The Emperor’s Railroad by Guy Haley
This book is told from the POV of Abney, a 12 year-old boy that was born in the year of the Dominion of Angels 1097. Abney and his mother Sarah Hollister are on the road, trying to get from the destruction of their hometown to safety with a cousin in the town of Winfort.
The two must cross the Emperor’s Railroad in Charleston, Virginia to get to Winfort. So much easier said than done in the day and age that they live in. The Kingdom of Virginia is in constant turmoil. The states have been at war off and on for over a thousand years. A plague has killed millions of people and the undead are wandering the countryside seeking their next meal. Women are in constant danger and are valuable commodities that bring a bride’s price because they can reproduce. Humanity is now at the mercy of the angels in The Dreaming Cities. When the emperor went against church and tried to embrace the modern age, the angels sent down The Emperor’s Punishment in the form of a dragon to terrorize the country.
Abney and Sarah make the acquaintance of Quinn, a Knight of the Dreaming City of Atlantis and a servant to the angels. Quinn carries two swords, a man-killer and a dead-killer. He also carries a gun, but Abney will only ever witness him use that gun once. Sarah has struck a bargain with Quinn. Quinn will get them to Winfort safely, but it comes at a price.
Great characters in this book! I liked the fact that Abney was very realistic. He is still a child and he is scared as a child should be. He is living in constant fear for his life and his mom’s. Abney loves and respects his mother, Sarah. Sarah is a smart, capable and strong woman who has fought for her and her son’s lives to be better and taken every necessary step to make it so. Quinn is a mysterious, heroic figure but Abney and Sarah are understandably skeptical as to his true identity and motives.
All of this is set after the global devastation of our modern world, with a few other fun things thrown in from the fantasy world in the form of zombies and a dragon! And this dragon is not your average friendly dragon; this is a pretty scary, creepy dragon.
I would have liked the book to be a bit longer since this is a short dystopian read at 176 pages long. But having been introduced, I do know that I would definitely like to read more. The Emperor’s Railroad is the first book in the new Dreaming Cities series by Guy Haley.
I want to thank the publisher (Macmillan-Tor/Forge) for providing me with the ARC through Netgalley for an honest review.
Book Haunt 
I liked this one too, but am so very curios to see who the narrator will be. If he actually does choose a new character to tell Quinn’s story for each novella – I think that would be really neat.
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I agree!
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Sounds like an interesting read. A short read is great for me at this moment. Not my typical genre but I’m up for new things. I’ll see if my local library has it on hand
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What genres are you usually reading?
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Non Fiction, Motivational and inspirational, big on historical and inventors.
I use to big on mystery, suspense and writers whos style of narrating/writing is very descriptive.
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Having just finished this novella yesterday, I agree with all your thoughts. It really was a great (if short) read. At first, I was skeptical that Abney would be an effective POV, but he is what really made the whole story come alive. Can’t wait for the next installment of the series.
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That’s great! I love getting another persepective on it. One of my Goodreads buddies said she started it and never finished. Looks like the next one in the series isn’t far behind this one.
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This is going to sound silly, but I really like your ghost system.
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Thanks, I worried about whether it was okay but I’ve gotten some great feedback on it:)
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It’s a perfect little visual for someone like me who likes rating systems like that.
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Looks really interesting 🙂
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