Railhead

<blockquote> <i>“Aren’t you curious? Don’t you want to know what’s beyond that gate?”</i> </blockquote><br /><b>This is a book for the curious</b>. This is for those readers who get excited by possibility. If you like the idea of a great, wild universe spread out before you, full of mysteries and secrets, then I highly recommend you step into this world.<br /><br />Reeve has created one of the <b>richest, most imaginative worlds I have ever read about</b>. It's set many centuries into our future, when Old Earth has been left behind and a great network of mysterious train tracks run through the universe. Let one take you where you want to go, where you've never been, or even to places you never knew existed. <br /><blockquote> <i>“You step aboard a train, and the train goes through a K-gate, and you step off on another planet, where the sun that was shining on you a moment ago is now just one of those tiny stars in the sky.”</i> </blockquote><br />It's a compelling heist, set to the backdrop of this complex web of science, mystery, droids and emperors, all of which make up the future of space civilization. To be honest, <b>it took my breath away</b>. I read this book in wide-eyed wonderment from the very first pages to the ending. Words and imagery collide to make the impossible seem so real.<br /><br />It's a <b>fast-paced, constantly-moving journey of excitement</b>, as Zen Starling - a street rat from Thunder City - is given the opportunity to play a part, infiltrate the Emperor's train, hang out with the aristocrats and, ultimately, steal an old, mysterious box for the equally mysterious Raven. <br /><br />Yes, yes, it is all of that. It's pretending and nearly dying and uncovering secrets. It's runaway trains and betrayals and weird creatures called Hive Monks:<br /><blockquote> <i>“He was a Hive Monk, a colony of big brown beetles clinging to a roughly human-shaped armature.”</i> </blockquote><br />BUT this book is so much richer than all of that. <b>Every word counts</b>. Questions arise about authority and the relationship between power and knowledge (how those in power have the ability to define knowledge and truth). Reeve's droids beg the question of what it means to be human. Are sentient droids really anything other than people made from different materials?<br /><blockquote> <i>“I am human,” she said. “I have a processor for a brain instead of a lump of meat, and my body is made of different substances, but I have feelings and dreams and things, like humans do.”</i> </blockquote><br /><b>It's also a really diverse novel</b>. Most of the characters, including Zen, are described as "brown" or "dark-skinned" with white people being a minority. Which actually makes a lot more sense than most novels, given that white people are only about 15% of today's population and that is estimated to drop below 10% in the next fifty years. <br /><br />Not only that, but there is diverse sexuality with men married to men and women married to women. And the genderless droids make room for discussion about the differences between men and women - how much difference really exists beyond the way the world sees you?<br /><br />It's such a great story, both interesting in concept, and heart-pounding. I loved how there were <b>no simple villains</b> and the "bad guy" is not all he seems. He has his own back story that shapes him into more than a one-dimensional character with a mindless agenda. And Zen Starling is not a typical hero either. He does some awful things in order to survive and he is allowed to make mistakes and be selfish.<br /><br />In short: <b>This is a clever sci-fi novel that makes space seem utterly magical</b>. <br /><br />Doors to other worlds, ancient civilizations, and a whole universe of possibility. The ending closes the door on this chapter, but it's left in a perfect position to open another one. I get goosebumps just thinking about where that might take us...<br /><blockquote> <i>“He was going to miss everything. But he guessed that was how everybody always felt. Everyone was losing things, leaving things behind, clinging to old memories as they rushed into the future. Everyone was a passenger on a runaway train.”</i> </blockquote><br /><a href="http://thebookgeek.org" rel="nofollow noopener">Blog</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thebookgeekreviews" rel="nofollow noopener">Facebook</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/thebookgeek01" rel="nofollow noopener">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://instagram.com/emleemay" rel="nofollow noopener">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/EmilyMayTheBookGeek" rel="nofollow noopener">Youtube</a> | <a href="https://society6.com/bookgeek/" rel="nofollow noopener">Store</a>

