The Elsewhere Express

Embark on a magical journey in this cosy and inspiring fantasy from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Water Moon – perfect for fans of Spirited Away, Dallergut Dream Department Store and The Starless Sea. 
 
Raya is a lost soul, going through the motions of life without a dream of her own. 
One night, on her subway ride home, Raya’s thoughts wander too far. She wakes on the Elsewhere Express, a magical train that offers its passengers a sense of purpose, peace, and belonging. The train’s endless journey is a chance for Raya to reimagine her life – but only if she finds her compartment before time runs out. 
 
On board, Raya meets a charming, handsome artist named Q and together they race to find their place on the train, through a boarding car carpeted in meadow grass and along a dining carriage where passengers picnic on lilypads. 
 
But a mysterious stowaway has boarded with them, and with it a dark, malignant magic that threatens to destroy the train and everything in it. The closer Raya comes to uncovering the stowaway's identity, the nearer she draws to the ultimate question: what is her life's true purpose – and might Q be connected to it? 
 
Praise for Samantha Sotto Yambao 
 
‘Full of adventure and marvellous creativity, Water Moon surprises and delights with every turn of the page' -- Megan Bannen, bestselling author of The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy 
 
‘A spell-binding journey into a magical Ghibli-esque world. Endlessly inventive, this haunting and enchanting tale is not to be missed.’ --A.Y. Chao, author of Shanghai Immortal 
 
'Water Moon is unlike anything I've ever read, full of wonders and terrors...a haunting, half-remembered dream of a book.' --Gareth Brown, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Book of Doors 
 
'An engaging, dreamy fantasy with an atmosphere reminiscent of a Studio Ghibli production’ -- Guardian 
 
'Water Moon is a dreamy, ethereal fantasy, set in a fascinating faerie tale world with appropriately dark corners. Fans of Hayao Miyazaki will love this one.' --Olivia Atwater, author of Half a Soul 
 
'Whimsical, poignant, thought-provoking, and wildly adventurous, Water Moon will bend your imagination in the very best of ways.' --Mikki Brammer, author of The Collected Regrets of Clover 
 
'A unique and beautiful fantasy novel' 5-star reader review 
 
'A whimsical and immersive [Studio] Ghibli-esque adventure' 5-star reader review 
 
'Every leg of the journey unfolded with its own distinct charm' 5-star reader review 
 
'The world building [is] so exquisite' 5-star reader review

Samantha Sotto Yambao is a professional daydreamer, aspiring time traveller, and speculative fiction writer based in Manila. She is the author of Before Ever After, Love and Gravity, A Dream of Trees, and The Beginning of Always. Water Moon, her latest novel and UK debut, was an instant Sunday Times bestseller.

Raya is a lost soul, going through the motions of life without a dream of her own. 
 
One night, on her subway ride home, Raya’s thoughts wander too far. She wakes on the Elsewhere Express, a magical train that offers its passengers a sense of purpose, peace, and belonging. The train’s endless journey is a chance for Raya to reimagine her life – but only if she finds her compartment before time runs out. 
 
On board, Raya meets a charming, handsome artist named Q and together they race to find their place on the train, through a boarding car carpeted in meadow grass and along a dining carriage where passengers picnic on lilypads. 
 
But a mysterious stowaway has boarded with them, and with it a dark, malignant magic that threatens to destroy the train and everything in it. The closer Raya comes to uncovering the stowaway's identity, the nearer she draws to the ultimate question: what is her life's true purpose – and might Q be connected to it?

Samantha Sotto Yambao

Full of adventure and marvellous creativity, Water Moon surprises and delights with every turn of the page. I didn't want to leave this fascinating world. Sam Sotto Yambao has written an inventive, refreshing fantasy here

Megan Bannen, bestselling author of THE UNDERTAKING OF HART AND MERCY

Water Moon is unlike anything I've ever read, full of wonders and terrors...a haunting, half-remembered dream of a book

Gareth Brown, Sunday Times bestselling author of THE BOOK OF DOORS

A spellbinding journey into a magical Ghibliesque world where regrets and memories can be bartered, where appearances are not what they seem, and where dreams, free will, and destiny are pitted against fate. Endlessly inventive, this haunting and enchanting tale is not to be missed

An engaging, dreamy fantasy with an atmosphere reminiscent of a Studio Ghibli production

What a bright, fresh voice Samantha Sotto Yambao has brought to the literary world. Water Moon is a novel for all the senses, but its true magic lies in being breathtakingly visual. You will be spirited away

Sarah Addison Allen, New York Times bestselling author of Other Birds 

Water Moon is a dreamy, ethereal fantasy, set in a fascinating faerie tale world with appropriately dark corners. Fans of Hayao Miyazaki will love this one

