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The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands
The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands | Sarah Brooks
14 posts | 7 read | 1 reading | 11 to read
For fans of Piranesi and The Midnight Library, a stunning historical fantasy novel set on a grand express train, about a group of passengers on a dangerous journey across a magical landscape It is said there is a price that every passenger must pay. A price beyond the cost of a ticket. There is only one way to travel across the Wastelands: on the Trans-Siberian Express, a train as famous for its luxury as for its danger. The train is never short of passengers, eager to catch sight of Wastelands creatures more miraculous and terrifying than anything they could imagine. But on the train's last journey, something went horribly wrong, though no one seems to remember what exactly happened. Not even Zhang Weiwei, who has spent her life onboard and thought she knew all of the trains secrets. Now, the train is about to embark again, with a new set of passengers. Among them are Marya Petrovna, a grieving woman with a borrowed name; Henry Grey, a disgraced naturalist looking for redemption; and Elena, a beguiling stowaway with a powerful connection to the Wastelands itself. Weiwei knows she should report Elena, but she cant help but be drawn to her. As the girls begin a forbidden friendship, there are warning signs that the rules of the Wastelands are changing, and the train might once again be imperiled. Can the passengers trust each other, as the wildness outside threatens to consume them all?
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ju.ca.no
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Halfwayr through with this one and so far it‘s very intriguing- the eerie wasteland makes me think of Vandermeer‘s Annhilation/ Southern Reach novels which I also enjoyed lots!

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Cheryl_Russell_BookNotes
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Put aside one book and picked up this one. So far, so good. 🤞🏻

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SheilaChew
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I like books about train trips. But this one is crazy so far….

23 likes1 stack add
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ju.ca.no
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New in & next up! It sounded very intriguing- hopefully it is as good as I am expecting 🥰

42 likes1 stack add
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Conservio
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#thai food is one of my favorites

#supernatural

5 likes1 stack add
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Aimeesue
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I have not even read the first page yet, and already I want to ride on this train.

Ruthiella I‘ve seen a documentary with David Suchet on the current modern version of the trip and it seems marvelous but I think pricey! 5mo
35 likes1 stack add1 comment
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VanessaCW
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Mehso-so

I‘m in the minority with this one. I enjoyed the beginning and getting to know the characters. Then it went a bit Life of Pi and I got slightly bored. I loved the idea of the train and the claustrophobic atmosphere. I liked Weiwei, she was a resilient little character and the ‘crows‘ were creepy. It‘s well written and described. However, I‘m not sure what to make of the ending. It was a bit anti-climatic for me. 3⭐️

30 likes1 stack add
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VanessaCW
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A library book. I picked this one up as I thought it sounded a little different.

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julesG
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The TransSib but different. Between Beijing and Moscow the TransSib rail goes through a Wasteland of miracles. These miracles could harm the passengers that's why the train is impenetrable and doesn't stop. But this time the mix of First and Third Class passengers is different, and the train is said to no longer be safe. Secrets unravel on the 23 day journey that might change the passengers' lives for ever if they make it to Moscow at all.

rabbitprincess This sounds really neat! Added to my TBR list 😄 5mo
Fr3NcHtOaSt The way you described it I instantly thought of Snowpiercer 5mo
julesG @Fr3NcHtOaSt It's not. The only people living on this train longterm are some of the staff. Food is not sourced from within the train. People can alight in Beijing or Moscow - just not in between, because of the Wastelands, which might be dangerous. 5mo
Fr3NcHtOaSt @julesG even still my mind just went there but I gotta read this. Sounds interesting and something I think I‘d enjoy. 5mo
julesG @Fr3NcHtOaSt I get why, but it's not like Snowpiercer. Maybe if it was set during winter though. 🤔🤔 Nope. Just kidding. 5mo
64 likes2 stack adds5 comments
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julesG
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Read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith and Katie Leung. Sold!!

I guess I'm getting the audiobook to listen to while reading.

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rachelsbrittain
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Pickpick

The Orient Express meets Annihilation in this great novel about a train traveling though are area that has experienced strange and uncanny changes, and may even be changing the train and passengers who travel through it. The workers and passengers all have different motivations for being there, but one things remains the same for them all: by the time they reach their destination, they'll never be the same.

37 likes2 stack adds
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underground_bks
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Pickpick

Take the magnificent train of Murder on the Orient Express, put the menacingly otherworldly landscape of Annihilation right outside the cabin windows, and you‘ll get a sense of this remarkable debut novel. I highly recommend braving a journey through the Wastelands aboard the Great Trans-Siberian Express—you‘ll discover mysterious stowaways, first class liars, a dangerous friendship with a world we have changed and which now seeks to change us…

22 likes1 stack add
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sebrittainclark
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4/5

Between Beijing and Moscow, there is a wasteland full of rapidly mutating flora and fauna that is as strange as it is terrifying. And there is a train that is the only way to safely traverse the wasteland without becoming infected by it. The story follows Weiwei, Marya, and Henry as they uncover the secrets of the train and wasteland.

I thought it was a wonderful book about how we can both change and be changed by the world around us.

43 likes1 stack add
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sebrittainclark
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📖 ebook: Devil in Spring by Lisa Kleypas
📗 non-fiction: The Fifth Trimester by Lauren Smith Brody
🎧 audiobook: The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain