Railsea by China Miéville

Sham is a young man working as a doctor’s apprentice on the Medes, a train that travels the Railsea hunting for the giant white moldywarpe that took the captain’s arm many years ago. When the Medes comes across an old train wreckage, Sham discovers pictures that hint at a world that cannot possibly exist. Mercilessly hunted by pirates, scavengers, and monsters, Sham and his crew risk their lives to find the truth behind the pictures that will change their lives, and the Railsea, forever.

“’There she blows!’

    An instant frantic readiness.  Mops were abandoned, spanners dropped, letters half-written & carvings half-whittled were thrust into pockets, never mind their wet ink, their sawdusty unfinishedness.  To windows, to guardrails!  Everyone leaned into the whipping air…

    Way off where perspective made the line of old rails meet, soil seethed.  Rocks jostled. The ground violently rearranged.  From beneath came a dust-muffled howl…

    Soaring from its burrow in a clod-cloud & explosion it came.  A monster.  It roared, it soared, into the air.  It hung a crazy moment at the apex of its leap.  As if surveying.  As if to draw attention to its very size.  Crashed at last back down through the topsoil & disappeared into the below.

    The moldywarpe had breached.”

--China Miéville, Railsea

Set in a dystopian world where the endless, twisting lines of the Railsea cover an earth that is full of giant man-eating monsters and provide the only connection between the remote islands of civilization, this story is a new take on the classic tale of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick.  Sham and his crew search for the truth behind this endless world of the Railsea, and the impossibility of what lies beyond it.  Combining fantasy and steampunk in a highly entertaining adventure, this book is recommended for all young adults in a public or school library setting.

Learn More

Learn more about China Miéville (pronounced "mee-AY-vill") and his other books on his author page at Macmillan or Random House. You can also read his blog, Rejectamentalist Manifesto.

Watch an interview with Miéville below where he discusses all things Railsea:

If you liked Railsea, you might like Miéville's other books, such as the award-winning young adult novel, Un Lun Dun.  Watch a book trailer for Un Lun Dun below:

Miéville, China. Railsea. New York: Del Rey/Ballantine Books, 2012. Print.
9780345524522; Hardback; $12.00; 448 pages

Also available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.