In "Railsea" by China Mieville, readers are taken on a thrilling adventure in a futuristic world where trains traverse a vast railsea, hunting giant land-dwelling creatures akin to whales. The story follows Sham, a young doctor's apprentice, as he becomes entangled with a captain on a quest to hunt a legendary yellow mole. The narrative is a blend of "Moby Dick" and "Water World," filled with tension, suspense, and unique world-building details that keep readers hooked. Mieville's writing style is described as fast-paced, fun, bursting with ideas, and linguistically idiosyncratic, offering a unique and immersive reading experience.
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From The Publisher:
"Other names besides [Herman] Melville's will surely come to mind as you read this thrilling tale-there's Dune's Frank Herbert. . . . But in this, as in all of his works, Miéville has that special knack for evoking other writers even while making the story wholly his own."-Los Angeles Times
On board the moletrain Medes, Sham Yes ap Soorap watches in awe as he witnesses his first moldywarpe hunt: the giant mole bursting from the earth, the harpoonists targeting their prey, the battle resulting in one's death & the other's glory. Spectacular as it is, Sham can't shake the sense that there is more to life than the endless rails of the railsea-even if his captain thinks only of hunting the ivory-colored mole that took her arm years ago. But when they come across a wrecked train, Sham finds something-a series of pictures hinting at something, somewhere, that should be impossible-that leads to considerably more than he'd bargained for. Soon he's hunted on all sides, by pirates, trainsfolk, monsters & salvage-scrabblers. & it might not be just Sham's life that's about to change. It could be the whole of the railsea.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
"[Miéville] gives all readers a lot to dig into here, be it emotional drama, Godzilla-esque monster carnage, or the high adventure that comes only with riding the rails."-USA Today
"Superb . . . massively imaginative."-Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Riveting . . . a great adventure."-NPR
"Wildly inventive . . . Every sentence is packed with wit."-The Guardian (London)
Ratings (6)
Incredible (1) | |
Loved It (1) | |
Liked It (2) | |
It Was OK (2) |
Reader Stats (22):
Read It (7) | |
Want To Read (12) | |
Did Not Finish (1) | |
Not Interested (2) |
1 comment(s)
I think
Railsea was marketed as a YA novel (could be wrong about that) but other than having teenage protagonists and being something of a bildungsroman, this is basically an adult novel in my eyes. Mieville explores the very syntax of our world: to him, everything is language, and there is nothing more fun than experimenting with language. What if the ocean was made of dirt instead of water, and we sailed it with trains instead of ships? This is the central idea behind
Railsea, which is also an homage to
Moby Dick. As I have not read the Melville classic (gasp) I can't say how much allusion or reference Mieville makes to the text, other than the obvious Captain Ahab:White Whale::Captain Naphi:White Mole. However, I do love that so many train captains are obsessed with particular monstrous creatures of the Railsea, which they imbue with abstract concepts (nihilism, prejudice) and call their "philosophies."
There is so much to unpack in this world (something the author addresses in a brief chapter) that I almost think a sequel would be in order. For a lesser author (I cringe a bit to say that) there probably would be, but I doubt that is the case here. Once Sham and his friends complete their journey (if it ever will be complete), the book itself is complete despite its failure to explore every rail.
Basically, stop being such a genius, Mieville, you make the rest of us look dumb.
What can you read after
Railsea?
About the Author:
China Miéville is the author of numerous books, including This Census-Taker, Three Moments of an Explosion, Railsea, Embassytown, Kraken, The City & The City, and Perdido Street Station. His works have won the World Fantasy Award, the Hugo Award, and…
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