Railhead: shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2017

As the title suggests, this is a thrilling train ride of a book which hurtles along a track fuelled with imagination and suspense. The wheels turn slowly at first but as the journey takes off with ever more tantalising twists and turns the suspense builds into a thrilling climax. Petty thief Zen Starling is unknowingly dragged into a power struggle between the Guardians, Railforce, Raven and the powerful Noon family. Zen is rescued from Railforce by Raven and encouraged to steal an antiquity from the Noon Family. He is aided by Nova, Raven's Motorik, a free-thinking intelligent robot. What Zen does not realise is that whoever has the antiquity, holds the power over the galaxies. In a world where instant communication is available via headsets, where trains communicate with each other and with humans, where truth is hidden and knowledge is power, how do you escape? Not knowing who to trust is the least of Zen's problems; with his life on the line and his family is in danger, time is running out. Phillip Reeve has designed a new world where travel between planets is as easy as boarding a train and quicker than you can imagine. A world where each train has its own personality a robotic work force for maintenance and guns for security; a world where friendship and trust can mean life or death; a world which took ten years in the imagining and was well worth the wait! 300 pages / Ages 12+ / Reviewed by Jennifer Hambleton, librarian.

Suggested Reading Age 11+

Philip Reeve's boundless imagination and superb gift for storytelling combine brilliantly once again to produce the amazing Railhead. From the mind that created nomadic, cannibalistic cities in Mortal Engines there now comes a fantastic new world of interstellar trains and dynastic intrigue. Zen Starling is a thief who steals to help keep his sister and himself and his paranoid mother. He also steals because he loves the buzz he gets from outsmarting stall holders and escaping onto the trains and the rush of travelling on the interstellar express to other sections of the galaxy. His world changes irreversibly when he is enlisted by Raven to do a job for him; he has to impersonate one of the ruling Noon family and steal an art treasure from their private train. With help from Nova, Raven's android, he manages to pull off the heist, but at an appalling cost. With the ruling Noon family bent on killing him for revenge, the Guardians of the Galaxy also on his trail and Raven set on some mysterious plan of his own; Zen doesn't know who to trust. He gets deeper and deeper into trouble, meeting some amazing trains along the way, all of which have their own personalities and add another dimension to the array of strong characters in the book. With high speed action all the way, and many unexpected twists and turns, the novel will be sure to build a wide ranging following with boys and girls, teenagers and adults, fans of science fiction, action adventure and good writing and anyone who has ever enjoyed a journey by train! 299 pages/ ages 11 to adult/ Reviewed by Melanie Chadwick, school librarian.

Suggested Reading Age 11+