
The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Katie Leung
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Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
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By:
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Sarah Brooks
About this listen
This program is read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith and Katie Leung, who played Cho Chang in the Harry Potter films.
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
“Breathtaking…Abounding with mysteries and marvels.”—Samantha Shannon, New York Times bestselling author of The Priory of the Orange Tree
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 train’s 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 can’t 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?
A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.
©2024 Sarah Brooks (P)2024 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
A Most Anticipated Book (Publishers Weekly, CrimeReads, The Nerd Daily, FanFiAddict, Historical Novel Society)
“This book is steampunk perfection!…Brooks brings a Mieville-esque mentality to her novel, with some terrifying creepy-crawlies and an even more terrifying capitalist conglomerate.”—CrimeReads
“If a luxury train raced through Jeff VanderMeer’s Area X, filled with the cast of Frances Hardinge’s The Lie Tree, it would be something like the Trans-Siberian Express of this story…Ultimately, this journey through the unknown provides ample opportunity for musings about the power of travel to change people, while examining humans’ relationships to the environment, to capitalism, and to each other…A nerve-wracking but empathetic first-class read for lovers of the strange and uncanny.”—Library Journal (starred review)
“Secrets abound…Brooks’ novel presents the reader with a late nineteenth-century Asia and Europe both familiar and bizarre…The true terrors are human greed, fear, and desire for power. This is ultimately a story about connection, friendship, and the importance of being unafraid of change. Highly recommended for its many mysteries, fascinating cast of characters, and beautifully strange Wastelands. An immersive fantasy with a complex and driven heroine.”—Booklist
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In this strange, new world deep among the shadows under a triple-canopy jungle and plagued by dangers real and imagined, soldiers strive to fulfill a mission they don’t understand and are ill-equipped to carry out. And high above them, the heavy rush of wings slashing through the humid air herald a coming wave of death and destruction, and just possibly, salvation.
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Vietnam in Fantasyland
- By Michael D. Stuart on 04-19-25
By: Chris Evans
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Starless
- By: Jacqueline Carey
- Narrated by: Caitlin Davies
- Length: 21 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Destined from birth to serve as protector of the princess Zariya, Khai is trained in the arts of killing and stealth by a warrior sect in the deep desert; yet there is one profound truth that has been withheld from him. In the court of the Sun-Blessed, Khai must learn to navigate deadly intrigue and his own conflicted identity…but in the far reaches of the western seas, the dark god Miasmus is rising, intent on nothing less than wholesale destruction.
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The most beautiful thing I've enjoyed this year!
- By DabOfDarkness on 08-06-18
By: Jacqueline Carey
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The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel
- A Story of Sleepy Hollow
- By: Alyssa Palombo
- Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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When Ichabod Crane arrives in the spooky little village of Sleepy Hollow as the new schoolmaster, Katrina Van Tassel is instantly drawn to him. Through their shared love of books and music, they form a friendship that quickly develops into romance. When romance gives way to passion, Ichabod and Katrina embark on a secret love affair, sneaking away into the woods after dark to be together - all while praying they do not catch sight of Sleepy Hollow’s legendary Headless Horseman. That is until Ichabod suddenly disappears, leaving Katrina alone and in a perilous position.
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boring, terrible bodice-ripping drivel
- By BooksAndTrouble on 10-04-18
By: Alyssa Palombo
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Solar Express
- By: L. E. Modesitt Jr.
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 16 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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You can't militarize space. This one rule has led to decades of peaceful development of space programs worldwide. However, increasing resource scarcity and a changing climate on Earth's surface is causing some interested parties - namely India, the North American Union, and the Sinese Federation - to militarize. The discovery of a strange artifact by Dr. Alayna Wong precipitates a crisis. What appears to be a hitherto undiscovered comet is soon revealed to be an alien structure on a cometary trajectory toward the sun.
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I Really Enjoyed This -- Far More Than Expected
- By C. Hartmann on 11-11-15
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Autonomous
- A Novel
- By: Annalee Newitz
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Earth, 2144. Jack is an anti-patent scientist turned drug pirate, traversing the world in a submarine as a pharmaceutical Robin Hood, fabricating cheap scrips for poor people who can't otherwise afford them. But her latest drug hack has left a trail of lethal overdoses as people become addicted to their work, doing repetitive tasks until they become unsafe or insane.
