Shrike (Philip Reeve)
Encyclopedia
Shrike is a recurring character in Philip Reeve
's Mortal Engines Quartet and Fever Crumb Series
. He appears in all the books except Predator's Gold
and A Web of Air
.
Shrike is a Stalker
, a resurrected human body wired up with bizarre electronic devices. In Mortal Engines
Shrike is described as being "Seven feet tall, and beneath its coat shone metal armour. The flesh of its long face was pale, glistening with a slug-like film of mucus, and here and there a blue-white jag of bone showed through the skin. Its mouth was a slot full of metal teeth. Its nose and the top of its head were covered by a long metal skull-piece with tubes and flexes trailing down like dreadlocks, their ends plugged into ports on its chest. Its round glass eyes gave it a startled look, as if it had never gotten over the horrible surprise of what had happened to it."
Much of his character development revolves around his struggle to understand humanity and remember his past.
Shrike is reportedly the last Stalker in existence, created hundreds of years (i.e. more than 1000 years) before the story begins during the time of the nomadic empires. The nomad empires took dead soldiers off the battlefield and reanimated them with ancient technology that made them into walking tanks. Stalkers were very effective killing machines not only because of their physical strength but because the Stalker-brain made use of the strengths of the original human brain. Shrike is the last ancient Stalker because all of the other ancient Stalkers were either destroyed in battle or went mad and tore themselves apart (hinting that their human memories returned and they committed suicide). Only Shrike remains: he is the last of his Stalker troop, the Lazarus Brigade, and as it states in the novel "he always survives".
Chronologicaly speaking within the series, Shrike is first seen as the kind-hearted Kit Solent in Fever Crumb
, a widowered archaeologist with two children (Fern and Ruan) who is investigating the relics hidden beneath Ludgate Hill. However, he soon becomes embroiled in a battle between London and a group of Northern Nomads (both of whom want the technology) and is mortally wounded while helping Fever Crumb escape in a hot air balloon. However, his dead body is taken by Nicola Quercus and Wavey Godshawk and turned into a stalker named Shrike (after the bird). He then malfunctions, however, and begins randomly killing people, until he reaches Fever, who is standing with his two children, while causes him to pause and let them escape. This is implied to be the source of his softness towards children, as he can still vaguely remember what it was like to hold his before his death.
He is next seen in Scrivener's Moon
briefly, when he is assigned to protect Cluny Morvish, a Northern warrior princess. However, while defending her, he is indirectly struck by a tesla gun, which were designed to destroy the brains of Stalkers. His brain is forever altered by this experience, which is probably another factor that makes him so unique. The last sight of him in the Fever Crumb Series
is wandering off alone into the wild, having saved the life of Cluny Morvish.
What he did during the 1000 years between Scrivener's Moon
and Mortal Engines
is unclear, but it is mentioned that he once worked as a bounty hunter in the out country, killing and retaining the heads of criminals to take to nearby authorities. It is revealed in Mortal Engines that Shrike collected broken dolls, mostly of children, the reasons for which are made clear in Fever Crumb, and took Hester in with him as another broken child.
Shrike is encountered for the first time in the Mortal Engines Quartet in the first book, Mortal Engines
, when Magnus Crome
, the Lord Mayor of London, sends him to find and kill Hester Shaw
. Shrike raised Hester as a child after her parents were killed, and she is the only living thing he has ever loved. Crome promises him that if he returns her body to London, he will have his engineers turn her into a Stalker, so the two of them will be the same and she can be like his daughter.
After almost catching Hester and Tom Natsworthy on Airhaven, he chases them across the Hunting Ground and eventually catches up with them on the Black Island. After killing Chrysler Peavey's pirates (whom Tom and Hester were travelling with), he tells Hester of his plans, and attempts to kill her. He is foiled, however, by Tom, who kills him with a sword. Just as he dies, he remembers who he was.
Seventeen years later, at the beginning of Infernal Devices
, Shrike is resurrected by Oenone Zero
, the leader of the Green Storm
's Stalker engineers. At the moment of resurrection, he again forgets what he was in his true life. Zero tells him that he will be working for the Green Storm as the Stalker Fang's
bodyguard.
Shrike is taken to Shan Guo and made to work as Fang's bodyguard, but he does not trust Zero, because she refuses to divulge why she resurrected him. One night he overhears her praying, and discovers that she is planning to assassinate the Stalker Fang. Shrike tries to kill her but realises he cannot for she implanted some kind of block when she resurrected him. He also finds that he cannot tell anyone about the plot.
