"The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands" is an engrossing atmospheric novel that's reminiscent of a classical area both in time and narrative. A turn of the century alternative history tale, it takes place in a time where science and innovation are making common place wonders with rapidity that surround people with new curiosities. Yet at the same time, there is enough lingering in nature and the unknown mixed with tradition and folklore where things that go bump in the night might have a dozen explanations.

Take this mindset and place those rattlings in a 'closed room' type of setting breeds a delicious foreboding that made some of the most memorable fantastical-horror and gothic tales that have survived to entrance readers today so chilling. There is just enough space when given these considerations where the reader can wonder for a great deal of the narrative if maybe, just maybe, the big bad company isn't being quite as self serving as they seem. Maybe the precautions and strange happenings are psychological. Maybe the outside has more traditional dangers. And yet... and yeeeeet...

Filled with some traditional character types that might be found in traditional elite circles, the nosy old noble widow, the rich newlyweds, the scholars, along with a multiracial cast that spans as broad as the trail line itself, creates an interesting variety of experiences and viewpoints. There are also the comparisons between workers and passengers, with a sprinkling of the 'third classers'.

Beyond the vibes and rhythms of the people and the train itself that are so beautifully painted is the vivid outer world. There are times where the writing is close to poetic to the point where things seem visceral. The concepts that are explored bring up classic themes but in a way that seems both apparent but still worth consideration. How do our motivations shape nature? What happens when nature adapts? Is it embracing what is enforced on it? Does it fight back? Where is the line between science, discovery, creation, and the mystical? What does it mean to see? And who has the right to impose one's will and desires? What happens when you hop back and forth between worlds and wishes?

On top of this, the narration for the audiobook while I personally may have made a few different choices in some scenes is absolutely spot on when it comes to 'the girl of the train' and a stowaway. There is a haunting, lingering quality that adds that little extra weight to the unknown happenings. The dialogue/character work is also exceptionally solid.

All in all this was absolutely a read you can sink into. More hypnotic than engaging at times, but if you're in the right mood, it can be a heck of a ride.