Sabotage on the Solar Express ~ M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman

Sabotage on the Solar Express is the fifth instalment in the Adventures on Trains series by M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman. Train enthusiast, August Reza, has invited Hal and Uncle Nat to travel on the Solar Express’ maiden voyage. The Solar Express is different to the trains they have travelled on before, it’s powered by hydrogen and solar power. During the journey between Alice Springs and Darwin, it becomes apparent that someone is trying to sabotage the train. 

If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you might have figured out that I absolutely adore this series and have eagerly anticipated the release of each book. In fact, I’m a little gutted that I can’t preorder the next book yet. I started this book on the day it arrived and finished it the next.

Every time Leonard and Sedgman release one of these books, the in-story stakes go up and I’m always left wondering how they’re going to top it. This adventure featured a life or death situation and it definitely left me on the edge of my seat. 

I’m always amazed that both Hal and Uncle Nat still continue to develop as characters even after so many books but it does make them feel real. It was an interesting idea to bring August and Marianne Reza back and to see their development as characters despite being off-page. Marianne was the most changed character and it was done in a way that really suited the book, felt natural and additionally, it helped to develop Hal’s character.

M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman deserve all the awards for the amount of research they put into this book past the obvious. The descriptions of how a hydrogen-powered train would work and the easy to understand descriptions of electrolysis were very well researched. I felt as if I was having a bit of a science lesson as I read (I’d also like to make a complaint – where was this book when I was struggling to learn electrolysis for my GCSEs!).

If it’s not clear already, then Sabotage on the Solar Express gets the same star rating as the four books that precede it – five stars!

C🌙