Sarah Brooks

**Warning: the following review contains spoilers**

As the Trans-Siberian Express makes its return journey to Moscow after a lengthy enforced break, the reader follows three people on board: Marya Petrovna, who travels with an agenda of her own and under an assumed name; Zhang Weiwei, who was born on the train and has never known life outside it; and Dr Henry Grey, a naturalist desperate to rescue his professional reputation. Along with the rest of the passengers and crew, they must traverse the dangerous Wastelands, but the usual rules no longer apply.

I so wanted to love this book – it seemed to tick all the right boxes – and for the first half it was just what I was hoping for; however, the feeling I'm left with after finishing the story is one of mild annoyance. I love a surprising twist, but it has to be convincing, which I thought wasn't the case here. But there is still lots to enjoy and admire.

The author creates tension and suspense through the skilful juxtaposition of opposites. On the one hand, there is the train itself, which can be seen as the embodiment of order and rules, humanity's success at subduing nature – the inside; on the other hand, there are the Wastelands, chaotic and dangerous, nature that has thrown off any attempt by humanity to control it – the outside. Both are running strictly parallel to each other, a fact represented – in what I thought was incredibly striking imagery – by the train tracks. But as the story progresses, the border between the two becomes porous, resulting in the Wastelands gaining a foothold inside the train, with consequences for the train and everyone on board.

The atmosphere is tense and filled with a sense of unease and foreboding, the more the train leaves the safety of Beijing, and the Chinese Wall, behind. From the beginning the reader is told that the outside is dangerous and mustn't be allowed in, and that even watching it for too long has a detrimental effect on one's health; it is better to draw the curtains.

The first half of the book reads like a cautionary environmental tale, highlighting that the changes in the Wastelands are the result of mankind's over-exploitation and subsequent destruction of the natural environment, of bleeding it dry to gain access to the natural resources (p. 87): 'It is said that so much had been taken from the land that it was always hungry. It had been feeding off the blood spilt by the empires, and by the bones of the animals and people they left behind. It gained a taste for death.' Nature has grown teeth and is fighting back and, one can't help feeling, actively throwing obstacles in the train's way so the crossing will fail.

Both Dr Grey, who manages to get outside after the train has stopped to take on more water and bring back several specimen jars, and Weiwei, who goes after him and brings back a piece of lichen, are labelled thieves, for taking something that is not theirs to take.

However, in the last half or so of the book, the reader's assumptions are turned on their head and we are supposed to be glad of the changes the Wastelands have brought to the train, both outside and inside, and some of those on board. The reader is expected to welcome the fact that the train has escaped its confinement and is bringing the wind of change to the world, with the novel even suggesting that the transformed train aids female empowerment when the formerly timid wife decides to stay on board, while her somewhat domineering husband gets off.

I'm sorry, but I can't believe that a novel of such sophistication carries the rather simplistic message that humanity must only make peace with nature, and form a connection with it, in order to benefit, and I'm left with a very unsatisfying ending. This grates even more considering that we're living in very troublesome times, where habitat loss is accelerating across the globe and more than 45,000 species are currently threatened with extinction, and so a sobering and thought-provoking message would have been far more appropriate. I know it sounds strange, but I somehow feel cheated of the story I was enjoying so much. I hope that when I pick up the book again, in a couple of years' time, I will be able to appreciate it more.… (more)

I liked the story - its quite unlike anything I've read before. In a way, it reminds me of Mystery on the Orient Express (But without the murder). Everyone has their own reason to board this train, across a strange wasteland of Siberia that is not of the Earth, that changes those who travel through it, even in a heavily protected train built at great cost (and with great rewards).

The story is well written, with interesting characters whose motivations make sense. And, this story is scary, at times hitting on horror. It also addresses issues about class, from the way the train workers are treated, to third class passengers, to first class passengers.

However, the ending was a bit too charming for my liking, while not a bad thing, I was expecting something more dark.… (more)

The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands is one of those books that delights simply because of its originality. It has its weak moments, but the overall concept and narrative arc more than compensate for those and earn it a five-star rating.

Imagine: the book is set on a Trans-Siberian Express, but not the Trans-Siberian Express and not the Siberia we're familiar with. This Siberia started to "go wrong" in the mid-19th Century. People were going mad and disappearing in Siberia; plant and animal life was transforming at well beyond the usually stately evolutionary pace. So, wall it off, but run a train through it that begins in China and ends in Russia. Makes everyone who rides on it sign a waiver indemnifying the British-East-India-like company running the train from any loss of mind or bodily injury. The only other China-Moscow route involves sea travel and takes months, so there are plenty of people willing to take their chances.

Something odd, however, happened on the last run of the train. Things went wrong in a way no one can remember exactly—a breakdown of minds as well as the train itself. The current run comes after a particularly large time gap and everyone is on edge worried that the thing-no-one-remembers will occur again.

The train's passengers and crew on this run include
• An Erasmus Darwin-like scientist hoping to capture some of the bizarre life forms in the Wastelands in order to use them to prove that the drive behind evolution is an effort to reach perfection, to become more like God.
• A young woman whose father purportedly caused the disaster (the one no one remembers) on the last run—she's determined to clear his name.
• Wealthy businessmen smuggling contraband.
• The train's mapmaker whose own body seems to be becoming an increasingly complex map itself.
• A young girl born and raised on the train who longs for a friend and for a more responsible position on the train.

The pace here is slow, which takes a bit of getting used to, but actually works well. Progress across the wastelands is slow—and time stretches out even further as minds become fixated on potential disaster.

Let yourself take the unsettling (trippy, even) ride across the Wastelands and find out for yourself what happens next.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via Edelweiss; the opinions are my own.… (more)

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got this on ebook through Netgalley to review.

Thoughts: I ended up really enjoying this. The premise is that an area of "other" that is deadly to humans has developed in the tundra between China and Russia. Walls were built to protect humanity but the only way to traverse this wilderness is the Train which is owned by The Company. However, the last journey of the train went wrong and people don't remember what happened. The Company must thrive though, so the Train must keep running.

Yes, you do spend most of the time on this mysterious train traveling through the Wastelands. However, that is the point of the story...this is a bunch of humans stuck in a very stressful situation traveling through a dangerous region with only the walls of the train to protect them.

The story does spend a lot of time dealing with the passengers and their secrets. The POV rotates between three main passengers: a young woman trying to find the truth behind her father's prosecution, a young woman known as "the child of the train" who was born on the train, and an older professor who is looking for his next big scientific finding.

The Wastelands themselves are fascinating but never fully explained. We see them mostly through the glass of the train, just like our protagonists. It is when the truth of the Wastelands and the train begins to be revealed that things get really interesting.

The story is more slow burn than action packed. However the constant tension of the danger outside the thin train walls, the mystery of the truths behind the train, and the intriguing characters on the train really kept me engaged in the story.

The story has very Lovecraftian vibes to it. You have the theme of an otherness, a darkness, a madness taking over this portion of the land. I love stories that explore this mythos.

The written is beautifully done and very lyrical. I loved the world-building, the intriguing characters, and the constant mysterious tension. I also thought the ending of the book was absolutely fantastic and completely fitting with the rest of the story.

My Summary (5/5) :Overall I thought this was fantastic. I believe this is debut novel for Brooks and I am eager to see what she comes up with next. This was incredibly creative and very engaging. It does move at more of a slow, mysterious burn. This is not an action packed adventure. However, the intriguing characters and landscape, coupled with the tension of constant danger really pulled me in to the story.… (more)