Our reading list this month is eclectic, to say the least, from literary SciFi to mystery thriller, all marked by impressive world-building and storytelling Set in an alternative steampunk 1899, this novel is, at its core, an adventure saga that takes place primarily on a 20-car train—the Trans Siberian Express. Traveling from Beijing to Moscow over some 15 days, and across the Wastelands, the Express represents both luxury and danger. The Wastelands in this fictitious version is a Siberia teeming with unusual wildlife, with phantasmagorical phenomena, and strange bizarre occurrences, such that there’s something called the Wastelands sickness, which easily afflicts passengers on the Express, if they aren’t careful and vigilant.
A diverse cast of characters join the journey, each with an intriguing back story as to why they’ve boarded the train. There’s Zhang Weiwei, 16, whose whole life has been on board the train, where her Mother died in childbirth, and she’s been “adopted” by the train’s Captain. The new set of passengers on this specific fateful journey include Marya Petrovna who, traveling under a false name, is out to find justice for her late father who ran a glassworks company in Beijing.
Then there’s disgraced naturalist Henry Grey, seeking redemption via scientific specimens from the Wastelands, as well as the stowaway Elena, who’s discovered by Weiwei as a shadowy figure sympathetic to the wildness happening outside the train. As a debut novel.