Railsea: A Novel

I've never read Moby Dick, but I immediately recognized the inspiration for this little beauty of a novel (and not so little either).The conceit is that the world is post-apocalyptic - without the usual shambling undead that label infers these days; we are in the sort of apocalypse aftermath that Hell Tanner rode through. The world has changed dramatically, and has broken up into layers. The underground, where the garbage of untold ages lies buried, to be dug up by "salvators" and re-tasked where possible, and where numerous gigantic fauna dig and live and wait for fools to tread the soil above them, the people-bearing layers consisting of rocky-ground islands set in the surreal and insane Railsea, the breathable air c/w birds and above that an opaque poisonous layer rife with aerial monstrosities.The railsea is a tangled mass of rails over which trains of all descriptions ply: Military trains bristling with guns, small traders loaded with freight, pirates who take from the latter and hide from the former and our special interest for this tale, Molers.The Molers chase the giant fauna much like whalers did in our recent past, especially giant moles.Our "hero", a young boy names Sham, joins a Moler as a doctor's assistant and we learn through his experiences of trains and Moles, especially one particular specimen - "Mocker Jack", no guesses for the inspiration, a Mole which is the captain's "philosophy" - standing in for a life lesson that must be hunted down metaphorically as the animal itself is hunted down in actuality.The quest is not all it seems to be. There are many adventures along the way, all told with such immediacy that I cared what happened to each and every character, even the badduns. Toward the middle there start to be small meta-story diversions, fourth-wall breaking mini-chapters in which our tale teller - and who could it be - pontificates on the craft of storytelling, with special respect to *this* story.There is the matter of language that others found worrisome, but I slid right into it. Then again, I've been reading SF since the 60s and started with Samuel R Delany and his peers, who assumed the readers would be able to extrapolate the jargon and neologisms on the fly from the context. I was unsettled by the use of "&" for "and" but even that becomes no problem after a while and more importantly is explained and made a point of the tale about halfway in.I know I missed lots of stuff hidden inside this very clever text, but that just gives me an excuse to re-read, which I certainly shall.Fun part: when I was idly wondering if it would be possible to turn the world into an enjoyable RPG setting, then came across a segment in the tale where the author pondered that very thing himself (obliquely - he could also have been talking about whether it was worth making a series from the idea).I devoured this book. While reading it I missed my own stop on the NY subway. It made time fly away, something that I've found modern SF has a difficult time achieving for me of late. Maybe it is that I grew up reading SF in the UK and the new US SF scene lacks the spark that the new UK SF scene does. I do not know.I'd recommend this one to any SF reader, although we are talking about a world more allied to dieselpunk fantasy than hard SF proper. The railsea, though explained, remains an absurd idea at face value. If you liked what you read in Perdido Street Station, you'll probably like Railsea, though the two are very different in content and this is NOT a Bas Lag story.

The problem is that this is one of the most ridiculous premises in the history of science fiction: on a world not our own, a world in which the ocean basins have been emptied of water and all but completely filled with a labyrinth of overlapping, interlocking railroad tracks called the Railsea, underneath which swarm burrowing predators grown to gargantuan size, the obsessive whale hunt of  Moby-Dick  is played out with trains and giant moles....Compared to this, the flying whales of Philip Jose Farmer's  The Wind Whales of Ishmael  and the ice dwelling whales of Michael Moorcock's  The Ice Schooner  are perfectly plausible.To author China Mieville's credit, it almost works. I've never seen a more ridiculous world better built. For as long as the reader can suspend belief this crazy world holds together and the equally crazy quests for Mocker Jack, the Great White Mole, and for What Should Not Be: a SINGLE railroad track, straight as an arrow, surrounded by NOTHING but empty earth, draw the reader along. There are some hilarious bits (like the running gag about the ridiculous number of train captain hunters with "philosophies", that is particular animals they are in vengeful, obsessive pursuit of) and the intricate descriptions of the various kinds of trains voyaging upon the Railsea: steam, diesel, fusion, wind, even muscle powered. And the very concept of the Railsea solves a dilemma that stymied Ian McDonald in  Ares Express : how to make plausible the concept of itinerant trains? (Due to the unpleasant consequences should two or more trains attempt to occupy the same rails at the same time, railroads have been the most tightly controlled form of transportation from their very invention.)Defects? A few, unfortunately. That our hero spends most of the book as such a feckless loser doesn't help; by the time Sham Yes ap Soorap even BEGINS to "man up" to the challenges he faces, the book is more than half gone. The ending is also something of a disappointment. Not all that much is actually revealed, and it appears to be intended as a particularly ham handed critique of Capitalism...by an author who has no clue what he is talking about. No corporation, answerable to any sort of owners, could POSSIBLY behave that stupidly. Only tyrannical governments ever have been (or ever could be) that stupid.Still, I cannot deny that it was a fun ride while it lasted. It would have helped I think for the author to have made up his mind on whether he was writing a Serious Book about Serious Issues or a laugh out loud parody. As it is, the book is too silly to take at all seriously and too serious to excuse the most ridiculous parts.

I love China Mieville and this is one of his best. OK so its supposed to be a Young Adult book and is a little like a less 'full on' version of The Scar but its all the better for that. Don 't be put off by the tag as its still a very readable adult book as well.The base story is a straightforward rites of passage adventure, not unlike Neil Gaiman's Stardust but based on Moby Dick ( well partly anyway). There is also an element of Anime, at least that's what it feels like, in the twin adventurers that form part of the story. I can just see this story as an anime similar to Steamboy. But the real grabber is the imagination of a world, not quite like ours, with a sea made of rails and the trains that run over them. Absolutely brilliant and don't miss the side references slipped in to give a history of the rails. This is only book and only writter I know that could slip in references to Beeching, Mary Anning and the Fat Contoller whilst chasing a large yellow mole across a sea of rails.When's the next novel coming out ?

It took me a while to get into this, I think because I didn't have too much sympathy for the characters at the start but once the quest got underway it was easy enough. There are some lovely ideas and references to other literature, most obviously to Moby Dick, but Mieville puts an interesting twist on most of these and some provide pleasant comic moments - not laugh out loud comedy but interesting use of irony. The whole notion of substituting a world wide railway for the sea worked very well and the post apocalyptic notion was not intrusive. A reviewer compared him to Dickens and whilst that is stretching a point, he does make a convincing attempt at picturing a society as it faces change and attempts the draod sweep of the brush as he examines social mores and unrest. Ultimately, I enjoyed the read.

This is modelled on a sea yarn with the boats and sea monsters swapped for trains and giant moles.The characters are likeable enough and believable in their setting.The pace is good with plenty happening all the time as we gradually learn more about the world and its inhabitants and fauna, the pseudo-scientific style of description is a nice touch.The idea of the Railsea and the angels is twisted and cynical with a few surprises.The problem is that the plot is too simple, the young boy on a quest travelling with boon companions and a romantic interest is too predicatable even in such a strange setting.It is ok but not one of his best.

Another great book from Miéville, this is a fantastic starting point if you haven't read him before. In a world covered in rails, where if you touch the bare earth you're likely to be devoured, a young man named Sham Yes ap Soorap goes on his first mouldywarp hunt. Borrowing from moby dick, treasure island and others, this is a book I devoured so fast and felt sad when I'd finished because the characters are so well written you'll know you'll miss them.

This was my second China Mieville, after "The City and the City" - which I loved, but while I very much liked "Railsea", it's hard to believe it was written by the same guy. The most helpful reviews will tell you most of what you need to know. The main thing I would like to add is that if you like Neil Gaiman's novels aimed at the same market, you'll like this.