Railsea

Jul 06, 2012 Nataliya rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Nataliya by: Kim Lomman, Catie

Shelves: catie-knows-best, 2012-reads, mieville-is-awesome, favorites, location-is-the-true-protagonist

Thank you, China Miéville. Thank you. Thank you!

In the last week & a half, full of 14-hour work days, lack of sleep, physical & mental exhaustion & near-constant feeling of overwhelmed inadequacy CM provided me with the sanctuary of a few precious hours when none of that mattered, when I was completely under the spell of this weirdly fascinating, ridiculous but engrossing universe, when I felt that Miéville's boundless imagination has given me a safe haven where I could breathe fre...more Thank you, China Miéville. Thank you. Thank you!

In the last week & a half, full of 14-hour work days, lack of sleep, physical & mental exhaustion & near-constant feeling of overwhelmed inadequacy CM provided me with the sanctuary of a few precious hours when none of that mattered, when I was completely under the spell of this weirdly fascinating, ridiculous but engrossing universe, when I felt that Miéville's boundless imagination has given me a safe haven where I could breathe free. Therefore, my impression of this book may be somewhat colored by all the above. But that's what books are for, right? To create a frame of mind that makes life better, richer & even easier, right? (Btw, I actually do love my job. It's a dream job. But it's just that I'm so overwhelmed right now, realizing how incredibly steep my learning curve is!)

"People have wanted to narrate since first we banged rocks together & wondered about fire. There’ll be tellings as long as there are any of us here, until the stars disappear one by one like turned-out lights."

I would love to take a hypothetical journey through China Miéville's mind. I mean, I highly doubt that there can be ANYTHING of which this man's boundless imagination cannot conceive. He has a knack for taking the most ridiculous situations, the craziest ideas, the strangest premises - & seemingly effortlessly developing them into rich worlds, mind-boggling adventures, & brainy entertainment (rare slip-ups such as Kraken nonwithstanding).

This book was meant to be. I mean, Miéville & Melville are separated by only one letter. It was bound to happen - this weird combination of Moby Dick¹ & trains. Except here the wild chase of dreams & 'philosophy' happens in the Railsea. Which is exactly what it sounds like. A sea of rails. Where, among other things, a captain (missing a limb) is pursuing a gigantic pale ~~whale~~ mole. That's right. Who else but CM could EVER pull it off?

¹ I read Moby Dick as a 10-year-old kid (obsessed with Jacques Cousteau, btw) & simply loved it. Of course, all the intended symbolism sailed right over my kiddo head (pun intended). All I knew was - blah blah, crazy captain, blah blah, weird stuff, blah blah - hey! cool stuff about whales! look at all the ways to take a dead whale's corpse apart! look at all the cool stuff you can make from whales! I think I read it as a sort of encyclopedia. Yeah, I was a weird kid.

Railsea is, as expected based on the knowledge of the source material, a story about a quest, an obsession, a purpose, & an overpowering allure of a dream. It is chock-full of all that literary symbolic stuff, yeah, but it is also full of adventures & fun (& ampersands!). & yet again, like in pretty much every single one of Miéville's books, the strength of it is not in the plot or the characters (even though those are excellently done) but in making the setting to be the true character & the true focus of the story. The bizarre nature of the Railsea world of dangerous earth & toxic sky & trains & moles & train-angels is so well-developed that it somehow feels real & dangerous & incredibly fascinating. It was NOT the plot, really, that made me turn the pages in anticipation - it was the reveal of more & more sides & secrets of this world that captivated me. & the tone - the often-cheeky breaking-the-fourth-wall tone that I adored as well. & staring so may any sentences with "&" - a non-grammatical love of mine. Wonderful job, Mr. Miéville. Simply wonderful.

This apparently is a YA book - probably because it has a teenage protagonist. Otherwise, there is not much that makes it a typical YA except for slightly toned-down vocabulary (for Miéville, that is. Dictionary still may be beneficial.) I guess YA as an intended audience of Railsea explains why this world is lightyears tamer than the festering filth of New Crobuzon - but tamer does not mean less interesing. It has much less cynicism, & bleakness is replaced by hope & the sense of adventure - but this is exactly what I needed after the last few exhausting days. & there is NO talking down or oversimplifying or insulting the readers' intelligence in any other way, the way many YA books do. In short, whatever the intended audience may, this will be an enjoyable read for adults.

5 ~~stars~~ ampersands. Highly recommended! (less)

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Oct 17, 2012 Dan Schwent rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adultery, new-weird, steampunk, 2012

Urged on by his guardian cousins, young Sham Yes ap Soorap gets apprenticed to a doctor on a moletrain, riding the Railsea in search of moldywarpe, giant moles hunted for food. Captain Naphi of the Medes, the train Sham sails aboard, is obsessed with Mocker Jack, the biggest moldywarpe of them all, & will do anything to find her prey...

Remember that game you used to play when you were a kid, when the living room floor was either molten lava or shark-infested waters, & you had to leap fro...more Urged on by his guardian cousins, young Sham Yes ap Soorap gets apprenticed to a doctor on a moletrain, riding the Railsea in search of moldywarpe, giant moles hunted for food. Captain Naphi of the Medes, the train Sham sails aboard, is obsessed with Mocker Jack, the biggest moldywarpe of them all, & will do anything to find her prey...

Remember that game you used to play when you were a kid, when the living room floor was either molten lava or shark-infested waters, & you had to leap from chair to couch to coffee table & never touch the floor? That's what the world of Railsea reminds me of, covered in miles & miles of rail, most exposed earth harboring moldywarpes, mole rats, worms, & many other malevolent beasties.

In Railsea, China Mieville tells a tale inspired by Moby Dick, the tale of a young orphan named Sham, a captain obsessed with a mole the size of a building, & the other denizens of the Railsea, a world of dangerous fauna, megatons of salvage, & untold parsecs of rail.

The sheer inventiveness of Mieville's world is staggering. As in Kraken, China shook the idea tree hard on this one. As outlandish as it is, the setting of Railsea isn't all that hard to imagine.

The story feels like Moby Dick at first, but with tastes of Treasure Island & Robinson Crusoe as well. It also reminds me of a more accessible version of China's Bas-Lag books. Captain Naphi's obsession with Mocker Jack echoes Captain Ahab's, although Ahab never had pirates, angles, & the edge of the world to contend with.

Sham's meeting with the Shroakes is what makes the book veer away from being a take off on Moby Dick and become its own animal. A colossal mole, perhaps. I had my doubts about Caldera and Dero Shroakes at first but things really came together at the end. And what an end it was! (view spoiler)

I don't have anything bad to say about this book, although the use of "&" in place of "and" took a little getting used to. It's the most accessible of China Mieville's books & a damn fine book as well. Don't let the YA label fool you. It's a solid & satisfying read at any age.(less)

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May 31, 2012 Jacob rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, mieville, i-own, sci-fi-fantasy-etc

May 2012

Are those moldywarpe bones towering over New Crobuzon?

Now there's a thought. But it ain't true, sorry. This ain't a Bas-Lag book. It's more fun than that.

