China has done it again, written a piece of fiction that is just so amazing and different that it boggles the mind. His fascinating play with language and his very tongue-in-cheek treatment of Moby Dick (on a deeper level a critique of the whole western tradition of philosophy - what with the creatures sought out being called 'philosophies'). The characters are also neat and the coming of age story of Sham and how he lights up when he comes into contact with salvage and how he gradually finds his path (or it finds him as it may be) is wonderful.The utter weirdness of wanting to write about trains, but not having them travel in straight lines is well.... enough really. I also picked up on the similarities with Roadside Picnic - the 'alien' salvage being comparable to the stuff sought out by the stalkers in the Strugatsky's masterpiece.
A must read for all lovers of weird sf and fantasy literature.
