Book Log 25/2016 - Guy Haley: The Emperor’s Railroad – Dreaming Cities #1

[jacey]

A post apocalyptic novella of a journey through a land which suffered devastation and a zombie plague a thousand years ago. This is what remains. A boy, Abney, and his mother are trying to reach their cousin in Winfort after their own village has been overrun by zombies. When the postman they are travelling with is killed in an accident they are helped by a knight – Quinn – one of the legendary few remaining. Quinn is a knight of the city of Atlantis, one of the Dreaming Cities. Their perilous route is made worse by the retribution of the Angels in the dreaming cities of Pittsburgh and Columbus after the long-ago Emperor picked the wrong side in a fight between the two. Their travels take them through the kingdom of Virginia along the disintegrating tracks of the long abandoned Emperor’s Railroad, collateral damage in the Angels’ war.

Abney is the viewpoint character, an uneducated twelve year old boy with limited experience and (like many twelve year old boys, a reluctance to let his inexperience show). Dangers include brigands, the unfriendly inhabitant of Charleston, a dragon and, of course, zombies, not to mention the unfriendly inhabitants of Winfort, their destination. I was pretty relieved to find this story was only novella length. I’m not sure I found Abney a particularly interesting character to spend time with and his Virginia accent irked me (on the page). The tale is told in flashback by Abney as an old man, and it’s not linear, beginning in the middle and dropping the backstory in as we go along.

It’s a slow start but not lacking in tension, and builds up to considerable action towards the end, however I confess that I’m not overly fond of zombies, so I’m probably not in the target readership for this book. It did, however, pique my interest regarding Quinn, the knights and the ‘Dreaming Cities’ which were alluded to but not explained.

Received from Negalley in exchange for a review.