Tom Natsworthy

Tom Natsworthy is a fictional character in Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines Quartet. He grows up trained to be a historian on the traction city of London.

Early life (Mortal Engines)

Natsworthy grew up on London in a barren world, devastated by a world-destroying war. His world is where all cities move around on wheels and try to strip other cities of everything, "eating" them. He grows up to be an Apprentice Historian in the Historians' Guild.

Natsworthy looks up to his idol, the top historian and writer Thaddeus Valentine. Natsworthy is soon assigned to "Gut" duty, which is work in the part of the city where the eaten cities are "digested", for fighting with another Apprentice Historian. There he meets his idol, Thaddeus Valentine. Here he meets Valentines' daughter, Katherine, with whom Tom has a crush on. While on Gut duty, Natsworthy saves Valentine from an assassination attempt by a mysterious girl whose face is mutilated, who later jumps out a waste chute. Valentine 'becomes evil' as he pushes Tom out of the waste chute too. The girl and Tom keep with each other although she protests. Her name is revealed soon as Hester Shaw. The two of them travel through the Out-Country, both trying to find London. Throughout the book they are pursued by Shrike, a creature known as a Stalker who has been ordered to find Hester. Tom appears naive and easily perturbed in this book and he is never sure where his loyalties lie. By the end of the book it is slightly evident that he and Hester are a couple.

Predator's Gold

In the second novel in the Hungry City Chronicles, Tom and Hester, after years of flying on an airship, land on the mobile town of Anchorage. Tom starts an intimate relationship with the ruler of the city, a margravine called Freya, and appears to ignore Hester. While drunk, Tom kisses Freya. Unknown to him Hester saw the whole thing. Devastated, Hester summons a predator city to devour Anchorage and steal Tom back. Tom and Hester help to rescue the town. Tom is shot by Nimrod Pennyroyal near the end and lies bleeding on the floor while Pennyroyal flees in the Jenny Haniver. Tom slowly recovers from being shot, Hester by his side. At the end it is shown Tom is going to be a father.

Infernal Devices

In the third novel of the series Tom is married to Hester and has a fifteen year old daughter called Wren(Natsworthy). Tom is now in his mid-thirties and more relaxed than in the two previous books. It describes Tom as being slightly balding and having heart pains. Tom unknowingly gives Wren information on the Lost Boys, a group of boys that live on stealing and mayhem. When Wren is kidnapped Hester preferred to get her back by force while Tom wants to reason. Tom and Hester search for her as far as the resort-town of Brighton, where Tom is also apprehended. When Tom discovers Hesters secret (selling Anchorage for him in Predators Gold) he is shocked but willing to forgive. Hester, consumed by guilt, leaves Tom. Tom collapses and Wren and Theo Ngoni help him to the Jenny Haniver.

A Darkling Plain

In the fourth novel of the quartet, Tom and Wren are moving along the 'Bird Roads' trading and making their way in life. While onboard a city Tom discovers that the wound inflicted upon him by Pennyroyal has caused his heart to weaken, and he has but a few years left to live. He then takes Wren to the Front line of the war between Traction Cities and the Green Storm, meeting Wolf who then convinces them to head towards the ruins of London. There they discover the survivors building 'New London' a city which relies on Magnetic Levitation. Tom then leaves when ODIN is fired in order to convince the leader of the Green Storm that New London is not a threat. Upon arriving Tom discovers that the Green Storm is not in control of ODIN, and sets of with Hester and Shrike (Called Grike in the American Series) to find Stalker Fang, the believed controller of ODIN. Tom, Hester and Pennyroyal (a stow-away) arrive (Shrike having fallen from the Jenny Haniver saving them all from Stalker birds sent after them by Stalker Fang). Tom suffers from a heart attack upon arriving, and he and Hester are taken prisoner by the Stalker Fang. Tom, then recovered slightly convinces the Anna Fang half of Stalker Fangs Old-Tech brain to force ODIN to destroy itself, he then suffers from another heart attack, Hester carries him outside where he dies in her arms. She then peacefully kills herself, and the two bodies are found by Shrike, who takes them to the top of a mountain and watches over them.

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