Sham Yes ap Soorap ("Call me Sham") is just a mediocre doctor's assistant aboard the Medes, a moletrain hunting the railsea for, well, you get it--& its one-armed captain is on the lookout for the biggest moldywarpe ever: Mocker-Jack, the great white mole himself!

Yeah, it's kinda like Moby-Dick-with-trains, only it's not, too--far...more

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May 23, 2012 Jason rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2012, e-books

5 Stars

Once again I am blown away by China Mieville. Railsea is a young adult oriented delight. It is like all Mieville novels in that it is tough to put it in a category. It is part fantasy, part dystopian, a smattering of steampunk and science fiction, and all Mieville. Parents can take delight knowing that if their child takes up this amazing piece of fiction, they will also be taking up the Webster dictionary.

Mieville creates a fun and three dimensional cast of characters and side characters...more 5 Stars

Once again I am blown away by China Mieville. Railsea is a young adult oriented delight. It is like all Mieville novels in that it is tough to put it in a category. It is part fantasy, part dystopian, a smattering of steampunk and science fiction, and all Mieville. Parents can take delight knowing that if their child takes up this amazing piece of fiction, they will also be taking up the Webster dictionary.

Mieville creates a fun and three dimensional cast of characters and side characters. The world building in this book is imaginative and top notch. The plot is a combination of a coming of age story of a boy named Sham, a search for a captains "Moby Dick", and the endless pursuit of the great treasure that all thieves are searching for.

The dystopian world of the Railsea that Mieville has created is worth the read alone. It takes place in a world that has become poisoned, the upper atmosphere is unbreathable, the land itself is dead, and the world is filled with incredibly inhospitable fauna. I felt like I was reading a book in a world filled with Graboids from one of my favorite B-movies Tremors. It feels a bit like a post apocalyptic Moby Dick. Trains crossing a land covered in iron tracks, crossing dry and dead lands, passing by derelict machines, and unearthed salvage where one might finally strike it rich. Mieville's prose painted this landscape in a way that made me feel like I was there. He makes it all work at a new level by turning railway terminology into a completely new nautical one. The worms breach the surface of the ground and flop back down the same way that a whale does in the sea. The rail-people cast their fishing lines a stern in hopes to get the catch of the day. The penguins ... Rocked... Literally! The trains moved like giant ships a sea, across the vast and derelict landscape.

The amazing creatures that filled the pages were all earth adapted versions of creatures that we know today. Think about the world of The Flinstones, where they had creatures that they called rock this and rock that. Burrowing owls, digging rats, beetles as big as a car, and worms the size of the trains themselves. The poisoned uppersky was filled with freak show twisted and mutated creatures. One such giant was reminiscent of a horror out of Stephen King's The Mist and I thought that it was freaking sweet. Mocker-Jack, captain Nephi's white whale, was a massive worm that was bone colored and had a house sized mouth that was filled with razor sized teeth. There are many other amazing creatures to,be discovered in this book.

Sham is a good young adult protagonist that goes through all the familiar coming of age story plot points. He befriends my second favorite character, his cool Daybat friend that he saves and names Daybe. Together they take us the reader on a magical and unforgettable journey. Across the great Railsea aboard their moler train, they search out legends and treasures. It is a fantastical ride that will be enjoyed by readers of all ages. Mieville paints the Railsea with almost as much detail as he does his pinnacle achievement the city of New Crobuzon from Perdio Street Station.

The book is paced at lightning speed. There are not really any major twists or turns to speak of, but that is alright too. The book has an amazing ending that really brought together the themes behind this gem. I would have loved it to be twice as long.

I loved this book and Mieville is one of the most gifted writers out their today. Fantasy lovers, dystopian readers, YA readers, and those that like sci fi and steampunk are all sure to love this one. This book is one of my favorite reads of 2012. I am sure that it will hold a top spot come this years end....Not to be missed. (less)

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May 14, 2012 Joel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, sci-fi-fantasy, ya, chinatown, choo-choo

Leave it to China Miéville to write a young adult novel and so obfuscate his intentions (via complex vocabulary, a tricky literary style, dense prose, measured pacing, a total lack of plot threads about which boy is cuter) that I've had more than one conversation with youth librarians here on Goodreads who swear up and down that this isn't a young adult book. My evidence is, of course, rather shaky at best: the publisher says so, and why should I complain, because that means the hardcover costs...more Leave it to China Miéville to write a young adult novel and so obfuscate his intentions (via complex vocabulary, a tricky literary style, dense prose, measured pacing, a total lack of plot threads about which boy is cuter) that I've had more than one conversation with youth librarians here on Goodreads who swear up and down that this isn't a young adult book. My evidence is, of course, rather shaky at best: the publisher says so, and why should I complain, because that means the hardcover costs less than $20.

But if the feel is similar to Miéville's bizarre New Weird Fantasies (particularly the Bas Lag trilogy), if you've read him before, there are a lot of giveaways that he is writing for a more innocent crowd, like the book is much shorter, has roughly half as many adjectives, there's no swearing, and no one has sex with a lady with a bug for a head. I'd wager this is one of the author's only works that doesn't included the phrase "dessicated corpse" at least once or twice (don't worry though, he does manage to cram in a "palimpsest" for old times' sake). Also, like Un Lun Dun, his book for middle grade readers, there are a lot of cool pictures, drawn by the author himself!

So, what it isn't is your typical YA novel. What is is, is one of my favorite fantasy adventures in quite some time. The plot description makes it sound like a Moby Dick pastiche, and that's basically accurate: set in sand-blasted, trash-strewn world where there is no ocean, but instead endless vistas of interweaving rail lines, it follows the journey of Sham a (a boy? teen? It's never entirely clear...) who gets a job as a doctor's apprentice on a "moler," serving on-board the train of a single-minded captain determined to hunt down and harpoon the giant albino mole that chomped her arm off. But it's a lot more than parody, and another example of the author's ability to mutate his prose to suit any purpose. Here, he's also playing with other tropes and conventions of Romanticism and Victorian literature, as well as more modern fantasy (even his own) -- equal parts Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, and Perdido Street Station. In stark contrast to the first-person teen narrators that populate the YA genre today, Railsea is told in playful omniscience, in a fashion that is as much about the mechanics of storytelling as it is about telling the story, jumping here and there in the action, self-consciously commenting that no, it isn't quite time for that bit yet, we'll come back to that part later, instead let's have a chapter where we explain a bit of tangential backstory. This kind of trickery requires a delicate touch. He went a bit overboard with it in Un Lun Dun (oh, the puns!), but he's much more in control here (something something pun about keeping the story on the rails something something).

It isn't quite as philosophically or thematically deep as his adult novels, but it manages to fit quite a lot into the Boy's Own Adventure mold, including a host of the kind of memorable characters I've come to expect from a China Miéville book. Sham falls haphazardly into the narrative but quickly becomes an active participant, making tough choices and managing to be brave and terrified at the same time. Along the way he meets two younger kids, orphaned boy/girl twins who play an important role, two characters who are a lot of fun, who carry the weight of what they have lost but don't let it stop them from setting off on their own journey. Then there's Dr. Fremlo, Sham's teacher on-board the moling train, who admits that you don't really have to be a very good doctor out on the railsea, because anything you can't fix with a few stitches is probably going to be beyond fixing anyway. Ahab-analog Captain Naphi will remind regular readers of the she-captain from The Scar, though she has her own unexpected secret to reveal.