As Shrike continues to guard the Stalker Fang, unable to tell her of what is going on, he finally realises how Zero intends to kill Fang - by using him as a weapon, since only an ancient Stalker can defeat another ancient Stalker. The two of them fight atop Cloud 9 as Brighton is attacked, and eventually Shrike prevails. In the confusion of the battle he meets Hester Shaw
, who has abandoned her family, and escapes into the Sahara Desert with her.
The two of them travel the desert for many months, before encountering and rescuing Theo Ngoni
in A Darkling Plain
. Theo convinces them to help him rescue Oenone Zero, who has been captured by Traction Cities and is to be sold into slavery. Eventually they manage to rescue her and escape to the lands of the Green Storm
, where they discover that the Stalker Fang has activated an orbital weapons platform and intends to destroy the world. As Shrike is the only thing that can defeat her, he attempts to find her along with Hester and Tom Natsworthy.
They are attacked by Stalker birds before they reach Fang's hideout, however, and Shrike tumbles out of their airship and lands in a frozen lake. He arrives at Erdene Tezh after everything is over - the weapon has been stopped, but Fang, Hester and Tom are all dead. He implants Fang's memories into his brain then he takes Tom and Hester's bodies to a peaceful valley and lays them down, before shutting down in hibernation
because he is no longer sure of his purpose in a world without Hester.
He awakes hundreds of years later to find that the age of Traction Cities
is over. A village of people ask what he is, and he tells them that he is a "Remembering Machine". They ask him to tell them about the age of the Traction Cities. He obliges, and begins with the first line of Mortal Engines
, revealing that he is the narrator
of the series.
Philip Reeve
Philip Reeve is a British author and illustrator. He presently lives on Dartmoor with his wife Sarah and their son Samuel.-Biography:...
's Mortal Engines Quartet and Fever Crumb Series
Fever Crumb Series
The Fever Crumb Series is the title of an ongoing series of novels written by the British author Philip Reeve, and is the prequel series to his critically acclaimed Mortal Engines Quartet...
. He appears in all the books except Predator's Gold
Predator's Gold
Predator's Gold is the second of four novels in Philip Reeve's series for young adults, the Mortal Engines Quartet.-Setting:Predator's Gold is set two years after Mortal Engines...
and A Web of Air
A Web of Air
A Web of Air is the sequel to Fever Crumb, and the second book in the Mortal Engines Quartet prequel series. It was released in April 2010.-Information:...
.
Shrike is a Stalker
Stalker (Philip Reeve)
The Stalkers are a type of combatants mentioned in Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines, Predator's Gold, Infernal Devices and A Darkling Plain. They are also known as the Resurrected Men. The Stalkers were built by the Nomadic Empires that battled each other across the volcano maze of what was once...
, a resurrected human body wired up with bizarre electronic devices. In Mortal Engines
Mortal Engines
Mortal Engines is the first of four novels in Philip Reeve's quartet of the same name, which is also known as the Hungry City Chronicles in the United States...
Shrike is described as being "Seven feet tall, and beneath its coat shone metal armour. The flesh of its long face was pale, glistening with a slug-like film of mucus, and here and there a blue-white jag of bone showed through the skin. Its mouth was a slot full of metal teeth. Its nose and the top of its head were covered by a long metal skull-piece with tubes and flexes trailing down like dreadlocks, their ends plugged into ports on its chest. Its round glass eyes gave it a startled look, as if it had never gotten over the horrible surprise of what had happened to it."
Much of his character development revolves around his struggle to understand humanity and remember his past.
Shrike is reportedly the last Stalker in existence, created hundreds of years (i.e. more than 1000 years) before the story begins during the time of the nomadic empires. The nomad empires took dead soldiers off the battlefield and reanimated them with ancient technology that made them into walking tanks. Stalkers were very effective killing machines not only because of their physical strength but because the Stalker-brain made use of the strengths of the original human brain. Shrike is the last ancient Stalker because all of the other ancient Stalkers were either destroyed in battle or went mad and tore themselves apart (hinting that their human memories returned and they committed suicide). Only Shrike remains: he is the last of his Stalker troop, the Lazarus Brigade, and as it states in the novel "he always survives".
