Railsea by China Miéville

This book tells an engrossing story set in a faintly recognizable but outlandish world. Islands of what might look to us like normalcy are connected by the railsea, train lines that twist & tangle over earth too dangerous to walk on (where moles, worms, & earwigs have grown in size & become genuine dangers to humans). Technology is salvaged by some trains, others carry goods, wage war, or engage in piracy. But we're treated to a ride on a moler, which hunts the massive animals of the railsea. In part, I loved this book for its imaginative world, & in part for the conceits which seems to speak to some primitive part of humanity (you can't step on the ground, or else!). I enjoyed seeing Sham ap Sooprap grow up. But mostly I loved it because in telling its story so well, it talks back to many other great books: Moby Dick, Robinson Crusoe, & Treasure Island, to name three obvious starting places. This is the kind of fantasy that got me started reading fantasy, & it's the kind of fantasy I want to read again & again & again.