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Railsea by China Mieville
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Railsea (original 2012; edition 2012)

by China Mieville (Author)

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1,6629610,466 (3.85)138
"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 & 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-colored 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 kind of treasure map indicating a mythical place untouched by iron rails--leads to considerably more than he'd bargained for. Soon he's hunted on all sides, by pirates, trainsfolk, monsters, & salvage-scrabblers. & it might not be just Sham's life that's about to change. It could be the whole of the railsea. Here is a novel for readers of all ages, a gripping & brilliantly imagined take on Herman Melville's Moby-Dick that confirms China Mieville's status as "the most original & talented voice to appear in several years" (Science Fiction Chronicle)"--Provided by publisher.… (more)
Member:MHanover10
Title:Railsea
Authors:China Mieville (Author)
Info:Del Rey (2012), Edition: Limited Edition, 448 pages
Collections:Your library, Currently reading, Wishlist, To read, Read but unowned, Favorites
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Tags:to-read

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Railsea by China Miéville (2012)

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» See also 138 mentions

English (95)  French (1)  All languages (96)
Showing 1-5 of 95 (next | show all)
China Mieville seems to be a burgeoning #bookstagram darling so upon seeing this in the local #oxfambooks I thought I’d give it a bash. It tells the story of a world both similar and dissimilar to our own - the main difference being that instead of seas there are instead unfathomable crisscross rail tracks that Railsea inhabitants use to navigate their world. We are told the story of Sham Yes Ap Shoorap, an orphaned medic’s assistant on a moletrain (for this rail-ridden land is complete with all manner of beasts including giant moles which people hunt and kill) whose life changes dramatically when he happens to witness a picture of an unimaginable idea to a Railsea citizen - a single rail track - and so his adventure to find out what this seeming phantasm is, ensues.

Although readable and entertaining, this did nothing to slow my belief that fantasy isn’t my bag. Rather than be impressed at the inventiveness of Mieville’s world I spent most of my time preoccupied with frustrations about how unnecessary and far-fetched everything was (including the long, strange names). Perhaps it is more one for YA/fantasy loving readers but it was all too fantastical for the sake of being fantastical for me. His attempt to turn it into a moral metaphor of a future portent at the end also didn’t sit well as it felt a little like trying to make it more than it was.
I don’t doubt that for fantasy fans this will be a book they enjoy and take my criticism with a pinch of salt because I’m not his audience. And despite all my grievances towards it I still give it 3/5 so make if that what you will, haha! ( )
  Dzaowan | Feb 15, 2024 |
I go to China Miéville when I need mental healing from bad sci fi & fantasy. He's a Pulitzer level writer that chose to write weird stuff. Miéville only writes books that restructure my perception of literature or society. Everything starts from ground zero, as if no rules were created to define genre.

This less famous book equals any of his others in world building and has one of the best endings, a punchline 500 pages to set up.

I have to wonder if this Moby Dick inspired tale also contains an epic meta pun of his name sounding like Melville. ( )
  lneukirch | Feb 4, 2024 |
Mieville does Melville.

OK long story short (too late!) its Moby Dick with trains instead of boats minus the whale hunting tutorials plus the City of Ember for spice.

China Mieville has created an excellent story in a fantastic world. However this imaginative outing is more clichéd than his past novels with a few too many chance happenings bringing the characters together in the end. He combines enough steam punk, diesel punk and cyberpunk to keep you guessing as to the era it supposedly takes place in while providing heavy flavours of Mad Max recklessness.


The big detractor is the marketing. This is not a youth or young adult novel. The complexity of the language and themes China deals with may be beyond the understanding of younger teenagers.

If I tell you what I liked about Railsea I'll spoil the fun for you. The beauty of this book lies in the little details of world building and the cheekiness of the authors fourth wall breaking interludes.

Reminded me of the manga BLAM! in a few places. Also as this is Mieville's second novel involving people living on trains it stands on stronger feet than his somewhat disappointing Iron Council. Certainly his strongest entry in a while.

Watch out for the ampersands Homo narrans. Good reading! ( )
  hubrisinmotion | Nov 14, 2023 |
I loved this book. As usual he plays around with language and style which might make it a more of a challenge for young adults. Hard to describe where this book fits. Part science fiction, fantasy, steampunk. The best Mieville book in years. ( )
  cdaley | Nov 2, 2023 |
Another brilliant Mieville book, with beautiful, bizarre language and thoughts about life and society that I'll be long pondering. Perhaps he's given us all a "philosophy." ( )
  lschiff | Sep 24, 2023 |
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Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Miéville, Chinaprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Bauche-Eppers, EvaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Mège, NathalieTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Miller, EdwardCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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To Indigo.
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This is the story of a bloodstained boy.
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Our minds we salvage from history's rubbish, & they are machines to make chaos into story.
Angels, unremittingly & absolutely sane, cannot but seem to poor humanity relentlessly & madly murderous.
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"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 & 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-colored 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 kind of treasure map indicating a mythical place untouched by iron rails--leads to considerably more than he'd bargained for. Soon he's hunted on all sides, by pirates, trainsfolk, monsters, & salvage-scrabblers. & it might not be just Sham's life that's about to change. It could be the whole of the railsea. Here is a novel for readers of all ages, a gripping & brilliantly imagined take on Herman Melville's Moby-Dick that confirms China Mieville's status as "the most original & talented voice to appear in several years" (Science Fiction Chronicle)"--Provided by publisher.

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