I’m on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/TheSassyLibraryFox" rel="nofollow noopener">BookTube</a> now! =)<br><br><i>”The trouble with friends was, sooner or later he’d have to tell them about Ma’s troubles and his life on Bridge Street, and those were sadnesses which he preferred to hold close and secret. It fitted the image he had of himself, too – the lone thief, all stray-cat-cool, walking solitary down some midnight street.”</i><br><br>So the first thing I have to say about “Railhead” is that it’s unlike any other book I’ve ever read, which is pretty rare and definitely an accomplishment. I mean I read a lot of books and to find something unique that still surprises me is like winning the lottery jackpot. But the world Philip Reeve built? It’s amazing! I don’t know why so many people put this into the genre of “young adult” because I think it’s actually middle grade, but I guess this is a discussion for another day. ;-) Right now I just want to speak about the awesome world Reeve built and how cool it was to dive into it. <br><br><i>”I will not leave without Zen Starling,” said the Damask Rose.<br>“But you have the painter,” said Uncle Bugs. “Zen Starling means nothing to you.”<br>“He is brave,” said the train. “He came all this way to save his friend. I will not leave without him.”</i><br><br>I absolutely loved the idea of portals and railways that exist between different worlds and I adored the concept of sentient locos! Like OMG! This is ingenious! Every single loco that was mentioned in this book had its own voice and I loved to discover how different they were. They were very human and some of them even were in love like the “Time of Gifts” and “The Wildfire”. <br><br><i>”They tease each other, and sing, and talk about old times, other worlds they’ve seen. I don’t think they know I’m listening. It’s sweet. People say they’re twins, but they aren’t. They’re lovers. They come from different engine shops. They met on the Network. And they love each other so much...”</i><br><br>Okay, go ahead, tell me that feeling and speaking locomotives aren’t one of the coolest things ever. *lol* Also there are motoriks in this world as well and they are basically very human looking robots (I suppose you could say they are humanoids). One of my favourite characters was Flex! She/He wasn’t just a really sweet character but also some sort of gender fluid motorik and if you think I’m biased now: Well, yes, I am. XD I can’t help it though, I mean how often do you find gender fluid reps in a book and how many of them are cute and talented motoriks? <br><br><i>”Why do you keep switching?” he asked. “Male to female, female to male...”<br>Flex looked up at him and smiled. “Wouldn’t you, if you could?”</i> <br><br>And if that isn’t enough to persuade you to read this book: We also have Hive Monks which are basically bodies that are made of a million bugs and somehow gain a conscience once they are enough to form a body. I know a lot of people might be repelled or horrified by the mere idea of creatures like that but for me they added a really nice sci-fi element to the story and I actually found it very interesting to read about them. They acted very human and Nova the motorik girl that helped Zen with every task that was given to him by Raven was an amazing character as well. <br><i>”Her face was very beautiful, he thought. He hadn't been sure before, but he was now. The mind that lived behind it made it beautiful, the same way that the flame inside a lantern makes the lantern beautiful."</i><br><br>Truth be told, the slow romance that formed between Nova and Zen was probably one of the most intriguing things about “Railhead”. Nova is a motorik but if you compare her to the other human beings that appear in this book she seems to be the most human of them all. She is compassionate, she is kind and she feels more deeply than most of the people that made an appearance in this book. Which brings me right to Raven. I can’t say I liked him, but I kinda understood where he came from and what he wanted to achieve. The way he went about it was wrong though and I think I’ll never forgive him for what he did to Nova. <br><br><i>”Things need shaking up, Zen. Everything keeps repeating itself, century after century. Empires rise up and grow old, and there’s always some new would-be Emperor waiting in the wings to take their turn. Dark ages come and go. People are born and people die. It’s so pointless. The Guardians mean well, but they have shunted the whole human race onto a branch line of history, and we keep trundling round in circles. It’s time someone changed that.”</i> <br><br>Malik, Zen’s and Raven’s antagonist was a super interesting character as well. I loved to find out more about him and his complexity added a lot to the storyline. I mean he’s a man on a mission and he has his own codex of right and wrong. He is confident and knows exactly where he stands and he stands firm in his convictions. I had to admire that about him and I kind of hope that he’ll make an appearance in book two. (Him and his husband, because wow, that tidbit of information was just mentioned in passing and I loved it!!) As for Zen Sterling: He made for an interesting MC and even though I didn’t agree with all of his actions I was still able to see the good in him. In fact Zen is a very complicated character too and I can’t wait to find out how he’s going to change in book two. There is a lot of potential for character growth and I’m so here for it. ;-)<br><br><b>Conclusion:</b><br><br>“Railhead” was such an amazing read and I enjoyed it immensely. Mind you this is someone speaking who isn’t even moderately close to the age of middle grade. *lol* This however didn’t take away any of my enjoyment and I still loved to dive into this world. So if you want something different, if you want sci-fi and unique locos that travel through worlds and wormholes, if you want a young hero and his amazing side-kicks. Well, then this book is for you! ;-) <br><br>__________________________<br><br>This was such a surprise and something totally different! <br>This universe is very unique and I really enjoyed to explore it!<br>Also Zen and the locos were great! &lt;333<br><br>Full RTC soon! Stay tuned! ;-)<br><br>__________________________<br><br>This is one of my Yoongi's favourite series so I'm going to read this before I have to return it to the library! <br>Four days to read 299 pages? <br>Challenge accepted! XD<br><br>Yoongi I got this!<br>I totally, totally got this! *lol*<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1633354287ra/32009571.gif" width="300" height="350" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy">

