Ralph on the Railroad is a turn-of-the-century adventure series for boys, similar in vein to the Tom Swift adventures, which is probably the most famous of the genre of the era.
The series employs standardized formula: a young and indomitable hero sets out to earn his way, facing foes and finding new friends. In this case, Ralph is determined to be a railroad man, and has it in his mind to start at the bottom. Each subsequent book follows Ralph's climb up the railroading ladder.
Also typical in this era's literature is extent sexism and racism and stereotypical villains: unsavory men who walk with a slouch, hands jammed into their pockets with their hats pulled low over their eyes. Just as typical are the friends Ralph makes, and those whom he "sets to right".
Overall, it's a generally enjoyable series, and gives you a view into what was once a thriving industry but now one relegated to history books. One could imagine living in a small town where the hub of activity is the railroad depot.
Good for train fans, but take note that vernacular is often used, i.e., "cow catcher" vs. "pilot"
What a wonderful gem of a book. The dialog is overly wordy, and the buildup seems to take exceedingly long. But on the overall, it helps to build affinity for the characters, and once the final battle commences, you will find yourself there with them. I don't know how historically accurate all the details are, but nevertheless, the book breathes exciting life into a world long since gone, and brings back great men to walk amongst us.
I can't put my finger on it, but I had a hard time getting my mind into this story. I've enjoyed most of Lovecraft's works, but this feels, I dunno, different. I probably could have skipped this without missing any real meat of the Lovecraft mythos.
The unspecified nature of the (presumably global) catastrophe coupled with the very scant details of the pre-collapse world lends this book durability. The author presented his world in such a way as to make me wish we could explore it.
However, the extreme detail often appears to overshadow the actual story. Much of the book appears to be setup for a story that doesn't really begin to flesh out until quite near the end. At which point, the hero walks into the sunset, leaving practically all the issues unresolved.
I imagine this abrupt ending was deliberate, adding to the timelessness of the story, but even so, the book leaves the reader in the lurch.
Nevertheless, reading this was not a waste of time.
The first few pages had me groaning "another cyberpunk novel". Lots of acronyms and jargon are tossed out with little to no context, making a bit difficult to scan.
But I always like to try to give a fair reading, so I plodded on, and after a little while, I found myself engrossed.
The climax, like the exposition, were a bit overly drawn out, and I felt that closure could have been achieved in a more streamlined manner.
The author plainly classifies this as an "unashamed attempt at Philosophical (Christian) Science Fiction", wherein a self-aware artificial intelligence journeys to discover the meaning of life.
A human protagonist accompanies, at first unwillingly, the AI in her quest, and also finds the answers to his own questions.
The social and economic situations strike surprising close to home. Given this, I do wish the author did not attach specific dates, as I feel this could be "tomorrow" rather than a century-and-a-half into the future.
azog’s book reviews
The series employs standardized formula: a young and indomitable hero sets out to earn his way, facing foes and finding new friends. In this case, Ralph is determined to be a railroad man, and has it in his mind to start at the bottom. Each subsequent book follows Ralph's climb up the railroading ladder.
Also typical in this era's literature is extent sexism and racism and stereotypical villains: unsavory men who walk with a slouch, hands jammed into their pockets with their hats pulled low over their eyes. Just as typical are the friends Ralph makes, and those whom he "sets to right".
Overall, it's a generally enjoyable series, and gives you a view into what was once a thriving industry but now one relegated to history books. One could imagine living in a small town where the hub of activity is the railroad depot.
Good for train fans, but take note that vernacular is often used, i.e., "cow catcher" vs. "pilot"
However, the extreme detail often appears to overshadow the actual story. Much of the book appears to be setup for a story that doesn't really begin to flesh out until quite near the end. At which point, the hero walks into the sunset, leaving practically all the issues unresolved.
I imagine this abrupt ending was deliberate, adding to the timelessness of the story, but even so, the book leaves the reader in the lurch.
Nevertheless, reading this was not a waste of time.
But I always like to try to give a fair reading, so I plodded on, and after a little while, I found myself engrossed.
The climax, like the exposition, were a bit overly drawn out, and I felt that closure could have been achieved in a more streamlined manner.
The author plainly classifies this as an "unashamed attempt at Philosophical (Christian) Science Fiction", wherein a self-aware artificial intelligence journeys to discover the meaning of life.
A human protagonist accompanies, at first unwillingly, the AI in her quest, and also finds the answers to his own questions.
The social and economic situations strike surprising close to home. Given this, I do wish the author did not attach specific dates, as I feel this could be "tomorrow" rather than a century-and-a-half into the future.