Philip Reeve

After receiving a mysterious coded message, Zen Starling abandons his life of luxury and, with the help of sentient trains, goes in search of android Nova, who plans to reawaken the Railmaker.

Station Zero

Eleanor Luhar

I did it again. I requested a book that concludes a trilogy I haven't read. Oops.

Because I didn't read the previous books in this series I'm afraid my review is probably going to be a bit more critical than if I had read them. The first thing I'm going to say is that I had problems immersing myself in the world set by Reeve, and a lot of the concepts, characters and terms used took a bit of getting used to. For wanting of a better phrase, I "had trouble getting into it".

I do believe that the best books, whether part of a series or not, can be read as standalone novels. There should be enough detail in a book for any reader to follow and enjoy it without having read the previous books. This was not particularly easy to follow at first, but I did begin to enjoy it after a short while.

As this is a conclusion to a trilogy, I really don't want to give too much away. It begins with Zen Starling sneaking onto an alien train - as this is set in a universe with intergalactic railways. He's sent a mysterious message, which he believes to be from an entity called Nova. I eventually learned that this was a "Motorik" that Zen fell in love with. She was trapped in the Black Light Zone (which I'm afraid I can't really explain at all). Anyway, Zen wants to find her. But it turns out that there's more to the story than just her.

As I can't give the plot away too much I'm going to have to be really vague with my review. The most notable thing may be how Reeve portrays technology. For example, the trains in this book seem to be conscious. All phenomenons are carefully explained through science, and there is even a theme of discussion over whether Motoriks are people or not. I thought this was really interesting, and definitely a relevant topic to include in a sci-fi novel. There is also the theme of aliens being people, too, rather than being seen as lesser beings.

My favourite characters (if they can be called that) may actually have been the trains. I won't give anything away, but I seriously admired them!

The bigger themes in this novel were a bit confusing to me. For example, the Railmaker. I understood what it was (kind of) but I didn't really get why it was quite so important. And Raven. I had no idea who he was at first - he was obviously introduced in an earlier book, and so the reader was expected to be familiar with him by now.

There were a lot of really interesting, well-developed concepts in this, and I really admired how most things were explained through science and not left to 'magic' or some unknown force. I am aware that I would probably have a different opinion if I had read the rest of the series first, so I am very sorry I was unable to do that. As a standalone novel I'd give this 3 stars, but as it is not actually a standalone, I will give it 3.5.

The stunning conclusion to the acclaimed and prizewinning Railhead trilogy.What happens after the adventure of a lifetime? For Zen, it's a safe, comfortable life of luxury. But it's not what Zen wants. He misses the thrill of riding the rails, of dodging danger, and of breathing the air of different planets. Most of all of course he misses Nova - lost to him forever in adistant world. But then one day a mysterious message arrives - and that's all Zen needs to head right off, ready for anything. Except that no one could be ready for what he finds . . . Thrilling, thought-provoking, and breathtaking, this finale to the Railhead trilogy weaves a web of wonder, full of characters and events you will never forget.

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher and netgalley. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Station Zero

Author: Philip Reeve

Book Series: Railhead Book 3

Rating: 3/5

Publication Date: May 3, 2018

Genre: YA Sci-Fi

Recommended Age: can’t recommend, dnf

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Pages: 288

Amazon Link

Synopsis: The Great Network is changing. New worlds, new alliances, new enmities. For Threnody the changes have brought great power. For Zen and Nova they have brought separation. For the trains that run from world to world, they have brought questions. Now all of them must find out what really matters to them and who they really are . . .

Review: I had to DNF this one because I was, once again, duped by netgalley into getting it. I get advertised an array of books by netgalley and some of them are sequels. I didn’t realize this one was a sequel until I started reading it. Because I want to read this series later when I have time I don’t want to review this one right away (but I won’t get around to these books for years so I’m leaving a 3/5 review because this book does sound amazing, but I’m utterly confused without the other books lol.

Verdict: Read books 1 and 2 first.

Station Zero

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