And oh, what a world! The railsea idea sounds a bit silly at first, but if there's one thing Miéville is good at, it's world-building, and he brings this one to life in vivid detail: small cities that are essentially islands between rails that stretch from horizon to horizon, where falling from even a stopped train will bring certain death, not from drowning but from one of the terrifying mutant creatures that swims the railsea (take your pick, we've got giant moles, giant ants, giant owls, giant worms, giant earwigs...). Where Lovecraftian horrors inhabit the poisoned upper atmosphere and humanity is confined to a slim sliver of breathable air in-between rail and the Upsky. Where much modern technology has been lost (is this a future Earth? A colony planet? Outside our universe altogether?), but ancient, ruined tech can be salvaged and made new. Where some trains are driven by engines, yes, but others are blown by huge sails, or moved by slave-driven pistons, or pulled by a herd of rhinos. I highly doubt there will be another book set in this world, but I really, really want to see more of it, and that's a nice way to feel after you've closed the covers.

So, if it isn't obvious, I'm entirely in the tank for this author, but I do think this is one of his most enjoyable, most accessible, and even most successful books in years. In aiming at a younger audience, he's produced a book that is simultaneously simpler and yet no less linguistically complex (well, maybe a little), with a much more straightforward narrative than he typically favors. It may just turn out to be my new recommended starting place for those intimidated by his reputation as a difficult writer.

Advance e-ARC provided by Netgalley.(less)

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Jun 06, 2012 Michael rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, science-fiction, ya, steampunk, dystopia

I’ve only really enjoyed on China Miéville novel (The City and the City) but I am a fan of what he does for literature and speculative fiction. His latest novel Railsea is his second attempt at a YA novel and while I’ve not read his other YA novel Un Lun Dun I must say I wasn’t really impressed with this one. I really loved the complexity of The City and the City so I was looking forward to see Miéville’s take on Moby-Dick. Granted I should have read Moby Dick before this book but I found this b...more I’ve only really enjoyed on China Miéville novel (The City and the City) but I am a fan of what he does for literature and speculative fiction. His latest novel Railsea is his second attempt at a YA novel and while I’ve not read his other YA novel Un Lun Dun I must say I wasn’t really impressed with this one. I really loved the complexity of The City and the City so I was looking forward to see Miéville’s take on Moby-Dick. Granted I should have read Moby Dick before this book but I found this book was too simplified and weird writing without some intelligent plotting just ends up making the book weird.

Set in a dying dystrophic world that is now desert; Railsea is an adventure novel that tells the tale of three young orphans joining the train to hunt for Mocker-Jack; the giant Mole. The book mixes adventure elements that remind me of Treasure Island with Miéville’s own genre; which he calls ‘weird’ and is a mix of fantasy and steampunk. The main protagonist; Sham was pretty average in this book but the train captain Abacat Naphi peaked my interest, I think she was the Ishmael in this book; even considering Mocker-Jack as her nemesis.

I thought this book might be more of a children’s book rather than a YA novel; iO9 said it best when they said this book was for “kids who cut their teeth on Thomas the Tank Engine, then Lemony Snicket”. It just felt odd and too simplified but a twelve or thirteen year old would probably enjoy it as a gateway into the YA fantasy/steampunk genre. The main issue I had was this book was the over use of the ampersand there is way too many in the book; even a large amount of sentences starting with ‘&’. It just never looked or felt write when reading it and I found I got really annoyed with it.

This book is for young teenagers and China Miéville fans, anyone else interested in trying this author might want to look elsewhere. I’m a little disappointed with this book but would be interested to see how my other friends find it; if they read it. There are some interesting elements in this book but for me I felt more frustrated by it. I hope others love and enjoy this book more than I did, Miéville has a lot to offer the literary world but I personally think; skip this one and go read The City and the City. (less)

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Jun 17, 2012 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Kim by: Michael

Shelves: adventure, clockwork, dystopia, fantasy, mystery, philosophical, pirate, parody, sci-fi, steampunk, treasure-hunter, young-adult, male-author, 2010s, 2012

For someone on whom The City and the City left a huge impression it sure has taken me a long time to read another Miéville book. Or should I say Melville? For this book borrows quite a lot from Moby-Dick as well as bits from other classics.

Set in a world where instead of ocean there's vast tracts of soft, soil criss-crossed in every direction with limitless miles of train tracks. Trains of all varieties are the ships of this land. Clockwork, diesel, electric, wind-powered and many more. In the...more For someone on whom The City and the City left a huge impression it sure has taken me a long time to read another Miéville book. Or should I say Melville? For this book borrows quite a lot from Moby-Dick as well as bits from other classics.

Set in a world where instead of ocean there's vast tracts of soft, soil criss-crossed in every direction with limitless miles of train tracks. Trains of all varieties are the ships of this land. Clockwork, diesel, electric, wind-powered and many more. In the soil between the tracks lurks the dangerous wildlife of this world - giant, man-eating moles, worms, rabbits and all manner of critters. Civilisation is limited to islands of hard rock where those creatures cannot get to. But they cannot escape higher as that leads to the mysterious and poisonous upsky, home to even more deadly inhabitants.

One of the various groups who travel the rails are the molers. Hunting their enormous prey for their skin and meat and bones. And over time some of the giant denizens of the earth have become fabled villains. Hunted by those they have bested. Instead of one Ahab, here we have countless. The single-minded determination to catch the one that got away here almost a religion. Termed a philosophy, each captain searches and assists others in their hunts. So begins this story when the young Shamus ap Soorap becomes apprenticed to the doctor on board the moletrain Medes. Its captain, Captain Naphi, hunts for Mocker Jack, a giant white mole. But when they stumble on a old train wreck Soorap finds something that will change their world.

I really enjoyed this book. It is definitely easier reading than The City and the City but that's not a bad thing. It was written with a younger audience in mind and serves as a great way to introduce someone to Miéville's writing without scaring them off. The world and its inhabitants are so original and interesting you can't help but want to know more about this weirdness that has so much familiarity. The story does move along fairly predictably but the ending was well down and left me satisfied but with plenty of room to revisit this world. And I hope he does as there's a lot he didn't delve into that would make for another good story.

But as you can see I didn't give this five stars. There were some points that did bug me. The continuous use of "&" most of all. Yes I get the symbolism of it tying in with the loops and twists of the tracks. As a symbol not often used though it kept pulling me out of the story and made it quite jarring at times. Especially as he seemed to use it to start sentences a lot. Not a crime that some people think but he overused it. Also there were this mini-chapters that broke the fourth wall and were used to point out his own cleverness at the way the story was going back and forth between the viewpoints. Could have done without those.