Cyberpunk-ish YA adventure, with an immediately-appealing, immersive writing style.<br /><br />Zen Starling makes his way by petty thievery. He lives with his older sister and his mother, who appears to be a paranoid schizophrenic. Throughout his childhood, she's dragged them from one place<br />to the next, never settling down, insisting that they're being pursued by shadowy enemies. But as the adage says, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you. And that's what Zen learns, when after stealing a necklace one day, he finds himself pursued by a high-tech drone. After also encountering a mysterious girl, and finding his favorite pawnbroker attacked, Zen realizes that he may be in a heap of trouble.<br /><br />The initial set-up here reminded me a lot of 'The Ice Owl' by Carolyn Ives Gilman. (<a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/698609944">https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...</a>). <br /><br />The primary 'gimmick' here is that easy, casual travel between worlds has been made possible by a network of trans-dimensional trains. No one really knows how they work, and the network's origin is shrouded in mystery - but they're a part of daily life that is taken for granted. So Zen can steal a necklace on one world, hop a train, and be back for dinner in another galaxy on time.<br /><br />Overall, this was a very enjoyable book, but I did have a few issues with it, some more major than others.<br /><br />On the very minor end - the character of Zen, the way he's written, feels 12 or 13. When, later in the story, he's expected to impersonate a college student and therefore must be at least 17, I found it very jarring.<br /><br />I think the story as a whole would've been improved with less "Quest for the MacGuffin."<br /><br />On a more significant level, there is a point in the story where Zen does something really, truly horrific. <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="e04dc143-4517-4267-b345-54cc8917e04c" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="e04dc143-4517-4267-b345-54cc8917e04c">An act of mass-murder and terrorism.</label> Yes, he's kinda-sorta tricked into it, but his minor feelings of remorse weren't enough for me to continue seeing him as a sympathetic character, which the author clearly expected me to. If you're a good person at all, and you end up doing that level of a serious thing, you're going to be EFFED UP FOR LIFE. But Zen's more like, "Oh damn, that went rather badly. Oh well." For me to buy that, he'd've had to have been portrayed as a more calloused, hardened killer to start with - which he wasn't.<br /><br />In addition, I felt there was a major plot hole: <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="4a573935-47b3-475e-ad72-d16f7d48977d" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="4a573935-47b3-475e-ad72-d16f7d48977d">OK, Zen agrees to steal the MacGuffin for Raven in return for a giant reward. But he has no reason to either trust Raven or be loyal to him. So, once he's on the Noon train and sees all of the wealth and privilege that he should be entitled to by birth, why on earth (or whatever planet they're zooming by) doesn't he throw himself on the mercy of his extended family, reveal his identity, and expose the plot? It seems the obvious, most self-beneficial thing to do, and while risky, has the clear possibility of a far larger reward. And it doesn't even seem to occur to him as an option.</label><br /><br />Last issue - big ol' setup-for-the-sequel ending.<br /><br />But, I'd gladly read the sequel - or other books by Reeve.<br /><br />Many thanks to NetGalley and Capstone for the opportunity to read. As always, my opinions are solely my own.

