The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands

The Hellbound train runs through Vandermeer‘s southern reach in a beautifully lyrical novel. All the characters are well drawn and the train and the wasteland are lovingly described. You have to take this as magical realism rather than true steampunk so don’t look for explanations or plausibility. This is a story about characters.

I can see this being frustrating for those that like clear cut explanations and neatly tied up endings, the conclusion does leave a lot for the reader to wonder on, but the book is just sufficiently lyrical to be an enjoyable read but I wouldn’t call it gripping. It was pretty clear from the start that nothing about the waste land was going to be explained, it was just a vivid, living canvas for the train to travel through – anything could happen as there were no rules or constraints (that’s why I gave up on Vandermeer) so you have to like and care about the characters and enjoy the language descriptions on their own terms.

Not for everyone, but Sarah has a clear talent and is one to watch.