Railsea, China Mieville
Railsea, China Mieville
List: $20.00 | Sale: $14.00
Club: $10.00

Railsea

Author: China Miéville

Narrator: Jonathan Cowley

Unabridged: 9 hr 56 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/15/2012


Synopsis

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 and the other’s glory. But no matter how spectacular it is, Sham can't shake the sense that there is more to life than traveling the endless rails of the railsea–even if his captain can think only of the hunt for the ivory-coloured mole she’s been chasing since it took her arm all those years ago. When they come across a wrecked train, at first it's a welcome distraction. But what Sham finds in the derelict—a series of pictures hinting at something, somewhere, that should be impossible—leads to considerably more than he'd bargained for. Soon he's hunted on all sides, by pirates, trainsfolk, monsters and salvage-scrabblers. And it might not be just Sham's life that's about to change. It could be the whole of the railsea.

From China Miéville comes a novel for readers of all ages, a gripping and brilliantly imagined take on Herman Melville's Moby-Dick that confirms his status as "the most original and talented voice to appear in several years." (Science Fiction Chronicle)

About The Author

China Miéville is the author of several books, including Un Lun Dun, Perdido Street Station, The City & The City, Kraken, & Embassytown. His works have won the Hugo, the British Science Fiction Award (twice), the Arthur C. Clarke Award (three times) & the World Fantasy Award. He lives & works in London.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Traveller on December 16, 2015

We're having an open book discussion of this book here . Do come and join! More & more, when it comes to China Mieville, for me, it's lurrvve lurve LURVE! I'm starting to get to the point where I miss his 'voice' when I'm not busy reading a Miéville... In this amusing and inventive coming-of-age st......more

Goodreads review by Bradley on February 08, 2017

There's truly a lot to enjoy here, especially if you're a fan of philosophy and moles. Sometimes together. No, no, scratch that. You can't separate the philosophy from the moles. Every captain must have a philosophy to chase after, and truly, it DOESN'T REALLY MATTER if you're missing an arm or a leg,......more

Goodreads review by Jason on May 23, 2012

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 kn......more

Goodreads review by Maciek on May 01, 2013

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,......more


Quotes

“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
 
“[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)