Thirty years ago I travelled from St Petersburg to Hong Kong by train. Imagine my glee when The Cautious Travellers Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks, set on the Trans Siberian Railway, arrived at Cultural Wednesday Towers. I am afraid that glee soon turned to disappointment as the fictional train bore no resemblance to my fondly remembered train. But then it is a novel. I persevered, eventually the rather fabulous magic realism of the book won me over.

I was sent a copy of The Cautious Traveller's Guide to The Wastelands by Sarah Brooks to read and review by NetGalley. I really loved this novel! It had everything I like in a book, with interesting characters, a fabulous sense of place – both inside and outside of the train, and an intriguing story which though fiction seemed very much as though it could be real! I will definitely be searching out any other titles by this author in the future. Well worth five stars and more.

🚂Book Review🚂

🌍The Cautious Travellers Guide to the Wastelands... By Sarah Brooks 🌍 ⭐⭐⭐⚡3.75/5

Omg!! That was like Murder on the Orient Express on acid!!!!😵‍💫

Totally nuts!

There is only one way to travel across the Siberian Wastelands and that is on the Trans-Siberian Express... Travelling between Beijing and Moscow through the Wastelands, home to unknown entities, marvels and horrors, the wastelands can have bizarre and dangerous effects on the passengers!!
Onboard this deliciously luxurious train is a diverse concoction of passengers including Marya Petrovna, a grieving woman with a borrowed name; Henry Grey, a disgraced naturalist looking for redemption; Wei Wei the infamous orphan of the train and Elena, a beguiling stowaway with a powerful connection to the Wastelands ...

This is a unique, peculiar and relatively odd story..a mix of horror, cosy mystery and friendships... Deffo worth a read

This book, unfortunately, fails to leave a lasting impression. The plot meanders without much direction or momentum, making it hard to stay engaged as the story unfolds. Key moments lack tension or excitement, and even potential twists fall flat, feeling more like diversions than critical turning points. Characters, rather than coming to life on the page, feel one-dimensional and forgettable, with little in the way of development or depth to draw readers in.

I LOVED LOVED THIS! It was somehow the perfect holiday read, because I was utterly transported to the world of the Wastelands and the train that is trying valiantly to cross it... plus the train is full with perfectly fleshed out, distinctive characters who are all on the train for different reasons. Dark and gothic and twisty as anything, it felt utterly unique to me, and completely transportative. What more can you ask for!?

In a world where travel across the Wastelands is possible only by the luxurious yet perilous Trans-Siberian Express, an enigmatic journey awaits. The train, known for both its opulence and its perilous encounters with Wastelands creatures, is about to embark on its final voyage—a journey fraught with mystery and danger.

Onboard is a diverse group of passengers:

Zhang Weiwei: A long-time steward of the train who thought she knew all its secrets until the last journey, which ended in a disaster she can’t quite recall.

Marya Petrovna: A grieving woman hiding behind a borrowed name, seeking solace or perhaps something more.

Henry Grey: A disgraced naturalist on a quest for redemption, carrying the weight of his past mistakes.

Elena: A beguiling stowaway with a deep, almost mystical connection to the Wastelands.

As the train begins its journey, Weiwei finds herself inexplicably drawn to Elena despite knowing she should report her. The train’s passengers must navigate not only their own hidden agendas and personal mysteries but also the increasingly dangerous and unpredictable environment outside the train.

The narrative unfolds at a deliberate pace, mirroring the slow and treacherous progress of the train through the Wastelands. This slow burn creates a sense of tension and anticipation, enhancing the eerie, almost surreal atmosphere. As the rules governing the Wastelands begin to shift, the passengers must grapple with their fears and suspicions, all while contending with the ever-present threat of the unknown.

In this unsettling, atmospheric journey, you are invited to experience the trippy and disorienting reality of the Wastelands and uncover what happens when the boundaries between safety and danger blur.

http://thesecretbookreview.co.uk

A gripping dystopian adventure reminiscent of the Snowpiercer film franchise. The mysterious Wastelands between China and Russia, prove an eerie attraction for the multitude of passengers who make the cross continental journey aboard the Great Trans-Siberian Express. Each passenger has their own reason to be aboard the train as it makes it's way back to Russia after a doomed expedition. The crew aboard have no choice but to serve the passengers as they journey deep into the Wasteland territories.

But what is really lying in wait outside the brittle glass windows of the train and how can onlookers become transfixed and succumb to sickness and eventual madness just by gazing upon it. There are those aboard who love the train and the freedom that it offers and there are those who rightly fear it's ethereal power.