4.5 stars rounded up. After thinking about it for a couple of days I rounded up my star rating on this one. This book is just so imaginative it really deserves it.<br /><br />Railhead is set in a fantastic future where sentient trains transport people across vast distances to other planets by means of K-Gates, a technology pioneered and protected by Guardians, powerful AIs who long ago appointed themselves caretakers of humanity. Zen Starling is a petty thief who is minding his own business when opportunity comes knocking with an offer it appears he can't refuse. What follows is an exciting heist story that quickly becomes something more, because of course the object of the heist is the key to a closely held and dangerous secret.<br /><br />Not enough can be said about the amazing world building in this book. It is incredibly detailed and imaginative, immediately bringing the story to life. Zen Starling is a flawed main character who struggles to do the "right thing" in the face of an increasingly difficult situation. Used to being in a relatively simple world of black and white and small time stakes, he finds himself suddenly in uncertain waters and having to make decisions with implications that extend far beyond just himself.<br /><br />The non-human characters in the story are equally well developed. The Motorik, or android, Nova starts out by recruiting Zen to work for her maker Raven, but it is obvious that she likes Zen too. She seems to have control over her own programming, but it's clear that Zen still harbours some bias and confusion about her motives simply because she is a machine and can be programmed. <br /><br />The whole issue of how much a non-human entity can feel and how it might express self identity is dealt with very well throughout the book. This is an ongoing issue not just for the humanoid Motoriks, but also for the sentient trains themselves, and other characters such as the insect colonies who have formed into single-minded Hive Monks <br /><br />The finish to the story brings everything nicely to a close, but leaves the door open to more books being set in this world. I would be more than happy to read any that are.

<b> <i> “Thing about trains”, said Zen, “you’ll have to give them something, in return for carrying you. If you do, they’ll take you to any star-system that you want.” </i> </b><br /><br />It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book with a world so rich. Philip Reeve wrote an absolute gem of a middle-grade sci-fi story, that will take you on a mind-blowing journey across the universe. You’ll meet many people of colour, droids who acts like humans, and these incredible beings called Hive Monks:<br /><br /><i> <blockquote> "He was a colony of big brown beetles clinging to a roughly human-shaped armature which they’d made for themselves out of sticks and string and chicken bones. He wore a paper wasp’s nest for a face, and out of the mouth hole came a voice that was made by a thousand saw-toothed limbs rubbing together." </blockquote> </i><br /><br />On this journey we follow Zen Starling. Zen is a young, black, small-time criminal who spends his days robbing unsuspecting shop owners and riding the space trains that can take you to any universe in the galaxy. One day a mysterious man called Raven approaches him with an offer: he wants Zen to infiltrate a space train owned by the Imperial Noon family to steal an object hidden away on that train. On this mission Zen will be accompanied by Nova, Raven’s personal droid, and with her technological knowledge this job should be a piece of cake, right?<br /><br />…Of course not, and Zen soon finds himself in an adventure too big and too dangerous for a boy of just twelve years old. There are ruthless drones, rich families fighting for power, a God with a wish for revenge, and connecting them all are the sentient space trains that link all the worlds in the galaxy with each other. <br /><br /><i> <blockquote> “You step aboard a train, and the train goes through a K-gate, and you step off on another planet, where the sun that was shining on you a moment ago is now just one of those tiny stars in the sky.”</blockquote> </i><br /><br />But apart from the incredible world building and the thrilling heist, it are the diverse characters that make this story so compelling. Most of them are people of colour – white people are the minority – and among them we find men married to men, and women married to women. The humanlike droids Nova and Flex don’t only raise questions about humanity but also about gender, and the space trains themselves show that you don’t need a human <u>body</u> to have character. <br /><br />I also think it’s fascinating that many of the characters are morally grey, including Zen. He’s a good kid, but not a good hero: <i>"He wasn’t out to save the day, he just wanted to save himself and Nova.”</i> To find such an imperfect hero in a middle-grade book is rare, but then again, none of the characters in this book are one-dimensional. Everyone, even the ‘villains’, have their own goals that make them neither good or bad. <br /><br />So I would recommend <b>Railhead</b> to the curious ones. To the readers who like space and thieves and trains; who want to go on a heart-pounding adventure with eccentric characters whom asks us questions about humanity, authority, and knowledge. <br />This wild train ride certainly deserves four stars, and although you can read this as a stand-alone, I'm definitely interested in reading the second novel.<br /><br /><br /><br /><b>Read here my reviews of the other books in the <i>Railhead</i> series:</b> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2032283157" rel="nofollow noopener"> #2 Black Light Express</a> | <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2285201684?book_show_action=false&amp;from_review_page=1" rel="nofollow noopener"> #3 Station Zero</a>