Chronologicaly speaking within the series, Shrike is first seen as the kind-hearted Kit Solent in Fever Crumb
Fever Crumb
Fever Crumb is the prequel to the Mortal Engines Quartet by Philip Reeve, released in 2009. A sequel called A Web of Air was released in April 2010.-Plot synopsis:...
, a widowered archaeologist with two children (Fern and Ruan) who is investigating the relics hidden beneath Ludgate Hill. However, he soon becomes embroiled in a battle between London and a group of Northern Nomads (both of whom want the technology) and is mortally wounded while helping Fever Crumb escape in a hot air balloon. However, his dead body is taken by Nicola Quercus and Wavey Godshawk and turned into a stalker named Shrike (after the bird). He then malfunctions, however, and begins randomly killing people, until he reaches Fever, who is standing with his two children, while causes him to pause and let them escape. This is implied to be the source of his softness towards children, as he can still vaguely remember what it was like to hold his before his death.
He is next seen in Scrivener's Moon
Scrivener's Moon
Scrivener's Moon is the sequel to A Web of Air, and the third book in the Mortal Engines Quartet prequel series. It was released in April 2011.-Information:...
briefly, when he is assigned to protect Cluny Morvish, a Northern warrior princess. However, while defending her, he is indirectly struck by a tesla gun, which were designed to destroy the brains of Stalkers. His brain is forever altered by this experience, which is probably another factor that makes him so unique. The last sight of him in the Fever Crumb Series
Fever Crumb Series
The Fever Crumb Series is the title of an ongoing series of novels written by the British author Philip Reeve, and is the prequel series to his critically acclaimed Mortal Engines Quartet...
is wandering off alone into the wild, having saved the life of Cluny Morvish.
What he did during the 1000 years between Scrivener's Moon
Scrivener's Moon
Scrivener's Moon is the sequel to A Web of Air, and the third book in the Mortal Engines Quartet prequel series. It was released in April 2011.-Information:...
and Mortal Engines
Mortal Engines
Mortal Engines is the first of four novels in Philip Reeve's quartet of the same name, which is also known as the Hungry City Chronicles in the United States...
is unclear, but it is mentioned that he once worked as a bounty hunter in the out country, killing and retaining the heads of criminals to take to nearby authorities. It is revealed in Mortal Engines that Shrike collected broken dolls, mostly of children, the reasons for which are made clear in Fever Crumb, and took Hester in with him as another broken child.
Shrike is encountered for the first time in the Mortal Engines Quartet in the first book, Mortal Engines
Mortal Engines
Mortal Engines is the first of four novels in Philip Reeve's quartet of the same name, which is also known as the Hungry City Chronicles in the United States...
, when Magnus Crome
Magnus Crome
Magnus Crome is the Lord Mayor of London in Phillip Reeve's book Mortal Engines. He has been mayor of the city for 20 years and he is also head of the Guild of Engineers. Many Londoners believe that this is unfair and that he may put the priorities of his guild before those of London's three other...
, the Lord Mayor of London, sends him to find and kill Hester Shaw
Hester Shaw
Hester Shaw is a fictional character from Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines Quartet who has terrible facial scarring, due to an attack from Thaddeus Valentine when Hester was a child.-Personality:...
. Shrike raised Hester as a child after her parents were killed, and she is the only living thing he has ever loved. Crome promises him that if he returns her body to London, he will have his engineers turn her into a Stalker, so the two of them will be the same and she can be like his daughter.
After almost catching Hester and Tom Natsworthy on Airhaven, he chases them across the Hunting Ground and eventually catches up with them on the Black Island. After killing Chrysler Peavey's pirates (whom Tom and Hester were travelling with), he tells Hester of his plans, and attempts to kill her. He is foiled, however, by Tom, who kills him with a sword. Just as he dies, he remembers who he was.
Seventeen years later, at the beginning of Infernal Devices
Infernal Devices
Infernal Devices is the third of four novels in Philip Reeve's children's series, the Mortal Engines Quartet.-Anchorage:The story continues sixteen years after the events of Predator's Gold. The peaceful city of Anchorage is now a static settlement called "Anchorage-in-Vineland" on an island in the...
, Shrike is resurrected by Oenone Zero
Oenone Zero
Oenone Zero is a character in the Mortal Engines Quartet, introduced in Infernal Devices.Doctor Zero was born on the Aleutian Islands about two years before Mortal Engines started, making her approximately nineteen or twenty when she is introduced, four years older than Wren Natsworthy, who wasn't...
