Railsea in The Alternative Worlds

Jan 31, 2012 Terence rated it liked it

Shelves: speculative-fiction, for-the-younger-generation

I find myself without a great deal to say about Railsea.

I certainly liked it. China Miéville is one of my favorite authors and I have yet to be disappointed in anything of his I’ve read. His imagination and talent are on full display – as usual – and it is far more than a simple homage or pastiche of Moby Dick.

Other reviewers have summarized the plot (which is also reasonably well summarized on the dust jacket of my edition) and described the railsea and its denizens so I’m not going to dwell on I find myself without a great deal to say about Railsea.

I certainly liked it. China Miéville is one of my favorite authors and I have yet to be disappointed in anything of his I’ve read. His imagination and talent are on full display – as usual – and it is far more than a simple homage or pastiche of Moby Dick.

Other reviewers have summarized the plot (which is also reasonably well summarized on the dust jacket of my edition) and described the railsea and its denizens so I’m not going to dwell on those aspects of the novel. What I will briefly mention, however, are two episodes that stood out for me, and that are examples of why I like Miéville so much – his ability to surprise me. When I first began reading Un Lun Dun, I feared that the author was “slumming.” Writing a YA fantasy that really wasn’t going to push any boundaries but then he turned everything on its head and delivered a great story.

A similar thing happened with this book. I can’t go into too much detail without entering spoiler territory but both scenes involve choices – the one Sham makes when Caldera Shroake asks him to go with her and Dero as they set out to complete their parents’ quest to find the end of the railsea ((view spoiler)), and the one the Medes’ crew makes when faced with confronting Mocker-Jack (“the great white mole”) or rescuing Sham ((view spoiler)). If there’s any truth to what Gardner writes in On Moral Fiction*, that fiction is “good … only when it has a clear positive moral effect, presenting valid models for imitation, eternal verities worth keeping in mind, and a benevolent vision of the possible which can inspire and incite human beings toward virtue, toward life affirmation as opposed to destruction or indifference,” then Railsea is “good.”

But don’t let that put you off. Another quality of Railsea is that it’s not preachy nor does it talk down to its ostensibly YA audience – of which, hopefully, my niece will be one as this will be yet another book sent to her for her enjoyment.

* A recent read that’s going to be futzing with my reading enjoyment for years to come, for better or for worse.

** Random observation: The final scene from the book reminds me strongly of that from the film Dark City . ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Jun 11, 2012 Tamara added it

Shelves: ship, sf, male-protagonist, author-male, steampunk, adventure, sea, railway, animals

Trains aren't nice. I'm not sure the book gets that.

In the pre-finial epilogue of chapter 84:
you can drive, & if you wish, go elsewhere on the way.

But this is to miss, to my mind, the point of the train. Ships (and cars) are images of freedom, of potential, adventure and exploration. But on a train you cannot go elsewhere. A train goes from here to there and only to there. Trains are about things left behind and people gone or taken away, choices irrevocably made.

The geography of rails is abou Trains aren't nice. I'm not sure the book gets that.

In the pre-finial epilogue of chapter 84:
you can drive, & if you wish, go elsewhere on the way.

But this is to miss, to my mind, the point of the train. Ships (and cars) are images of freedom, of potential, adventure and exploration. But on a train you cannot go elsewhere. A train goes from here to there and only to there. Trains are about things left behind and people gone or taken away, choices irrevocably made.

The geography of rails is about separation and isolation. The landscape between the stations can be seen, but not touched. It's a superimposed alternate universe, a closed off space, physically and temporally constrained. Historically, trains are means of imperialist control over the landscape, from the Trans-Siberian to the Congo, and over people, from the gulag to the holocaust. Trains are cramped, stiff, artificial. They even, typically, have classes.

But in Railsea, trains are nice. Trains are varied, punky, exuberant, lively, piratical, dashing and exciting. Worst of all, they may go where they like. Meiville always seems to write stories about things being more. Trains are ships, ships are cities, trains are cities, cities are other cities. Me, I like best of all stories about things being less. The way things are when stuff is reduced, constrained, narrowed. I'm always interested in focus and obsession.

But this book is exactly about the dismissal of obsession. Obsession features again and again and receives short shrift. It is not merely that it is not admired - obsession is usually ultimately tragic. Thats ok. - it's that it's dismissed, derided, made charlataneous.

In Moby Dick, on the whole wide sea, Ahab wants only one thing. This is the curious, powerful juxtaposition of the thing. However, it is in the nature of the train to want only one thing, and yet Meiville seemingly attempts to reclaim and rehabilitate it in the service of joyous adventure, explicitly makes of it a prelude to the sea. That's just wrong - the railway is the natural and obvious vehicle of self destructive obsession.

This book is a crime against trainhood.

Oh, there's plot and characters and stuff. They're ok I guess. ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

Nov 28, 2012 Nicky rated it it was amazing

Shelves: speculative-fiction, post-apocalyptic, children-s-and-ya, steampunk

This has to get five stars because it kept me up at night, tantalised me when I didn't get chance to read, and enchanted me totally. While it's marketed (and shelved by me) as YA, it's China Miéville: there's plenty to keep you guessing no matter how old you are.

I love the ideas, the bits of other stories (Moby Dick being a prominent one), the worldbuilding, the pace of it... The use of & for "and" took some getting used to, but all in all I loved it, and I think the prose was pretty awesome. Th ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

Jan 31, 2012 Brad rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: false-start, read-in-2017, steampunk, mieville, storytelling

The lines i could take in a review of Railsea are myriad, but i am going to take one line as far as i can take it and that one line only. i have a theory about this book. It runs like this, China Miéville was writing Railsea and he ran out of steam. i don't know or why, but somewhere between Manihiki and the end of the line, he got bored or wrote himself into a corner or simply decided he wanted to be doing something else, but he knew that what he had written was brilliant, he knew that his stea ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

May 21, 2012 Sandi rated it really liked it

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

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. ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Oct 06, 2018 Nils rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, weltenfluestern

Ein echter Miéville: viele wilde und spannende Ideen im Weltenbau, aber eine eher zähe Geschichte.

1 like · Like · see review

May 15, 2012 Suz rated it liked it

Shelves: book-club, science-fiction, dystopian, young-adult, kindle, library

This is the second Miéville book I've read, and while I adored The City and The City, after reading several reviews for this book, I decided to skip it.

Then it got chosen for a book club and I read it anyway.

And I'm not entirely unhappy that I read it. It was a really easy read for me. I love Miéville's prose. I love what he does. I absolutely worship at the feet of his world-building abilities. But, I just could not get "in" to this story.

Yeah, it was good. Yeah, I love that this guy is totally ...more

Like · see review

Oct 28, 2012 Michelle rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kids_and_y-a, fantasy, book_club

it is perhaps possible that I don't actually enjoy China Miéville. don't get me wrong, here, I admire the hell out of what that man does with words and what comes out of his uniquely skewed brain. I adore that there are female characters that are just that: actual characters, with foibles and good qualities and bad qualities, people, not placeholders. and NOBODY build worlds like this man (which may be a good thing, because if everyone did this, it would be evidence that we are all on major drug ...more

1 like · Like · see review