More middle grade than YA, but I did enjoy this sci-fi adventure. At times it felt a little jumbled and all over the place, however the uniqueness of the world kept me interested. <br /><br />Giving personalities to trains was pretty cool. Hard to find much to say about this, while I enjoyed it for the most part it was still rather middle of the road. The ending was very frustrating. <b>2.5/5</b>

A heist, stargates, a space railway, sentient trains, robot friends and super-AIs. Why haven't you read this yet?<br /><br />Humanity has spread to the stars via a network of K-gates which are only passable in a sealed environment traveling at speed, so ... trains. The K-gate network is a multi-world rail network traveled by super-advanced trains with AIs. In one corner of the galaxy "railhead" and thief Zen Starling seems to be in more trouble than usual.<br /><br />Zen finds himself performing a "simple" heist, but soon finds himself caught up in an ancient grudge match between the ruling classes of this society, with the future fate of humanity in the balance.<br /><br />This reads like a YA version of <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/22747321.The_Commonwealth_Saga" title="The Commonwealth Saga by Peter F. Hamilton" rel="noopener">The Commonwealth Saga</a> by <a href="https://goodreads.com/author/show/25375.Peter_F__Hamilton" title="Peter F. Hamilton" rel="noopener">Peter F. Hamilton</a> and has elements of <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/77566.Hyperion__Hyperion_Cantos___1_" title="Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #1) by Dan Simmons" rel="noopener">Hyperion</a> by <a href="https://goodreads.com/author/show/2687.Dan_Simmons" title="Dan Simmons" rel="noopener">Dan Simmons</a> as well, but has its own unique flavor besides. There's themes about different levels of intelligence and how they see each other and what they want. There's also some quiet elements of affection between all of the main players. The agent of the imperium could very easily have been an obsessive and vindictive one-dimensional character, but he was far from that. Raven, the "bad guy", has so many layers that it's difficult to condemn him. <br /><br />It's got a lot of depth for a YA book and deserves to be read more widely than it has been.

DNF at 100 pages in. I think I would've loved this book if I'd read it at a younger age. Unfortunately, I think this series is no longer for me. The characters are fine, the dialog is well-written, and the worldbuilding is interesting, but this is far more middle-grade than anything else. Not my thing. <br /><br />The writing is really getting on my nerves. It's really immature, complete with that severe overuse of ellipses here. Oh well. <br /><br /><br />(Review not posted, as I don't have much of a review so much as a realization that this series is no longer for me.)

Railhead was a book that I had seen in my local library and appealed to me since at the time, I was looking for a science fiction novel to read and enjoy. However after finishing this one, I'm feeling slightly disappointed by how the story turned out. Zen Starling is a thief and goes stealing lots of people's processions. He also lives in the Great Network which is full of trains and railway lines so exploring the areas is his main priority. He meets Raven who challenges him to steal from the Emperor's train and pretend to be a relative from the Emperor's family, he works with his friend Nova to uncover hidden secrets and not get killed in the process. With an interesting concept and lots of twists that I generally didn't see coming, a number of things sadly dampened my expectatations. The terminology was confusing at times to understand, I struggled to connect with Zen as a character. He did remind me at times of the Artful Dodger from Oliver Twist however which is one of the fictional characters that I enjoy. The last thirty pages in particular were extremely thrilling but by this point, I felt that the writing style just didn't work for me. The ending was also a cliffhanger which I'm not a huge fan of.<br /><br />I have tried to read Mortal Engines by the same author in the past but ended up DNF'ing it twice due to the complexity of the plotline. I am most likely not going to be reading the sequel for this one.

Everyone was a passenger on a runaway train.<br /><br />Stunning, imaginative, original. Character led Sci fi...LOVED it!