, the leader of the Green Storm
Green Storm
In Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines Quartet, the Green Storm is a fanatical splinter group of the Anti-Traction League, which ends up in control of the League...
's Stalker engineers. At the moment of resurrection, he again forgets what he was in his true life. Zero tells him that he will be working for the Green Storm as the Stalker Fang's
Anna Fang
Anna Fang is a character in Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines Quartet. Her name may be derived from the German "anfang" meaning beginning.-Mortal Engines:Anna is introduced as a friendly Asian aviator who helps Tom Natsworthy and Hester Shaw escape slavery...
bodyguard.
Shrike is taken to Shan Guo and made to work as Fang's bodyguard, but he does not trust Zero, because she refuses to divulge why she resurrected him. One night he overhears her praying, and discovers that she is planning to assassinate the Stalker Fang. Shrike tries to kill her but realises he cannot for she implanted some kind of block when she resurrected him. He also finds that he cannot tell anyone about the plot.
As Shrike continues to guard the Stalker Fang, unable to tell her of what is going on, he finally realises how Zero intends to kill Fang - by using him as a weapon, since only an ancient Stalker can defeat another ancient Stalker. The two of them fight atop Cloud 9 as Brighton is attacked, and eventually Shrike prevails. In the confusion of the battle he meets Hester Shaw
Hester Shaw
Hester Shaw is a fictional character from Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines Quartet who has terrible facial scarring, due to an attack from Thaddeus Valentine when Hester was a child.-Personality:...
, who has abandoned her family, and escapes into the Sahara Desert with her.
The two of them travel the desert for many months, before encountering and rescuing Theo Ngoni
Theo Ngoni
Theo Ngoni is a fictional character in Phillip Reeve's Mortal Engines Quartet.He is first introduced in Infernal Devices as a fellow slave of Wren Natsworthy on Cloud Nine. Originally he was a Green Storm suicide bomber, but was captured when his "Tumbler" failed to detonate when it was dropped on...
in A Darkling Plain
A Darkling Plain
A Darkling Plain is the fourth and final novel in the Mortal Engines Quartet series written by author Philip Reeve.The novel won the 2006 Guardian Award and the 2007 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Fiction.-Setting:...
. Theo convinces them to help him rescue Oenone Zero, who has been captured by Traction Cities and is to be sold into slavery. Eventually they manage to rescue her and escape to the lands of the Green Storm
Green Storm
In Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines Quartet, the Green Storm is a fanatical splinter group of the Anti-Traction League, which ends up in control of the League...
, where they discover that the Stalker Fang has activated an orbital weapons platform and intends to destroy the world. As Shrike is the only thing that can defeat her, he attempts to find her along with Hester and Tom Natsworthy.
They are attacked by Stalker birds before they reach Fang's hideout, however, and Shrike tumbles out of their airship and lands in a frozen lake. He arrives at Erdene Tezh after everything is over - the weapon has been stopped, but Fang, Hester and Tom are all dead. He implants Fang's memories into his brain then he takes Tom and Hester's bodies to a peaceful valley and lays them down, before shutting down in hibernation
Hibernation
Hibernation is a state of inactivity and metabolic depression in animals, characterized by lower body temperature, slower breathing, and lower metabolic rate. Hibernating animals conserve food, especially during winter when food supplies are limited, tapping energy reserves, body fat, at a slow rate...
because he is no longer sure of his purpose in a world without Hester.
He awakes hundreds of years later to find that the age of Traction Cities
Traction City
In Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines Quartet, Traction Cities are vast metropolises built on tiers that are capable of moving on gigantic wheels and caterpillar tracks. These cities hunt smaller cities which in turn hunt towns which in turn hunt villages and static settlements...
is over. A village of people ask what he is, and he tells them that he is a "Remembering Machine". They ask him to tell them about the age of the Traction Cities. He obliges, and begins with the first line of Mortal Engines
Mortal Engines
Mortal Engines is the first of four novels in Philip Reeve's quartet of the same name, which is also known as the Hungry City Chronicles in the United States...
, revealing that he is the narrator
Narrator
A narrator is, within any story , the fictional or non-fictional, personal or impersonal entity who tells the story to the audience. When the narrator is also a character within the story, he or she is sometimes known as the viewpoint character. The narrator is one of three entities responsible for...
of the series.