Overall I really enjoyed this modern, strange, fantastical twist on an old classic. Maybe could have gone a bit more into the philosophies of the captains but at its heart this is a mystery-adventure story and it does that well. I would highly recommend this to those who want to try a Miéville book but have been a bit scared to try his heavier work or aren't advanced readers. (less)

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Jul 19, 2012 Carlos rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Tres libros leídos y tres éxitos. En este caso, China Miéville usa su muy peculiar voz y su deleite en las palabras para contarnos una aventura marina, con piratas, balleneros, exploradores, tesoros y monstruos marinos. A voces. Y con el mérito, entre muchos otros, de que no hay agua. Casi.

Como siempre. En un mundo sugerente e imaginativo, Miéville coloca unos personajes sencillos en un arranque lento, marca de la casa. Los complica cruzando historias hasta un final en el que más que confluir,...more Tres libros leídos y tres éxitos. En este caso, China Miéville usa su muy peculiar voz y su deleite en las palabras para contarnos una aventura marina, con piratas, balleneros, exploradores, tesoros y monstruos marinos. A voces. Y con el mérito, entre muchos otros, de que no hay agua. Casi.

Como siempre. En un mundo sugerente e imaginativo, Miéville coloca unos personajes sencillos en un arranque lento, marca de la casa. Los complica cruzando historias hasta un final en el que más que confluir, colisionan. Y en capítulos cortos nos habla el metaliterato, un recurso que no suelo apreciar, pero que aquí funciona por lo bien imbricado y lo que muestra de la construcción de la historia.

La novela pasa por todos los defectos de Miéville, claro. Pero hipnotiza lo que ha hecho con ella: esta novela es puro ritmo. Una motivación que declara en el primer capítulo ENORME que hay que leer en voz alta para apreciar, y que continúa en niveles de estructura de menos a más: sonido, capítulos, partes, trama, clímax y contemplación final. Y despedida.

Railsea es un libro juvenil con el encanto de una novela clásica de viaje iniciático. Divertidísimo, sin menospreciar la inteligencia. Es más, apela a ella y la rezuma en cada &. Una novela sin modelos adolescentes maniqueos, tan de moda, ni tensiones románticas forzadas. No tiene sexo reprimido, ni explotación de emociones ramplonas, ni simplificaciones. Ni vampiros. Ni arcos y flechas. ¿Qué tiene? Novedad, caminos nada trillados. Exigencia en un lenguaje bien encajado y varios niveles de lectura. Homenajes nada pop, homenajes infantiles, guiños complicadísimos. En los niveles sugeridos y en el lenguaje, Railsea me gana. Me decepciona un poco cuando deja de sugerir y explica, pero me gana.

Llega el momento de puntuar, algo frustrante y que no permite matices. Railsea es menos redonda que EmbassyTown y menos transgresora que The City and the City. Pero en su intención de público me parece admirable. Este es un libro que yo hubiera querido, palabra a palabra, con 12 años. Y el capítulo uno lo he leído tres veces y aún no doy crédito (ay, China, si hubieses aguantado eso durante el resto de capítulos yo habría sido tu esclavo, tu paladín y tu puta, pero me quedo en tu prisionero).

Así que sin más, 5 estrellas, pese a que no es redondo y sigo esperando mucho más. Algo que Miéville sin duda conseguirá cuando se escape de la manía del libro anual.

Y muérete de envidia, Suzanne Collins.(less)

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May 01, 2013 Maciek rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: the-ya-shelf, speculative-fiction, read-in-2013, reviewed

It could make a person despair, to dwell on how many parts of everything have been neglected. Have not even been discussed, writes China Miéville near the end of Railsea, his latest novel for readers "of all ages". But nothing’s done. If you tell any of this to others, you can drive, & if you wish, go elsewhere on the way. Until then, safe travels & thank you.

This kind of meta eye-winking can be charming and occurs frequently in Railsea, which often references and comments on itself. Mié...more It could make a person despair, to dwell on how many parts of everything have been neglected. Have not even been discussed, writes China Miéville near the end of Railsea, his latest novel for readers "of all ages". But nothing’s done. If you tell any of this to others, you can drive, & if you wish, go elsewhere on the way. Until then, safe travels & thank you.

This kind of meta eye-winking can be charming and occurs frequently in Railsea, which often references and comments on itself. Miéville's authorial presence is strong in this one, going so far in smashing the fourth wall as to acknowledge the limitations of his own work - constraints typical for most fiction marketed for younger readers - but at the same time turns it into a virtue, inviting the readers (young and old) to exercise their imagination and picture adventures still to come and lands beyond the horizon, extending an invitation to create our own stories. Such a thing is a wonderful gift for children who are just beginning to discover the potency of their minds - but also a reminder for adults that their powers of invention might often lie dormant, but are not gone.

The concept of Railsea is bound to appeal to steampunk fans: the world is covered in rails instead of water, and people travel it by train for thousands of miles, trying to avoid pirates and dangers of nature (and not). The book has been advertised as "a gripping and brilliantly imagined take on Herman Melville's Moby-Dick", and while the parallels are obvious - the captain of a train-ship is called Abacat, a woman driven by obsession to pursue a giant creature known as "Moldywarpe", whom she considers her nemesis. But with its young protagonist, Sham Yes ap Soorap who boards the moletrain Medes to engage in his first Moldywarpe hunt reminded me of Jim from Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson's most famous work and one of my favorite novels from my childhood. Sham brings a sense of adventure to the tale which is bound to entice all readers, and is a sympathetic character for whom one is glad to root for through his ups and downs. The Moldywarpe hunt is just the beginning: Sham's discovery of a train wreck and its cargo which can potentially change the fate of the railsea will thrust him into a world of pirates and scavengers reminiscent of old sea tales, but set in a world full of winding and shifting tracks of mysterious origin. The setting alone makes the book worth reading - even though its utterly fantastic the use of tropes from past works makes it seem familiar and authentic.

This was my first novel by China Miéville and I am happy to report that it is a very good one. I first added it when I discovered it and thought that it looked delightful, and that's exactly what it was. A delightful book, bound to be liked both by readers of all ages. I loved Treasure Island when I was a child, so much that I read it several times and in this novel Miéville has captured a glimpse of that sense of adventure which so lured me in when I first stepped with young Jim Hawkins onto the deck of the Hispaniola. Ahoy!(less)

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Feb 06, 2013 Ceridwen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Ceridwen by: Joel

Shelves: aliens, angels, books-about-books, capital-l-labor, bunnies, fantasy, pirates, philosophy, steampunk, young-adult

Cross-posted on Readerling

One of the reasons I didn't get to Railsea until now is that Moby-Dick is all over this story, and obviously so. I haven't ever read Moby Dick, and reading a book without having read the obvious intertexts can be a problem. For example, I know I read The Club Dumas, but I was so at sea with all the Dumas-lore that almost none of it stuck. Apparently, seeing a bunch of Three Musketeers movies and having the gist of buddies fighting Cardinal Fang wasn't enough for me to d...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Ticklish Owl rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, animals, ebook, beautiful-writing, retelling, young-adult, mythical-creatures

Sham Yes ap Soorap, orphaned and taken in by relatives, is serving as doctor's apprentice on the moletrain Medes. The Medes travels the vast Railsea hunting giant rodents for molemeat, mole-oil and moleskin, much like 19th century whaleboats hunted whales. Captain Naphi has suffered a fate akin to that of Captain Ahab in Moby-Dick. Like Ahab, she is driven to understand her philosophy—the bone-hued moldywarp, Mocker-Jack, who took her arm.

