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Railsea

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Railsea

By: China Mieville
Narrated by: Tom Lawrence
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About this listen

Savage giant moles, rail pirates, and explorers abound in China Miéville's thrilling young adult novel, Railsea.

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 – are extraordinary. But no matter how spectacular it is, travelling the endless rails of the railsea, Sham senses that there’s more to life. Even if his captain can think only of her obsessive hunt for one savage mole.

When they find a wrecked train, it's a welcome distraction. But the impossible salvage Sham finds there leads to trouble. Soon he's hunted on all sides: by pirates, trainsfolk, monsters & salvage-scrabblers. And it might not be just Sham's life that's about to change. It could be the whole of the railsea.

And it might not be just Sham's life that's about to change. It could be the whole of the railsea.

©2012 China Mieville (P)2012 Macmillan Digital Audio Fantasy Fiction Science Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Steampunk Young Adult Paranormal Transportation

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Critic reviews

“What kind of novel might someone produce if he had been influenced by writers such as Joan Aiken, the Awdrys, Daniel Defoe, Ursula Le Guin, Herman Melville, Robert Louis Stevenson and Spike Milligan? The answer is Railsea, a wildly inventive crossover/young adult fantasy with elements of SF and trains, lots of trains.” (Guardian)

”Huge fun, a book that plays intellectual games without ever letting them overpower the sense of rip-roaring adventure gradually unfolding.” (SFX)

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Where does Railsea rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

A very memorable book, so among the best.

Who was your favorite character and why?

It's not so much the characters as the world they inhabit: the details are so intriguing that I was longing to hear more at every stage.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

I liked the scenes where we were travelling along the Railsea, from the start and all the way through.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No way! I listened to it driving to and from work, but got so engrossed by the end I sat at home to listen to the ending.

Any additional comments?

This book would make an amazing film.

Gripping adventure story in an alien world

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Working my way through China Mievele's works and wasn't sure about this one. I'm not a fantasy fan and it felt like a bit of a slow starter for the first few chapters but once the scene was set and world was painted, It became a beautiful story that I couldn't put down.

I've never read a story that has has described action in such a visceral way, making me feel like I could be riding along the rails right with them. And there are a couple of chapters where I felt genuinely awed, something which very rarely happens.

My only gripe would be on the odd occasion the pacing could be a little better. Some events, large and small, build up nicely, get me hooked, ramp up some more then as I'm expecting a satisfying conclusion, it will wrap up too quickly for me. It's almost like someone off stage is telling him to wrap it up and move on.

That aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the story and was never able to predict what would happen next.

A true fantasy story

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it took me a while to get my head round this endless sea of railways track . But once l had l found this book entertaining and the story gripped me and l must admit I was lost a Bit until l was deeper into the book. It's well worth the effort to get to understand this world .

Fascinating book

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Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Plenty of imagination as you might expect but I found I couldn't engage with the characters.
The setting, a 'sea' of rails was difficult to relate to: a clue that the story wasn't particularly engaging is that rather than pay full attention to the story, I found myself trying to work out how a rail-sea might actually work (it's never really explained in a satisfactory way).

Not up to his usual standards

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I loved the book. It takes a while to get into the rhythm and style of the book but it is really worth it.

A different way of doing it

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A cracking good yarn. As with all his books your patience is rewarded and a new world unfurls.

Another great story from China Mielville

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Generally a good book told through the story of a young boy trying to find himself in a rail fairing Society. Not quiet the Bas-Lag series but it has enough to keep you engaged.

Young adult novel but with a Mieville twist

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Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.....Another excellent bit of fantasy from an exquisite imagination.
Top setting, top story good characters...

Another piece of quality

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There is so much world-building, yet I still have so many questions; there are so many (many) words, yet I am still none the wiser about characters, their motives. The book is trapped in blendness, no matter how much it tried to do the opposite, therefore became pretentious with too much of somethings and not much of other things ... reminded of Russell Brand, really.

Meeehh!

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A curious steampunk work that leaves as much unexplained as it elucidates. The narrator's voice shifts minutely in tone and accent, like the various rhythms of the rail-faring engines, creating a mesmerising pace to the story but occasionally making it tricky to distinguish between who of the characters is speaking. Overall, a compelling read.

Something for a rail-voyage

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