A gripping story that builds tension and intrigue from the outset. Beautifully written and truly beguiling.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This is a very vibey novel and I think people will either love it or hate it, although saying that I come down on the fence about it! Anyone coming into this expecting an Agatha Christie-style romp on a train will probably be disappointed, and anyone expecting high fantasy will probably also find it a bit lacking. It sits on a tangential area between realism and fantasy, which is exactly what it should do given the story. I liked the strands for WeiWei and Marya, but hated Henry Grey, though I assume you're supposed to. It's a book that you probably come out of with more questions than answers, so bear that in mind before picking it up.

A dark novel that wants to evoke the strangeness of the unknown, and the void – and succeeds. We are in late Victorian times, and the Trans-Siberian Express is leaving Beijing for European Russia, but this is not the TSE we know from our world. When it leaves the city, and passes through a massive wall – and this is certainly not as wee as the Great Wall of China that we know from our world – it will not stop, haring across the plains of Siberia, until it comes to rest, is minutely checked for invasive – well, invasive anythings – and finally let through to Moscow. We quickly see a few of the key passengers and company – a nature scientist, an orphan, a stuck-up Countess, someone there under false pretences – and very slowly find out that something rather threatening and wrong happened on the eastbound journey. Many quit the railway firm, those reluctantly there are not speaking of it – and when the nastiness from the Siberian expanse can be the wrong kind of yellow in the wrong kind of place, just what issues and problems might this trip encounter?

This isn't a "Snowpiercer versus the monsters outside" book, but take away the class issues of the graphic novel and you get a similar kind of ride. Although don't think I am misremembering Snowpiercer – and yes, you're right, it is unusual for a dodgy yellow to be picked up on as a nastiness that seems to end up on the train solely from man's hubris at thinking he can cross the taiga and steppes without anything fighting back. This is dipping into the concept behind "The Forbidden Planet" with its subconscious monster, which here is a 'something' out in the sticks, the Wastelands of the title, that makes those in Beijing so wary of the train itself they'll throw any half-made tea away if they hear it, in case of it passing on a curse as it thunders by.

The other cultural reference to be made, in light of the feeling of this giant train but a matchstick in a birch forest, lakeland, living entity so much larger than it, is the first "Solaris" movie. This area called the Wastelands is no irradiated desert, however toxic people have been led to believe it is – instead there is life there, if it is not alive itself.

All this comes across wonderfully well, with an easily read and most immediate present tense taking us from character to character – and so many of them drawn to the world outside their hermetic carriages. This is definitely 'speculative fiction' as opposed to straight sci-fi, or horror, and clearly about the pull of the unknown, the fear of the unseen and the old empirical urge to conquer the untameable. But it's also about entertainment, far more than it is about conveying a theme or message, and I found it highly entertaining. The style is classily looking back as historical fiction might (this alone must have doubled my encountering of the word "whilst" for the year) but is really engaging with it, meaning this, puffed as a best-seller before it was even out, does have many of the hallmarks of being able to fit that description. An easy four stars.

I really liked the different characters, with their varying reasons for being on the train and seeking to know more about the Wastelands. The mystery as to what happened on the last journey the train made, and how it could happen, hushed up by the powerful Company who run the train, is gradually answered over the journey, and the very nature of the Wastelands becomes clearer as the train travels. It's part steam-punk exploration, part mystery, part historical fantasy, and is very well done.

This was a distinct case of too many character, too many ideas and too little plot. It's a mix of dystopian, mystery and fantasy as a strange group of characters find solice from a desolate wasteland aboard a train. A train that becomes the home, livelihood and whole world to a host of characters. It's chaotic and claustrophobic, widely inventive and strangely closed off. Most of the scenes and story take place on the train, with limited glimpses of the outside world. This made the plot very tunnel visioned in a way, restricted in what the characters could do or say. Unfortunately as a result it just got a bit dull with not much action, and a whole lot of talking amongst many, many people.

Another case of really interesting ideas, but action and execution needed some tidying up to make this stand out for me.

I absolutely adored this book, it is a mix of historical fiction, fantasy, steampunk, gothic, mystery, action and adventure book. I have seen this has gathered mixed reviews but I adored it.

Set in the 19th Century there is the Great Trans-Siberian railway that you are not permitted to leave, you are advised not to spend too long looking out of the windows and there are only two stations, Beijing and Moscow. The train is built to withstand the terrors of the wasteland that it travels. A land full of danger, unknown creatures and rumours. The wasteland is held at bay by a wall, it has huge towers that are manned and nothing gets in or out of the wasteland unless it is on the train.

This is a book that has it all for me, the mysterious and unknown, the bizarre and I adored it from the very first page to the last. I do hope there is another book to follow as there is a possibility.