Railsea isn't just a postmodern retelling of Moby-Dick; i...more Sham Yes ap Soorap, orphaned and taken in by relatives, is serving as doctor's apprentice on the moletrain Medes. The Medes travels the vast Railsea hunting giant rodents for molemeat, mole-oil and moleskin, much like 19th century whaleboats hunted whales. Captain Naphi has suffered a fate akin to that of Captain Ahab in Moby-Dick. Like Ahab, she is driven to understand her philosophy—the bone-hued moldywarp, Mocker-Jack, who took her arm.

Railsea isn't just a postmodern retelling of Moby-Dick; it's imaginative, clever, and humorous (even poking metafictional fun at itself). It's a quest for oneself, a discovery of innermost beliefs, a fulfillment of intellectual curiosity. The world building is vividly spectacular, and the author's illustrations are a wonderful addition.

The prose isn't as dense as that found in the author's other works, the story and language are definitely aimed at a younger audience. Don't let that dissuade you, China Miéville pulls words from the primordial ooze and deftly shapes them to startling perfection.

Out of the east & south the train came. It howled, it whistled, en route through & out of the known railsea. It breathed diesel breath. An everyday moletrain, transmogrified by urgency & peculiar direction into something more than itself, something grander, buckling of more swashes.

Railsea is filled with intriguing puzzles, mysteries, linguistic invention and delightful wordplay. Moldwarp is an old term for a mole, it can also refer to a mole-hill. The anagrams are especially wonderful, (view spoiler). There are nods to (view spoiler).

I would have adored this book when I was in middle-school. Some of the philosophies and references may have eluded my younger self, but the rollicking adventure and Daybe the Daybat would have kept me enthralled. It's refreshing to find an author who believes in the literary competency of a younger audience, who chooses to write up instead of down.

If you enjoyed this book, you might also like Un Lun Dun or Perdido Street Station.(less)

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Jan 04, 2013 Richard rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bizarre, scifi

Miéville is the best world-builder out there. Writing “weird” fiction is already challenging; most of us recognize weird when we see it, but would struggle fruitlessly to create something that is both unconventional and interesting. Unlike us, the author of Railsea excels at this, which is a marvel. His worlds are fleshed out with details that are strikingly unearthly, but not so alien as to be unrealistic.

He also gifts us with characters that are exuberantly real, and stylish prose that is a pl...more Miéville is the best world-builder out there. Writing “weird” fiction is already challenging; most of us recognize weird when we see it, but would struggle fruitlessly to create something that is both unconventional and interesting. Unlike us, the author of Railsea excels at this, which is a marvel. His worlds are fleshed out with details that are strikingly unearthly, but not so alien as to be unrealistic.

He also gifts us with characters that are exuberantly real, and stylish prose that is a pleasure to read. Here, in Railsea, there is an enjoyable nod to of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, which undoubtedly creates the Young Adult mood, even though there is no reduction in complexity. One stagey twist is that the word and, per se, will be found nowhere in the text, replaced by the ampersand, which is both explained within the story and adds to the cozy steampunk atmosphere.

Where Miéville doesn’t live up to his own standards is in the basic story. The lack isn’t huge, but tragic nevertheless, given how close he sails to greatness. Of course, in many ways he’s already attained greatness — he certainly has won plenty of awards. But Railsea is again exemplary here. (view spoiler)

Perhaps Miéville isn’t arrogant enough. He is willing to embrue his social concerns deep into his stories, but doesn’t ask questions and doesn’t suggest answers. There is a bit of anti-corporatist texture in back of the Railsea story, but it is merely window-dressing. No one will be writing their doctorate on the subtext of his stories, because he just wants to tell cool stories. That is, of course, fine as far as it goes — those awards certainly show that we are appreciative.

Railsea, as a grand parody of Moby Dick, is a great example. Miéville does no more than borrow some of the more outrageous elements, neglecting the opportunity to comment on the symbolism of that greater work. The captain’s Ahab-like monomania is curiously referred to as a philosophy, and supposedly has some symbolic import — but, alas, this remains only a superficial eccentricity.

If you enjoy adventure stories, read this book. Just because it comes so close to five-star perfection and falls short, it is still a splendid fantasy.
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Aug 07, 2012 Alexander Popov rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

(Originally published on my blog: http://mybiochemicalsky.wordpress.com...)

Everybody knows that there are two layers to the sky, four to the world. The downsky goes to two-three miles plus a biscuit above the railsea and after it comes the upsky, prowled by odd alien flyers. It is fortunate that dirt and mist hide that horrible scenery and only sometimes, when the clouds disperse, are you in danger of glimpsing any of those creatures. That Apt Ohm forbid one of them tumbling down dead on your he...more

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Jul 06, 2012 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own

Had a preview spoken by the man himself at Warwick arts Centre last night at a salvagepunk evening, was exciting!

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Mar 23, 2012 sondheim marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: mi-yay-ville

This cover, this concept, this author. I am having a bookgasm without even having read the thing.

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Jul 02, 2012 Patrick rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Full disclaimer: I was never really going to dislike this book. I am a huge fan of China Miéville, and have read and enjoyed all his significant novels. ‘Perdido Street Station’ was the one that got me hooked, it being that rare book I approached with virtually no expectations and which totally enthralled me as few novels have since – put simply, it made me realise what it was about reading that always appealed to me. It made me feel like a kid again.

For me, his key strength as a novelist is bal...more Full disclaimer: I was never really going to dislike this book. I am a huge fan of China Miéville, and have read and enjoyed all his significant novels. ‘Perdido Street Station’ was the one that got me hooked, it being that rare book I approached with virtually no expectations and which totally enthralled me as few novels have since – put simply, it made me realise what it was about reading that always appealed to me. It made me feel like a kid again.

For me, his key strength as a novelist is balancing that almost childlike sense of wonder and curiosity with a mature intelligence and a deep-felt sense of political justice. Even while his books are fantastically imaginative and his style gleefully unhinged, his writing is never less than intelligent and considered. Everything is in its place for a reason.

In ‘Railsea’ he takes the unusual step (as far as I know not taken before in his fiction) of nudging against the fourth wall from time to time by alternating a more conventional narrative style with intrusions from a narrator, who frequently signals a shift in perspective as though this were a tale told orally. This is the kind of thing which seems insignificant at first but ends up being totally absorbing because it gives us a window into the mindset of the dwellers of this strange world where even the insistent use of ‘&’ instead of the typical conjunction takes on a powerful significance:

‘What word better could there be than to symbolise the railsea that connects & seperates all lands, than “&” itself? Where else does the railsea take us but to this place & that one & that one & that one, & so on? & what better embodies, in the sweep of the pen, the recurved motion of trains, than “&”?’

