Between Beijing and Moscow, across the huge, deadly Wasteland full of strange flora and mutated creatures, there is one mode of transport: The Trans-Siberian Express. Our story begins just as the train is about to depart for Moscow; the first journey after a mysterious accident in the Wastelands that no-one seems to remember. Our three main characters are Marya Petronova, who’s trying to clear her disgraced father’s name, Dr Henry Grey, a naturalist with a radical plan for fame, and Weiwei Zhang, a child born on the train who cannot imagine life away from the rails.

This book captivated me from the first page, and I could not put it down! The concept of the Wastelands and the Company bureaucracy is so engaging, and the author has chosen the perfect characters for us to explore the world of the train. It was hard to pick a favourite, but Weiwei is a standout through her inquisitive nature and big heart (especially when she encounters a stowaway, and the conflict really kicks off).

I had no idea where the plot was going, but the author surprised me at every turn. The story changes at least every 50 pages: first it’s an adventure narrative, then a mystery, then a captivating survival story and finally it morphs into a surrealist dreamscape once we enter the Wasteland. I will admit, the ending wrapped up too quickly, but that’s a very small gripe.

My copy’s blurb said Cautious Traveller is for fans of ‘His Dark Materials’ and Piranesi, but I was getting shades of Railsea and The Night Circus from the story. No matter the comparison, this book was absolutely fantastic! I wish I could give it six stars.

Reviewed by Rachel Denham-White

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sarah Brooks won the Lucy Cavendish Prize in 2019. She works in East Asian Studies at the University of Leeds where she also helps run the Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing. She has a PhD on monsters in classical Chinese ghost stories. She is also co-editor of Samovar, a bilingual online magazine for translated speculative fiction. Originally from Lancashire, she now lives in Leeds.

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