Railsea

English language

ISBN:
9780230765368

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5 stars (1 review)

Railsea is a young adult novel written and illustrated by English writer China Miéville, and published in May 2012. Miéville described the novel as "weird fiction", io9 labelled its mix of fantasy and steampunk elements as "salvagepunk" and the story has been seen as an "affectionate parody" of Herman Melville's classic 1851 novel Moby-Dick, also drawing on Robert Louis Stevenson's adventure novels Treasure Island and Kidnapped.

1 edition

Grand adventure in late late LATE capitalism

5 stars

Only China Mieville could create a weird future where the earth is covered by oceans not of water, but of railways. Later in the book you learn that capitalist railway barons have created this weird future as their monopolistic power overwhelms society. SF nerds of a particular bent might recall Douglas Adams and his planet which became dominated completely by the manufacturing of shoes.

But "Railsea" is not a humorous book like H2G2, it's a rollicking adventure. The unreal, impossible setting becomes compelling and believable. In fact it's the most fun I've had reading any of his books. He didn't quite nail YA in "Un Lun Dun", but he gets it right here.