More neo-Bradburyism on the railways of Mars, and much more. ( )

Areoformed train reality.

In the past, a human-AI conflict has left Mars the domain of quantum reality controlling AI with humans tooling around the place on giant tokamak powered trains.

When a crazy guy decides it might be time for more of that past apocalyptic war, throw in time travel, some cheesy fourth wallesque story commentary and much whacky adventuring as a young train Engineer tracks down a deity and tries to stop a madman. Who of course has a big flying vessel.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2009/01... ( )

We're in big trouble, Sweetness thought, face lit by the heat-death of falling angels. What's happening, why, who's doing it? The questions answered themselves the moment she shaped them. That man, up there, just a fistful of metres above your head. but was this the big one, the Angels and Devastation Harx, duking it out, mano a mano, or was he merely testing the limits of his powers.

On a terraformed Mars, trains powered by nuclear fusion carry goods and passengers around the world. The families that work the trains spend their whole lives on the trains, and train looks down on track, platform and and even more so on passenger. Eight-year-old Sweetness Octave Glorious-Honeybun Asiim Engineer 12th of the great train Catherine of Tharsis resents the fact that Engineer girls don't get to drive trains, and runs away rather than submit to an arranged marriage to a Stuard and spend the rest of her life working in a train kitchen. Grandmother Taal goes in search of her wayward granddaughter and both women end up involved in a battle to save the planet, as one man tries to bring an end to the Angels, the machines that terraformed the planet and are keep it stable.

This is set in the same reality as "Desolation Road", which I loved and could really do with re-reading, and a couple of characters from the earlier book turn up in "Ares Express".

NB: Google helped me to find a site that let me translate the ages of the Martian characters into Earth years. ( )

The book takes place on a terra-formed mars that is strangely full of indians. Giant nuclear trains are used to transport people and cargo across the red deserts. The book focuses on the journey of a girl ("Sweetness octavia engineer honeybun" or something like that) who decides to escape an arranged marriage and the restrictions of her caste/class/family to find something better. The book has a lot of humour, adventure and fun characters met along the way. It's not as serious or deep as River of God's so don't expect the same intense vibe - this is a lighthearted dash of fantasy through a whole bunch of crazy unrelated places and people. ( )