Giant world with a endless railway?? Planet so big no one knows how big, Reverend's son kidnapped by society with Airships

[Ilikebooksaswell]

Looking for the title of a book that is probably from 2000s. I read it maybe 5ish years ago. I remember it is set on a planet so huge no one really knows how big it is. There is some kind of railroad system that is a big deal. It centers on a small community that is attacked and the town reverend’s son is kidnapped by a way more advanced society that has airships. Reverend goes back to his violent ways of the past and sets out to get his boy.... I remember the book was one of those larger soft covers and for some reason the color green is sticking out. Any ideas?

 

[hitmouse]

Not Jack Vance or China Mieville.

 

[Ilikebooksaswell]

Not Jack Vance or China Mieville.

Not China mieville though I have read that one Railsea. I’ll have to look into jack vance.

 

[Ilikebooksaswell]

Not Jack Vance or China Mieville.

Not jack vance’s big planet neither...

 

[tachyon]

Silverberg's Majipoor is a giant world, but I don't recall anything about a railroad on it.

 

[Ilikebooksaswell]

Silverberg's Majipoor is a giant world, but I don't recall anything about a railroad on it.

It’s not that but that world does seem interesting....

 

[Toby Frost]

Is it by Philip Reeve? He did some YA books about a railway in space, but I've not read them.

There's also a book about an endless railway by Christopher Priest, but it would be much older.

 

[Rodders]

Peter F. Hamilton's Void trilogy had a railway system that made use of wormholes to transport to all it's planets.

 

[The Scribbling Man]

From the thread title I thought you were talking about Inverted World by Christopher Preist, but reading the rest of your post it sounds like something quite different.

 

[Matteo]

It’s not that but that world does seem interesting....

Majipoor can be a bit hit and miss - and I say that as a Silverberg fan. I would stick to the first three books.

 

[Richiehead]

Is it by Philip Reeve? He did some YA books about a railway in space, but I've not read them.

You mean the Railhead triolgy. Almost certainly not, going by the OP's description.

 

[PaulMmn]

Because the OP said the story is "set on a planet so huge no one really knows how big it is," I'm assuming the inhabitants do not have space flight or satellite technology, because no one's looked at their planet from outside; and that the attacking civilization is also resident on the planet, but has built airships. Humans figured out the size of the Earth just by working with shadows, so I also assume it has no budding scientists.

 

[Venusian Broon]

Definitely not Inverted World by Christopher Priest. As the railway that the inhabitants of the moving city constructs, ...

Spoiler: ...hits a snag

reaches the Atlantic ocean, I believe, and can no longer keep moving forward.

Plus I'm pretty sure there are no airships.

 

[monkeypooper]

Definitely not Inverted World by Christopher Priest. As the railway that the inhabitants of the moving city constructs, ...

Spoiler: ...hits a snag

reaches the Atlantic ocean, I believe, and can no longer keep moving forward.

Plus I'm pretty sure there are no airships.

Its a long time since i read it but i vaguely remember planes or gliders or something in it, which is why mortal engines reminded me of this book so added it to my tbr again pile

 

[Venusian Broon]

Its a long time since i read it but i vaguely remember planes or gliders or something in it, which is why mortal engines reminded me of this book so added it to my tbr again pile

Doesn't ring a bell with me, re: the planes or gliders involved with this story (they would be pretty freaky for the inhabitants of the winched city, given the bizarre situation they are in), but then, I last read Inverted World in the early 1990s, so could well be wrong.

What I do distinctly remember is one of the best opening lines in SF history

 

[tachyon]

Could this be Terminal World by Alistair Reynolds?

 

[Guttersnipe]

The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman?

 

[PaulMmn]

Although not an endless railroad, the book "The Unorthodox Engineers" by Colin Kapp had 2 stories with railroads-- one subterranean and one on supports over a volcano-strewn landscape.

The book has a series of humorous short stories about engineering difficulties and the engineers who have to solve them. Worth the read even if it's the wrong railroads!

 

[Ravensquawk]

Although not an endless railroad, the book "The Unorthodox Engineers" by Colin Kapp had 2 stories with railroads-- one subterranean and one on supports over a volcano-strewn landscape.

The book has a series of humorous short stories about engineering difficulties and the engineers who have to solve them. Worth the read even if it's the wrong railroads!

That has "The Subways of Tazoo" by Colin Kapp , a favorite of mine.
The only thing that kept me from shouting out the answer of the story that jumps immediately into mind when someone asks about a story with railroads ("Ooh, ooh, IknowIknow pick me, pick me!") is that I don't remember a reverend's son being kidnapped. But it is very much worth the read even if it is the wrong railroads.

 

[Vince W]

Elements of this make me think of Matter by Iain M. Banks.