two-hour film co-production as the best "you could hope for n your lifetime. On November 18, 2020, upon asked whether ''

'' would be rebooted for the television screens, he responded that, while that would be nice, it seemed unlikely.

Writing methods

Reeve claims not to be a methodical writer. He plans nothing at all, usually starting with an opening image, a closing image, and a few vague notions for the things that happen in between. This leads to thousands of words of rough draft material being abandoned – even entire novels, such as with ''Fever Crumb'' and ''Mortal Engines''. However, he takes ideas from these abandoned drafts to build the final version. It usually takes him a year to move a novel from first idea to publication – six months actively writing it, the rest editing and thinking.

Works

Young adult novels

;''Mortal Engines Universe'': #'' Mortal Engines Quartet'', called ''Hungry City Chronicles'' in the United States: ##''

'' (2001) ##''

'' (2003) ##'' Infernal Devices'' (2005) ##''

'' (2006) #*''

Traction City ''Traction City'' is a novella by Philip Reeve and is a prequel to the ''Mortal Engines Quartet''. It was released as a flip book alongside Chris Priestly's teachers' tales of terror for World Book Day. The novella is set in London and introduc ...

'' ( World Book Day, 2011), a novella, rewritten in "Traction City Blues" short story #*''The Traction Codex: An Historian's Guide to the Era of Predator Cities'' (2012), with Jeremy Levett, guide #*''Night Flights: A Mortal Engines Collection'' (2018), illustrated by Ian McQue, prequel, collection of 3 short stories: #*: "Frozen Heart", "Traction City Blues", "Teeth of the Sea" #*''The Illustrated World of Mortal Engines'' (2018), with Jeremy Levett, guide # ''Fever Crumb'' series, prequel: ##'' Fever Crumb'' (2009) ##''

A Web of Air A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

'' (2010) ##'' Scrivener's Moon'' (2011) ; ''Larklight'' trilogy: (illustrated by David Wyatt) #''

'' (2006) #''

Starcross Starcross is a village with a 2011 census recorded population of 1,737 situated on the west shore of the Exe Estuary in Teignbridge in the English county of Devon. The village is popular in summer with leisure craft, and is home to one of the ...

'' (2007) #'' Mothstorm'' (2008) ;''Railhead'' series: #''Railhead'' (2015) #''Black Light Express'' (2016) #''Station Zero'' (2018) ;Stand-alones: *''

'' (2007) *''No Such Thing As Dragons'' (2009) *''Utterly Dark and the Face of the Deep'' (Sept 2021)

Short stories

*"Doctor Who: The Roots of Evil" (2013), No. 4 from ''Doctor Who 50th Anniversary E-Shorts'' series

Children's short stories

*"The Exeter Riddles" (2013)

Children's books

'' Buster Bayliss'' series: #''Night of the Living Veg'' (2002) #''The Big Freeze'' (2002) #''Day of the Hamster'' (2002) #''Custardfinger!'' (2003) ''Goblins'' series (page decorations by Dave Semple) #''Goblins'' (2012) #''Goblins vs Dwarves'' (2013) #''Goblin Quest'' (2014) ''Reeve & McIntyre Production'' series, published in the US as ''A Not-So-Impossible Tale'' (written together with, and illustrated by

): #''Oliver and the Seawigs'' (2013), published in the US as ''Oliver and the Sea Monkeys'' #''Cakes in Space'' (2014) #''Pugs of the Frozen North'' (2015) #''Jinks & O'Hare Funfair Repair'' (2016), published in the US as ''Carnival in a Fix'' *''Pug-a-Doodle-Do!'' (2017), activity book ''Roly-Poly Flying Pony'' series: #''The Legend of Kevin'' (2018) #''Kevin's Great Escape'' (2019) #''Kevin and the Biscuit Bandit'' (2020) #''Kevin vs the Unicorrns'' (2021) Stand-alone: *''The Angry Aztecs And The Incredible Incas: Two Books In One'' (2001), with

Terry Deary William Terence Deary (born 3 January 1946) is a British children's author of over 200 books, selling over 25 million copies in over 40 languages, best known as the writer of the ''Horrible Histories'' series. Since 1994 he has been one of Britai ...

, from ''Horrible Histories Collections'' series

Non-fiction

*''Horatio Nelson and His Victory'' (2003), history, from ''Dead Famous'' series

As illustrator

*''Awful Art'' (1997), by Michael Cox *''Henry Spaloosh!'' (1997), by Chris d'Lacey *'' Murderous Maths'' series (from 1997), by

Kjartan Poskitt Kjartan Poskitt (born 15 May 1956 in York) is a British author and TV presenter who is best known for writing the ''Murderous Maths'' children's series of books. Early life and education Poskitt was born in York, England, grew up in Selby, Yo ...

*''Isaac Newton and His Apple'' (1999), by Kjartan Poskitt *''The Incredible Incas'' (2000), by Terry Deary *''Pantsacadabra!'' (2006), by Kjartan Poskitt *''Urgum the Axeman'' (2006), by Kjartan Poskitt *''Borgon the Axeboy'' series (from 2014), by Kjartan Poskitt *''Gawain and the Green Knight'' (2016), Oxford Reading Tree series, by the Pearl Poet, retold by Philip Reeve

Adaptation

*''

'' (2018), film directed by

, based on the novel ''

References

; citations *

External links

Philip Reeve's website

Philip Reeve's blog
* * *
Questions and Answers with Philip Reeve
* (requires Flash and Javascript) {{DEFAULTSORT:Reeve, Philip 1966 births English science fiction writers English children's writers English illustrators British children's book illustrators Steampunk writers Writers of modern Arthurian fiction Carnegie Medal in Literature winners Guardian Children's Fiction Prize winners People from Brighton Alumni of the University of Brighton Alumni of Anglia Ruskin University Living people LGBT novelists British LGBT novelists English male novelists