A Studio Ghibliesque tale of whimsy and water in which the protagonists enter a fantasy world to find missing things and also themselves

Water Moon is one of those rare, unique reads that stay with you long after you turn the final page. With its lyrical writing and philosophically poignant themes, Water Moon clings to your soul and renders it transformed

Rania Hanna, author of The Jinn Daughter

Whimsical, poignant, thought-provoking, and wildly adventurous, Samantha Sotto Yambao’s Water Moon will bend your imagination in the very best of ways

Mikki Brammer, author of The Collected Regrets of Clover

For Studio Ghibli fans, Water Moon is going to become your new favorite book

A story about the choices we make, the regrets we have and how to live with them, it’s a bewitching journey meant to mesmerise

This ethereal novel is mesmerising. Water Moon is pure fantasy, with a fable-like ability to fold the familiar into new shapes like origami. Water Moon gives our world an uncanny and dreamlike underbelly, the creativity of which is an absolute joy to read . . . a wonderful read, with gorgeous prose and a pace that snaps around hairpin twists as the protagonists unravel the mystery behind Hana’s missing father. But the plot – and theme – are eclipsed by the overpoweringly dazzling fantasy of its setting, which evoked more wonder in me than any book has achieved for a long time

BSFA, British Science Fiction Association

Cosmopolitan, 'The best new books out in January'

The prose is clear and descriptive . . . There's an abundance of ideas herein

A whimsical tale that’s reminiscent of the work of Studio Ghibli

Yambao has created a work of art that is atmospheric and, above all else, wondrous. Although there are stakes, Water Moon is a heartwarming, low-suspense read that reminds us to take hold of our lives and our choices

Readers who have been swept up in the cozy charm of Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi and The Dallergut Dream Department Store by Miye Lee will fall hard for the mix of magical realism, fantasy mystery, and star-crossed romance in this novel by Sotto Yambao. Highly recommended

[R]eaders will be utterly drawn in to Yambao's excellent, vivid novel, which is powered by its enchanting setting.... This book is charming, fresh, and difficult to put down

Yambao (The Beginning of Always) delights with this gentle portal fantasy about a quaint mystical pawnshop from another realm that poses as a Tokyo ramen restaurant where customers can exchange their regrets for peace of mind . . .Yambao’s inventive setting pushes the limits of common fantasy tropes, and her thought-provoking exploration of regret, choice, and free will resonates. This whimsical tale will have readers riveted

A story about the choices we make, the regrets we have and how to live with them, it's a bewitching journey meant to mesmerise

On a backstreet in Tokyo lies a pawnshop, but not everyone can find it. Most will see only a cosy ramen restaurant. And just the chosen ones – those who are lost – will find a place to pawn their life choices and deepest regrets. 
 
Hana Ishikawa wakes on her first morning as the pawnshop's new owner to find it ransacked, the shop’s most precious acquisition stolen and her father missing. And then into the shop stumbles a charming stranger, quite unlike other customers. For he offers help, instead of seeking it. 
 
Together, they must journey through a mystical world to find Hana’s father and the stolen choice – through rain puddles, hitching rides on paper cranes, across the bridge between midnight and morning and through a night market in the clouds. 
 
But as they get closer to the truth, Hana must reveal a secret of her own – and risk making a choice she will never be able to take back.

Samantha Sotto Yambao

Praise for Water Moon

Full of adventure and marvellous creativity, Water Moon surprises and delights with every turn of the page. I didn't want to leave this fascinating world. Sam Sotto Yambao has written an inventive, refreshing ...

Water Moon is unlike anything I've ever read, full of wonders and terrors...a haunting, half-remembered dream of a book

A spellbinding journey into a magical Ghibliesque world where regrets and memories can be bartered, where appearances are not what they seem, and where dreams, free will, and destiny are pitted against fate. Endless ...

Full of adventure and marvellous creativity, Water Moon surprises and delights with every turn of the page. I didn't want to leave this fascinating world. Sam Sotto Yambao has written an inventive, refreshing ...

Water Moon is unlike anything I've ever read, full of wonders and terrors...a haunting, half-remembered dream of a book

A spellbinding journey into a magical Ghibliesque world where regrets and memories can be bartered, where appearances are not what they seem, and where dreams, free will, and destiny are pitted against fate. Endless ...

Full of adventure and marvellous creativity, Water Moon surprises and delights with every turn of the page. I didn't want to leave this fascinating world. Sam Sotto Yambao has written an inventive, refreshing ...

Water Moon is unlike anything I've ever read, full of wonders and terrors...a haunting, half-remembered dream of a book

A spellbinding journey into a magical Ghibliesque world where regrets and memories can be bartered, where appearances are not what they seem, and where dreams, free will, and destiny are pitted against fate. Endless ...

Books by Samantha Sotto Yambao

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