It is not hard to find contemporary concerns in Brooks’ novel: the arrogance of the travellers who want to explore their inhospitable landscape makes one think uncomfortably about tourism and the natural world today. Thankfully, Brooks is neither obsessed with our present moment, nor didactic; coming from a background in classical Chinese literature, she instead offers a host of ideas distinct from contemporary Western genre fare.

Against the familiar archetype of a British explorer seeking what he calls a “new Eden”, there is a more disturbing question raised of whether the distinction between humanity and the natural world is only illusory.

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Brooks takes great pleasure in blurring the boundaries between human and animal, as well as between real and imagined. Stanislaw Lem’s Solaris is often recalled, as the forms of life in the natural world increasingly reflect those in the characters’ minds. At other times, Wastelands displays an eloquent fascination with landscapes that echoes Gerald Murnane’s The Plains: “it feels more like a ship than a train, the rails like a wake they leave behind them in the water.”

Unfortunately, Brooks’ shifting register also results in a smattering of action scenes that make the reader wonder if the train has suddenly been commandeered by Lee Child. It is not that these scenes don’t contain their own satisfaction, but they only distract in a novel that has taken such time and interest in developing its own vision. Indeed, it is hard not to wish for a sharper, pithier version of the same story, told at half the length, which does away with some of the more tedious mechanisms of the plot in favour of a tightened focus on Weiwei.

As Brooks’ narrative rolls to it conclusion, its apocalyptic visions end somewhere rather anticlimactic. Perhaps the anodyne conclusion signals a desire to extend this world in the future, or develop it for another medium. But this journey does not leave the reader gazing ahead so much as looking back, reflecting wistfully on what they have seen.

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