Railhead

Railhead is a book by Philip Reeve, published in the UK on October 1st 2015 and on April 1st 2016 in the US. The book was published by Oxford University Press in the UK and Switch Press in the US

Story Line
Railhead follows Zen a petty thief, a street urchin from Thunder City. So when the mysterious stranger Raven sends Zen on a mission to infiltrate the Emperor's train, he jumps at the chance meet interesting people - and to steal their stuff. But the Great Network is a dangerous place, and Zen has no idea where his journey will take him...

Blurb
Please note the exact wording of the blurb differs from edition to edition.

"Come with me, Zen Starling", she had said. The girl in the red coat. But how did she know his name? The Great Network is a place of drones and androids, maintenance spiders and Station Angels. The place of the thousand gates, where sentient trains criss-cross the galaxy in a heartbeat. Zen Starling is a petty thief, a street urchin from Thunder City. So when mysterious stranger Raven sends Zen and his new friend Nova on a mission to infiltrate the Emperor's train, he jumps at the chance to traverse the Great Network, to cross the galaxy in a heartbeat, to meet interesting people - and to steal their stuff. But the Great Network is a dangerous place, and Zen has no idea where his journey will take him...

Timeline
Railhead is set in an entirely different timescale to any of Philip Reeve's books.

The sequel to Railhead is Black Light Express.

About the Author
Philip Reeve is an Guardian Award (2006) and Carnegie Award (2008) winning British Author, his previous works include Mortal Engines and sequels, Fever Crumb and sequels (prequel to Mortal Engines), Larklight and sequels. He has also collaborated with Sarah McIntyre on several children's books.