Some people might find this irritating, but it’s exactly the kind of old-fashioned, playfully intrusive novelistic narration which I really enjoy. It’s probably also the most significant nod to the digressive style of Melville’s ‘Moby-Dick’, which the novel was purportedly inspired by but otherwise owes relatively little to (that I could discern).

As with many of his fictional worlds, the reader gets the sense that what seems at first weird and deeply alienating is actually more familiar than we’d care to admit: we too would think in just this same way if we were stranded in such a place. Indeed, the world of Railsea is probably the closest Miéville’s come so far to writing a conventional Mad Max type post-apocalyptic human society, even if his division of the planet into separate atmospheric planes ruled by totally horrific monsters knocks most other dystopias into a cocked hat.

Being a fan I couldn’t help but read this in relation to his other works, and in that respect it really feels like it harks back to the Bas-Lag trilogy in terms of its emphasis on near-constant action and a fast-moving plot. Certainly after the brilliant but difficult ‘Embassytown’ this feels more like a return to basics. It’s like listening to a stripped down garage rock EP after some kind of double-disc prog rock concept album. And I guess if I have any criticism it’s that the conceit behind the novel feels relatively slight in comparison; one has the occasional sense of the author doubling back on himself or tying himself in knots, as though this were a short story stretched out a little too far for comfort.

But I suspect that’s just me being demanding because it’s still a great book by one of the best authors around. (less)

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Jun 13, 2012 Marialyce rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: june-2012

I always have to marvel when reading a China Mieville book about the brilliance of the concepts and ideas this author employs. There is always so much going on and so many ins and outs that the book reads quickly and leaves one in a sort of whirlwind.

I did enjoy this new book of his and particularly liked his usage of railways as the mode of travel/earning a living/and survival in the future. The whole of the economy is based on this mode and it affords the reader the ability to see that our pla...more I always have to marvel when reading a China Mieville book about the brilliance of the concepts and ideas this author employs. There is always so much going on and so many ins and outs that the book reads quickly and leaves one in a sort of whirlwind.

I did enjoy this new book of his and particularly liked his usage of railways as the mode of travel/earning a living/and survival in the future. The whole of the economy is based on this mode and it affords the reader the ability to see that our planet is not left with much after what I interpreted to be the greed of corporations and how they left the earth bereft of not much else than railway tracks. In the book it seems as if nature has gone a bit wild and certainly scary monsterish. Our protagonist, Sham Yes ap Soorap enlists on a train that is chasing the elusive white/ivory/yellow(depending on who you ask) moldywarp, which had on a prior engagement taken off the arm of the captain. She is obsessed with finding and killing him (yes, I know shades of Moby Dick here) and so they are on this quest.

Sham is bored until they come upon a derelict train and he finds a series of pictures which do lead him to know that life is not made up of traveling on trains and it just might hold an elsewhere where something better is going on, perhaps even a heaven on earth. Sham teams up with sister and brother who after sharing the pictures he has found (it was their mom and dad's) set out on a kind of utopian adventure together combating the "slugs, mole rats and assorted other vermin including those of the human kind, that inhabit the earth. (well at least I think it is the earth!)

It was a kind of warning read I believe. It seemed like everyone was searching for something (called a philosophy) and the sometimes made up words and the exclusive use of the ampersand oftentimes made for interesting, yet annoying reading. The ampersand seems to consume the page and oftentimes it was all I could see as I turned the page.

All in all, it was a good read and I found it was pretty quick to read through. It did certainly leave a strong message base for the reader to take from. I just wish I had understood it a bit more.
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Nov 12, 2012 Eric rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Can't do it...

Shelves: steam-punk, unfinished

A lot of people find China Mieville's prose to be spectacular; for some reason, I can't get through it. It doesn't matter if he is spinning the greatest yarn of all time if I can't clearly follow what is happening, and am not compelled, in any way, shape of form, to turn the pages. A lot of people find his ideas to be brilliant; I just can't wade my way through his text long enough to find out if they are right. There are too many other authors I love, and too many other books I want to read, fo...more

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Jul 03, 2012 Darren Turpin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, novels

Wearing his influences very firmly on his sleeve and waving a flag of piratical abandon, Mieville sets sail on a saga of Weird Adventure that's as good as any I've read. Harpoon-wielding mole-hunters ride the rails of this (post-apocalyptic? post-capitalist? post-satirical?) world, tracking their blind, bewhiskered, be-fanged philosophies and dodging the attentions of wreckers, train-pirates and a host of over-sized beasties intent on their ruin.

Into this world a young lad ventures and it's lar...more

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Jul 08, 2012 Stephanie Griffin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone!

Shelves: favorites

China Miéville might be a genius. His amazing talent certainly shines through in RAILSEA (2012, Del Rey Books), his YA mash-up of Fantasy / Science Fiction / Steampunk / Dystopia. The story follows young Shamus ‘Sham’ Yes ap Soorap in a revision of the MOBY DICK quest, first as a doctor’s assistant on a moletrain, and later on a journey to solve the mystery of the disappearance of Mr. and Mrs. Shroake, a husband and wife explorer team. Miéville's re-imagination of MOBY DICK is awesome. There is...more China Miéville might be a genius. His amazing talent certainly shines through in RAILSEA (2012, Del Rey Books), his YA mash-up of Fantasy / Science Fiction / Steampunk / Dystopia. The story follows young Shamus ‘Sham’ Yes ap Soorap in a revision of the MOBY DICK quest, first as a doctor’s assistant on a moletrain, and later on a journey to solve the mystery of the disappearance of Mr. and Mrs. Shroake, a husband and wife explorer team. Miéville's re-imagination of MOBY DICK is awesome. There is the ship now turned into a train, the same captains, and the sea now turned into soil, yet its an entirely different world.

“& as passersby passed by & the light continued to leak from the sky, Sham was certain the man’s presence was not coincidence.”

Sham’s world consists of hunters, scavengers, and pirates, who ride along a vast expanse of railways. To fall off onto the land besides the tracks ensures that you will be eaten by creatures that live on and under the caustic soil. The moletrain Medes’ narrow-focused Captain Naphi is seeking her ‘philosophy’ by hunting a certain moldywarpe by the name of Mocker-Jack. The general public lives on safer ‘islands’ of higher ground. Along the way Sham seeks two reclusive children, gets betrayed, acquires a pet, and witnesses battles with the strange, dangerous creatures in his world. Besides the Great Southern Moldywarpes, there are Burrowing Tortoises, Antlions, Blood Rabbits, Tundra Worms and more (Miéville has even included his own sketches of each!)

“Above them flew something nothing like a plane.”

Here is the genius of RAILSEA: the language Miéville uses. He substitutes some words and makes up a lot of others. They weave together melodically as the sentences trip across your tongue. They’re playful and fun and magical. People with names like Boyza Go Mbenday and places with names like Manihiki. There may be some sort of message in this tale, about society or religion or whatnot, but I prefer to take this book as purely a high-fueled adventure. I don’t want to overthink it; it’s just too much fun to read.