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Came For The Science, Bailed For The Porn
- By Becca Mellema on 08-05-19
By: Annalee Newitz
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The Stardust Grail
- A Novel
- By: Yume Kitasei
- Narrated by: Katharine Chin
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Maya Hoshimoto was once the best art thief in the galaxy. For ten years, she returned stolen artifacts to alien civilizations—until a disastrous job forced her into hiding. Now she just wants to enjoy a quiet life as a graduate student of anthropology, but she’s haunted by persistent and disturbing visions of the future. Then an old friend comes to her with a job she can’t refuse: find a powerful object that could save an alien species from extinction. Except no one has seen it in living memory, and they aren’t the only ones hunting for it.
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Pronouns are out of control
- By C P on 09-11-24
By: Yume Kitasei
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Timequake
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: Arthur Bishop
- Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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According to Kurt Vonnegut's alter ego, the old science fiction writer Kilgore Trout, a global timequake will occur on February 13, 2001, at 2:27 p.m. It will be the moment when the universe suffers a crisis of conscience: Should it go on expanding indefinitely or collapse and make another great big BANG? For its own cosmic reasons, it decides to back up a decade to 1991, giving the world a 10-year case of deja vu, making everybody and everything do exactly what they'd done during the past decade.
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Arias only make hopeless situations worse
- By Darwin8u on 12-28-17
By: Kurt Vonnegut
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The West Passage
- By: Jared Pechaček
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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When the Guardian of the West Passage died in her bed, the women of Grey Tower fed her to the crows and went back to their chores. No successor was named as Guardian, no one took up the fallen blade; the West Passage went unguarded. Now, snow blankets Grey in the height of summer. Rats erupt from beneath the earth, fleeing that which comes. Crops fail. Hunger looms. And none stand ready to face the Beast, stirring beneath the poisoned soil. The fate of all who live in the palace hangs on narrow shoulders.
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for lovers of strangeness
- By Kat on 09-18-24
By: Jared Pechaček
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Magic for Liars
- By: Sarah Gailey
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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When a gruesome murder is discovered at the Osthorne Academy of Young Mages, where her estranged twin sister teaches theoretical magic, reluctant detective Ivy Gamble is pulled into the world of untold power and dangerous secrets. She will have to find a murderer and reclaim her sister - without losing herself.
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Meh.
- By Page on 03-25-20
By: Sarah Gailey
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Spiderlight
- By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Narrated by: Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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The Church of Armes of the Light has battled the forces of Darkness for as long as anyone can remember. The great prophecy has foretold that a band of misfits, led by a high priestess will defeat the Dark Lord Darvezian, armed with their wits, the blessing of the Light and an artifact stolen from the merciless Spider Queen. Their journey will be long, hard and fraught with danger. Allies will become enemies; enemies will become allies. And the Dark Lord will be waiting, always waiting…
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First listen to this author went well
- By nikolaus matheis on 11-04-24
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Agents of Influence
- By: Dayton Ward
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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For years, Starfleet Intelligence agents have carried out undercover assignments deep within the Klingon Empire. Surgically altered and rigorously trained in Klingon culture, they operate in plain sight and without any direct support, while collecting information and infiltrating the highest levels of imperial power. Their actions have given Starfleet valuable insight into the inner workings of Klingon government and its relentless military apparatus. After three of Starfleet’s longest serving agents fear exposure, they initiate emergency extraction procedures.
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Star Trek fans should listen to this book.
- By Jennifer Baratta She/Her on 06-11-20
By: Dayton Ward
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salt slow
- By: Julia Armfield
- Narrated by: Kristin Atherton
- Length: 5 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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In her electrifying debut, Julia Armfield explores women’s experiences in contemporary society, mapped through their bodies. As urban dwellers’ sleeps become disassociated from them, like Peter Pan’s shadow, a city turns insomniac. A teenager entering puberty finds her body transforming in ways very different than her classmates’. As a popular band gathers momentum, the fangirls following their tour turn into something monstrous. After their parents remarry, two step-sisters, one a girl and one a wolf, develop a dangerously close bond.
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spooky and fantastic
- By Hallie on 11-13-22
By: Julia Armfield
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A Half-Built Garden
- By: Ruthanna Emrys
- Narrated by: Kate Handford
- Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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On a warm March night in 2083, Judy Wallach-Stevens wakes to a warning of unknown pollutants in the Chesapeake Bay. She heads out to check what she expects to be a false alarm—and stumbles upon the first alien visitors to Earth. These aliens have crossed the galaxy to save humanity, convinced that the people of Earth must leave their ecologically-ravaged planet behind and join them among the stars. And if humanity doesn't agree, they may need to be saved by force. But the watershed networks that rose up to save the planet from corporate devastation aren't ready to give up on Earth.
