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How long does it take to read Railsea?

China Miéville

Railsea by China Miéville takes about 7 hours 13 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.

About 7 hours 13 minutes

A weekend read

First published 2012. 394 pages, about 108,350 words. Written for children.

15 days at 30 minutes a day

Estimate based on 275 words per page.

At other speeds

Slow, 150 words a minute 12 hours 2 minutes
Average, 250 words a minute 7 hours 13 minutes
Fast, 400 words a minute 4 hours 31 minutes

The page count is the median across 12 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.

About the book

"On board the moletrain Medes, Sham Yes ap Soorap watches in awe as he witnesses his first moldywarpe hunt: the giant mole bursting from the earth, the harpoonists targeting their prey, the battle resulting in one's death & the other's glory. But no matter how spectacular it is, Sham can't shake the sense that there is more to life than traveling the endless rails of the railsea--even if his captain can think only of the hunt for the ivory-colored mole she's been chasing since it took her arm all those years ago. When they come across a wrecked train, at first it's a welcome distraction. But what Sham finds in the derelict--a kind of treasure map indicating a mythical place untouched by iron rails--leads to considerably more than he'd bargained for. Soon he's hunted on all sides, by pirates, trainsfolk, monsters, & salvage-scrabblers. & it might not be just Sham's life that's about to change. It could be the whole of the railsea. Here is a novel for readers of all ages, a gripping & brilliantly imagined take on Herman Melville's Moby-Dick that confirms China Mieville's status as "the most original & talented voice to appear in several years" (Science Fiction Chronicle)"--

Subjects: Imaginary places, FICTION / Fantasy / General, Fiction, Fantasy, Railroads, Moles (Animals)

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