“& if,” he said, & his voice was suddenly chill & bony & metal & like the scuttling of a very bad insect, “you’d like not to be cut open & dangled over the side of this train & dragged along with your legs on the ground spilling blood everything under the flatearth can smell while we go slow enough for long, long miles that they can rise & eat you from the toes up & from the inside out, you know what you could do for me, Sham?

“Tell me where the Shroakes are going.”

The only tiny, tiny weakness I found was that I do wish we had a little more personality in the Shroake children, Caldera and Dero. Sham, on the other hand, is a typical youngster; he isn’t certain just who he wants to be and he makes his decisions as questions come up. To be sure, this results in a life of adventure.

Again, the strength lies in Miéville’s imagination and the way in which he plays with words:

“Out of the east & south the train came. It howled, it whistled, en route through & out of the known railsea. It breathed diesel breath. An everyday moletrain, transmogrified by urgency & peculiar direction into something more than itself, something grander, buckling of more swashes.”

I believe this is a considerably more entertaining book than MOBY DICK and highly recommend RAILSEA for all readers age 12 and up.(less)

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May 14, 2013 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

China Mieville's latest - a sort of steampunk riff on Moby Dick that replaces Ahab's hunting of a great white whale on the high seas with a mechanical arm-wielding train conductor chasing a giant mole rat through a tangle of railroads and track switches - gets off to a bit of a slow start. The world built here is as well-realized and fascinating as any of Mieville's best, but the story hook to pull the reader through didn't make itself apparent right away - I worried that this would be nothing m...more China Mieville's latest - a sort of steampunk riff on Moby Dick that replaces Ahab's hunting of a great white whale on the high seas with a mechanical arm-wielding train conductor chasing a giant mole rat through a tangle of railroads and track switches - gets off to a bit of a slow start. The world built here is as well-realized and fascinating as any of Mieville's best, but the story hook to pull the reader through didn't make itself apparent right away - I worried that this would be nothing more than a winking self-satisfied rewrite of the Melville classic (just realized how similar their names are!).

At least, I was worried until our protagonist (doctor's apprentice Sham ap Shoorap, working on the aforementioned train) discovers a mysterious photograph of a land beyond the twisted tangle of train tracks that make up the entirety of the world - a solitary rail stretching to infinity with nothing else around. I should know better than to distrust Mieville at this point, who is on an incredible streak of fully realized, self-contained fantasy novels (The City & The City and Embassytown are two of my favorite reads of the last few years).

From that moment of discovery on, the story splits into three parallel narratives: Sham's adventure to find the land beyond the railsea, a pair of siblings Sham meets along the way that go off on their own towards their parents' legacy, and the train captain's increasingly desperate hunting of the great mole rat. The plotlines connect with each other and overlap like the rails of the story, eventually converging into one as they reach their final destinations. Railsea really works as both a swashbuckling piece of fantasy literature, and a coming of age story for Sham - who is one of the more endearing characters Mieville has ever written. The twist ending was a bit too cute for my taste - but not so much so that it felt like a misstep.

The synopsis of Railsea describes it as a book for all ages - and although the alternate-universe jargon could get confusing, this really is a story that has enough action and excitement to keep a younger audience engaged, but is clever and thought-provoking enough for an older reader. Great read - here's hoping Mieville's unstoppable locomotive of an imagination keeps on going for a long time.(less)

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Aug 08, 2012 J.P. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Nobody can build a world better than China Miéville. Plus his creativity knows no bounds. This is one of the most literary YA books I’ve ever read. I can just imagine a 12 year old stumbling over words like rumbustious. Actually there’s debate over whether or not this belongs in the YA category but whatever label you choose it’s a great read.
His prose is less dense in this novel but it has the author’s usual characteristics of a blend of different elements. A bit of science fiction here, a dash...more

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Mar 31, 2013 Derek Broughton rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: steampunk

I was conflicted when I heard this was "a gripping and brilliantly imagined take on ... Moby Dick" (so it says on the cover blurb). On the one hand, Miéville at his best is one of the best writers on the planet. On the other hand, I hated Moby Dick (yeah, I gave it 2 stars - because one would have meant I couldn't finish it).

On the gripping hand, I already panned The Scar because it was too much like Moby Dick!

It turns out Miéville is either mocking Moby Dick, or he's explaining it in terms tha...more

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May 15, 2012 Heidi rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-favorites, favorites

Originally reviewed here.

I’m not going to lie and say that Railsea is a book I will be recommending to all readers, but I will, with certainty, be recommending it to anyone and everyone I think would enjoy it. Railsea isn’t what anyone expects to see under the ‘YA’ label. Many have argued that it isn’t really YA at all, but when a book is pitched as ‘a novel for readers of all ages’, I don’t think it’s really trying to be. Given its content, I think that ‘a novel for readers of all ages’ is the...more Originally reviewed here.

I’m not going to lie and say that Railsea is a book I will be recommending to all readers, but I will, with certainty, be recommending it to anyone and everyone I think would enjoy it. Railsea isn’t what anyone expects to see under the ‘YA’ label. Many have argued that it isn’t really YA at all, but when a book is pitched as ‘a novel for readers of all ages’, I don’t think it’s really trying to be. Given its content, I think that ‘a novel for readers of all ages’ is the perfect description for Railsea. It will appeal to Miéville’s adult fanbase, as well as make him more accessible to younger readers. The teens who will fall in love with Railsea will be those who probably read a lot of adult sci-fi or fantasy already; they will be smart, appreciate a wry sense of humor, and have a wonderful sense of adventure. Readers must be patient getting into this one, as it will take you a while to feel entirely at ease with the language and story, and to understand the world that Miéville has built, but I assure you that it will be worth the effort.

As China Miéville has said himself: “Part of the appeal of the fantastic is taking ridiculous ideas very seriously and pretending they're not absurd.” I couldn’t possibly describe Railsea in a more accurate sentence. Railsea is ridiculous, but the respect and authority that Miéville gives to his characters in the story therein left me completely enraptured, enamored, and on the edge of my seat wanting more. To me, Railsea was hilarious. I was constantly laughing out loud in the way that you laugh at someone who you are never quite sure recognizes how truly clever they are. I was initially worried that I would be bogged down in the language, but instead I found myself languishing in it, making Railsea one of the more literary works I have read for some time.

However, the best part of Railsea is the story that is found within all of this. Railsea is a sort of Moby Dick retelling, but readers shouldn’t go in thinking this will be all about a captain balancing on the edge of sanity pulling all the stops to bring down the big one. That’s only part of the tale. In fact, our focus isn’t the captain at all, it is Sham ap Soorap, who dreams of a life more exciting than that of a doctor’s assistant aboard a moler, and gets it. It’s the story of a sort of treasure map, a high seas adventure, and an escapade to the very ends of the earth.

