Railhead: shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2017

by Philip Reeve

Shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2017!

"Come with me, Zen Starling", she had said. The girl in the red coat. But how did she know his name?
The Great Network is a place of drones and androids, maintenance spiders and Station Angels. The place of the thousand gates, where sentient trains criss-cross the galaxy in a heartbeat. Zen Starling is a petty thief, a street urchin from Thunder City. So when mysterious stranger Raven sends Zen and his new friend Nova on a mission to infiltrate the Emperor's train, he jumps at the chance to traverse the Great Network, to cross the galaxy in a heartbeat, to meet interesting people - and to
steal their stuff. But the Great Network is a dangerous place, and Zen has no idea where his journey will take him...

The long-awaited new blockbuster from Carnegie-medal-winning author Philip Reeve.

• ISBN10: 0192742752
• ISBN13: 9780192742759
• Publish Date: 1 October 2015
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 3 November 2017
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Oxford University Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Beth C.]

Sentient trains in the future, AI that crosses the border into humanity, and a thief who rides the rails and pushes his luck. Brought together when that thief, Zen, is hired to steal a plain silver cube from the Emperor's train, the collision of those three could change the future of the planet.

I'll be honest - I only decided to read Railhead after several other readers recommended it. I'm so glad I did! The story is unusual and entertaining, while demonstrating what can happen when change is denied for too long.

Zen is an interesting character. By turns totally selfish or risking his life to help a "robot", he tries to be a rough, tough baddy but never truly succeeds. In fact, he began stealing to help his family survive, since his father is a mystery and his mother appears to suffer from a mental illness. When offered the opportunity of a lifetime, he takes it - and learns that eternal lesson that not everything is as it seems.

Nova, however, might be my favorite character. She is AI, but has had some...upgrades. In some cases, it is Nova who demonstrates what it means to be "human" and she really was fascinating. Her existence began as support for Zen, but became oh-so-much more.

The world-building was amazing, and the sentient trains were AWESOME. What it would be like to ride the rails from planet to planet in the blink of an eye on a train that communicates...I'm afraid I might turn into a foamer (someone who has a passion for all-things train) and never want to stop. The book started a bit slower because there was so much to set up, but once it picked up pace, it just kept on going.

The ending, well - no spoilers from me. Let me just say that I don't know if there is going to be a sequel because the ending could be perfect as it is, but if Reeve DOES continue the story, I'll be tagging along for the ride!