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Really interesting and engaging story
- By Sebastian on 07-09-23
By: Ruthanna Emrys
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The Galaxy, and the Ground Within
- A Novel
- By: Becky Chambers
- Narrated by: Rachel Dulude
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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With no water, no air, and no native life, the planet Gora is unremarkable. The only thing it has going for it is a chance proximity to more popular worlds, making it a decent stopover for ships traveling between the wormholes that keep the Galactic Commons connected. If deep space is a highway, Gora is just your average truck stop. The Five-Hop is run by an enterprising alien and her sometimes helpful child, who work hard to provide a little piece of home to everyone passing through.
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The narrator completely ruined it.
- By rosenh on 09-13-21
By: Becky Chambers
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The Courting of Bristol Keats
- A Novel
- By: Mary E. Pearson
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 17 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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After losing both their parents, Bristol Keats and her sisters struggle to stay afloat in their small, quiet town of Bowskeep. When Bristol begins to receive letters from an “aunt” she’s never heard of who promises she can help, she reluctantly agrees to meet—and discovers that everything she thought she knew about her family is a lie. Even her father might still be alive, not killed but kidnapped by terrifying creatures to a whole other realm—the one he is from.
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Not what I expected
- By CC on 11-22-24
By: Mary E. Pearson
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Rubicon
- By: J. S. Dewes
- Narrated by: Eunice Wong
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Sergeant Adriene Valero wants to die. She can't. After enduring a traumatic resurrection for the ninety-sixth time, Valero is reassigned to a special forces unit and outfitted with a cutting-edge virtual intelligence aid. They could turn the tide in the war against intelligent machines dedicated to the assimilation, or destruction, of humanity. When her VI suddenly achieves sentience, Valero is drawn into the machinations of an enigmatic major who’s hell-bent on ending the war—by any means necessary.
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some twists and turns
- By Ocean State Prime on 06-24-23
By: J. S. Dewes
What listeners say about The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- T.S.
- 02-11-25
Wonderful Fantasy!
I loved listening to this novel! The narration was outstanding and the story was fascinating! I’m so glad Audible recommended it to me!
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1 person found this helpful
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- sleepymama
- 07-05-24
Wonderful
I’m so excited to write the first review! I’m not sure how to describe this book- it’s fantasy, a sort of alternate history of turn of the 20th century industrialization, imperialism, and science, with an engaging mystery, wonderful characters and a very satisfying ending. Strongly recommend.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Joseph
- 02-20-25
A true hidden gem
I loved this book. It’s kind of like Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation (which I also loved), but instead of a lighthouse and a tower there’s a massive steampunk train, and instead of shadowy government agencies there’s a greedy corporation, and instead of cosmic dread there’s a sense of wonder and strange magic. Maybe the alien transformation of the world isn’t something to fear, but something to embrace.
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- neal johnson
- 09-14-24
Post apocalyptic murder mystery
Intriguing mystery with apocalyptic monsters just outside. The story was great. Unexpected Twists and a good ending.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jessie
- 01-04-25
Escape to Trans Siberia
Loved the unique setting and gilded age vibe. This steam/ silk punk story is for anyone who enjoys adventures with a touch of magic and a hint of natural science.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Geldari
- 08-18-24
Unexpected and marvelous
A lively and unexpected trip of a book. The world building and characters were almost fairytale with a huge dash of creepy whimsy
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1 person found this helpful
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- SarahMc
- 08-30-24
Astounding,
Engaging, exhilarating, sometimes baffling, always thought-provoking.; in fact, everything speculative fiction should be. Also, it's beautifully written and read.
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- HuangChu
- 10-20-24
Remarkable and Transporting
What a confident and enthralling debut novel. The imagery and the prose are endlessly inventive and memorable. The characters are compelling. The setting is vivid, unique, and the real star of the book. I also appreciated the subtext examining what happens when great, colonizing civilizations realize that they themselves are being colonized, in this case by nature itself. The audio performer was also excellent. Note that there were some technical issues with the audiobook, particularly with the opening syllable of many of the chapters being cut off. If there is a chance to upload a corrected version, that would be great. but that is the my inly quibble. This is an accomplished, completely unique novel. I will be riding this train again and again and learning new things from it for a long time.
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- ulan25
- 08-03-24
Narration cadence too clipped
Could not get into this but pushed myself to finish it anyway. The narration felt clipped with phrases delivered almost in the same hurried/staccato cadence. It was strange because the narrator’s delivery of dialogue was good. But the main narration just kept flying past me.
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2 people found this helpful
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- S Nicole
- 09-18-24
Basically Snowpiercer with a little eldritch horror
see title, but also there were random intersections of a different narrator at different times that were jarring.
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1 person found this helpful