Now, those readers who love a focus on excellent world building and plot—Railsea is for you, but for those of you who are all about character development, you may not approve. It’s not that the characters are shallow, but Railsea is not a book where we get strong images of the characters’ emotions. And personally, I didn’t feel like anything was missing despite this. The world of Railsea, with scavengers, pirates, and hunters riding the railsea on trains rather than ships made me think of a futuristic old west, kind of like a more localized take on Joss Whedon’s Firefly. Add to that giant vermin such as fanged meerkats or predatory chipmunk packs living under the land of the rails, and you have some pretty terrifying imagery going for you. In addition, Railsea contains a number of illustrations of the creatures described, drawn by the author himself. I loved seeing them in detail, though I’ll admit I craved to see some of the drawings that Sham himself had done, or others depicting the railsea.

I’m always impressed when an author writes a book so utterly un-sexist, that traditional gender divisions aren’t even a thought. As was the case with Railsea. Gender roles are never even alluded to, it is just a part of the world that women do the exact same jobs as men, and nothing whatsoever is thought about this. Our captain, Naphi, is a woman whose life philosophy has become killing Mocker-Jack, the Mole of Many Meanings. And she’s not the only strong woman about, there’s scrappers, molers, and Caldera Shroake making Railsea a book that spreads the crazy, savvy, and skill all over.

I realize I haven’t talked overly much about the plot, but the reality is, you don’t want me to. You want to dive into the unknown of the Railsea with as few preconceived notions of the plot as possible. This is one of those books I loved, but about which I still have a hard time adequately formulating my thoughts into words. While I have tried to express that this is not for everyone, I have to stress that those that click with Railsea will really click. This will certainly be one of my top reads of 2012.(less)

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Mar 23, 2012 Kelly added it · review of another edition

Shelves: could-not-finish

I gave it a try. I was completely absorbed in the first 50 or so pages, but then the story died completely. The writing is lush and the inspiration is obvious and well-tuned, but it was unbelievably slow, and the lulls were so much to get through.

This isn't a YA book (I initially said it was published under an adult imprint, but actually, it's being pubbed as YA, which is odd) and while I think there's some cross-over potential, I'm not sure how huge it is.

This is a very literary novel and it s...more

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Jun 25, 2012 Sandi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads, 2012, post-apocalyptic-dystopian, sci-fi, young-adult

I really enjoyed Railsea. I was a bit surprised that it was a young adult novel. I didn't figure that out from the description. That said, I thought it was a great book for adults as well as teens. In fact, it may also be the perfect book for those of you who are trying to find good books for those troublesome 8-10 year old kids who read at a high school level. I know how hard it is to find books for advanced readers that aren't inappropriate. This book is a great adventure for everybody.

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Oct 10, 2012 Alex Lewis rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

this book is, in a lot of ways, perfect.

perfect for me at least.

the imagery is so fantastic...

it's clever and meta and fun and uniquely referential (and reverential)

they call it a YA book but i think that's selling it short. this is the book you give to a kid to show him how bland and shallow Hunger Games was--it's more literate than YA.

it's a book that makes you excited to go read Moby Dick, not a book that you read because MD was too boring for you.

mostly bc i prefer the premise and setting,...more

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Jun 16, 2013 David rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, adventure

This book is a science-fiction-like adventure story, solidly in the "steampunk" genre. The story is set in a fantastical world where all land is completely covered with railroad tracks. Steam engines pull trains across the landscape, either hunting for giant moldywarpes--dangerous creatures that live under the ground--or searching for valuable salvage that has been left by an alien technology. Much of the story is a take-off from Moby Dick. The captain of each train has a "philosophy" which is a...more

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Jun 08, 2013 Anna rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'll admit that when I saw this book was 'for all ages', it worried me. That worry was unfounded, however. 'Railsea' isn't as viscerally disturbing as 'Perdido Street Station' or 'The Scar' (which are absolutely fantastic, amongst the best fantasy I've ever read). Nonetheless, it's a thrilling, strange, and brilliant adventure. I loved the world of trains meandering about the tangle of rails, spanning a continent or more. As well as pirates, wreckers, salvagers, and merchants, there can be found...more I'll admit that when I saw this book was 'for all ages', it worried me. That worry was unfounded, however. 'Railsea' isn't as viscerally disturbing as 'Perdido Street Station' or 'The Scar' (which are absolutely fantastic, amongst the best fantasy I've ever read). Nonetheless, it's a thrilling, strange, and brilliant adventure. I loved the world of trains meandering about the tangle of rails, spanning a continent or more. As well as pirates, wreckers, salvagers, and merchants, there can be found hunters and the navy. The elements parodying 'Moby Dick' are especially entertaining - captains of hunting trains tend to acquire a 'philosophy', in other words a particular identifiable creature they pursue avidly. In the case of Captain Naphi, the fixation takes the form of a gargantuan albino mole called Mocker-Jack. The little detail that there's a magazine for philosopher-captains, for which they write pieces about their nemeses, is especially amusing. The narration of the book is also entertainingly self-aware and darts periodically across the fourth wall.

This is the kind of book in which you become absorbed and read more than 300 pages in an afternoon. It's an easier read than other Miéville novels, with a breakneck plot. The main point of view character, Sham, remains relatively undeveloped, but that seems fair enough as he's a teenager (16, 17-ish as I recall) who doesn't know what to do with his life. His sense of wonder about the new weirdnesses he encounters is great, as the reader also marvels at their strangeness.

Whilst reading, I did wonder if 'Railsea' existed in Bas-Lag, the same universe (planet?) as 'Perdido Street Station' etc. It seems not, although it felt compatible until some way through. Rather, 'Railsea' seems to be set in Earth a few hundred, maybe a thousand, years hence. The world-building reminded me, actually, of the 'Greatwinter' series by Sean McMullen, possibly because sail-trains were also a feature of that future. (I highly recommend the 'Greatwinter' books if you enjoy Miéville's work, by the by.)

In summary, 'Railsea' is delightful and I enjoyed it a lot. China Miéville is one of my favourite writers, gifted with incredible ability, versatility, and imagination. I strongly recommend reading everything that he has written (...except perhaps 'Kraken').(less)

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May 09, 2013 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

At last, a book by Mieville that I can unreservedly recommend to everyone. I love his writing, but here's the skinny, "Un Lun Dun" was god awful, insultingly bad "young adult fiction". "Embassyville" was pretty good--the language amazing, but the story a little bit too didactic/predictable. "Kraken" was amazing right up until the terrible terrible ending. And "Perdido Street Station" was perfect--the most perfect, dreadful, beautifully written nightmare I've ever had. All of his books (except "U...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Miévillians: Railsea Part I Chapters 1-10	1	2	6 hours, 38 min ago
The Steampunk, Cy...: Reviews	2	5	Jun 02, 2013 07:50am
The Steampunk, Cy...: Discussion	1	5	Mar 01, 2013 06:32pm
logical flaws in "Railsea"	5	43	Feb 27, 2013 11:57am
China Mieville	8	42	Jan 24, 2013 04:02pm
Corporations and Angels	1	14	Jan 22, 2013 10:18am
Railsea Cetologies	4	53	Jan 22, 2013 10:08am

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