I always pick up a China Mieville with both a sense of anticipation and a sense of dread. He doesn't seem to write any ordinary books: they're either very good or pretty awful.
   I'm glad to say that Railsea falls into the former category. This is a merry steampunk take on a future world where the land is criss-crossed with railways, moletrains hunt down the Great Southern Moldywarpes and in particular, the captain of the moletrain of the story is forever obsessively hunting a great white moldywarpe that allegedly took her arm off at the shoulder years ago. Ring any bells?
   I wasn't quite sure of the book when it started, but I soon found that I was thoroughly enjoying it, even to the extent that I overcame Mieville's irritating use of & instead of 'and' throughout. Can't see any point to that, though no doubt the publishers were pleased as it probably saves a page or two.
   I recommend Railsea quite wholeheartedly. Some of the critics seem to think this is a 'young adult' book, but don't believe them. Yes, you could read this at a tender age, but you can also read it if you are completely grown up.