This book reminded me of the film Snowpiercer but with a historical fiction setting. The train has its crew, 1st and 3rd class passengers and the important ones are gradually introduced. A passenger who is hiding a secret, a girl who was born on the train, and there is a cartographer, engineer, Captain and others who are used to creating a story. The train is run by The Company and on this train there are Company men, this adds a sense of mistrust, and also a political angle.

The author has brought together her characters and the strands of a story that she gradually embellishes and expands upon. I liked the sense of unknown and distrust of anything outside the train. The unknown is something that builds tension throughout the story, there is still an element of it there towards the end of the book as well.

When it is realised that there are some elements of the wasteland within the train, it is hushed up, but like anything this cannot last indefinitely. As the author brings more answers then things start to make a lot more sense, but there is still more to understand.

If you are looking for a book that crosses genres, is different and has a fantasy steampunk style to it then this is one you should have a look at. As I read it I was able to visualise this story from the wonderful writing of the author. Fabulous read and one I would definitely recommend.

This book sounded fascinating and, in its way, it is but I found it a very slow read and not one that I could focus on. Interleaved it with reading other books and it still took me weeks to complete.

Some of the concepts were great, especially the way the train interacted with the outside world and that made me sad that reading said book took as long as the train's journey!

A complete cover but that kept me hooked with a captivating and mysterious atmosphere and thrills aplenty.

Wasn't sure what to expect of this book but I really enjoyed it! I've seen it described as a steampunk eco-fantasy which gives an indication of the inventiveness of this read. I liked the way that it blended the realities of the trans-siberian railway with hints of mystery so the reader is never sure what is just a product of the travellers' nervous imagination and what actually lurks beyond the windows.

In some ways it was reminiscent of The Night Circus with its cast of mysterious characters but it had much stronger internal cohesion and clarity of denouement. I would definitely recommend this to readers who like travel, fantasy and a little twist into the bargain!

Really wanted to love this book. The description sounded perfect for me but it's very slow going & didn't really get into the characters.
Great idea but too slow for me.

The land between Moscow and Beijing is an untameable wilderness, known as the Wastelands. The only way to cross this deadly terrain is via the Great Trans-Siberian Express, an impenetrable train originally built to carry cargo, but which now transports anyone brave enough to make the crossing. Among the travellers preparing to make the latest crossing are a grieving woman using a false name, a disgraced scientist determined to save his reputation, and the famous child born on the train, who has never known any other life. But there are whispers that this journey is being made too soon after the last, that the train isn’t safe, and that this current clutch of passengers might not make it to the other side.

I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style. The story follows a few different characters, but not too many so it’s easy enough to follow without getting muddled. The setting is magical, with a fantastic premise, and it felt like quite a unique reading experience (though I’d struggle to really explain why).

However, it’s quite a long book with very little that actually happens. 60-70% of the book is mainly characters walking around the train, having conversations of seemingly little importance. I struggled to see where the plot was going, and then, when it reached it’s destination, I wasn’t entirely sure how we got there. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, but it could have been better.

The premise for this book sounded great - set at the end of the nineteenth century on the Trans-Siberian railway where we meet a cast of characters joined together for a long journey. However, it was a lot stranger than that - the 'Company' running the railway have had a previous disaster they refuse to acknowledge and have placed 'men in black' on the train to ensure staff and passengers do not discuss anything they should not.

The female train manager is never seen, and a girl who was born on the train and lived there all her life is scurring around working and hiding and spying. In first class we have a countess (of course!), a naturalist, and a young widow with her own secrets. We don't really get to meet anyone of interest in third class, other than the Professor.

So still there are the elements of an interesting set of vignettes and mysteries. But somehow the wasteland the train drives through are filled with danger, miasmas, fantastical creatures and the ability to ensnare the mind of unwary passengers. For me was totally unbelievable fantasy, bordering on the ridiculous.

I persevered to the end. Parts were well written and described, but the overall story just stretched credulity for me. Thank you to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was set on a train and it was awesome! I really like reading about people from the 19th century on boats and trains and just public transport. There’s something so right about it. I love this sort of time period to begin with, so adding in a train just made it so great.

I also loved the idea of the Wastelands, an horror style environment where if you stare too long you might never come back to yourself. I loved learning every new part of the wastelands and Elena and Weiwei’s relationship. I loved the wildness of the wastelands and the mystery of the previous trip through the wastelands. There was a magic to it that I was really excited by.

And the writing style was just enchanting. Like the Wastelands, it drew me in and relaxed and excited me in equal measures.

I really want to see more of this world and these characters, but I will settle for more from the writer if this ends up being a standalone.

Sadly I couldn't get into this one, the premise was great but nothing in the first few chapters really gripped me.