A Novel for the Internet in Seven Cars and a Crash

Journey Planner

journey planner

All cars now loaded and ready to travel!


253 ? Why 253 ?
Car 1 passengers
Car 2 passengers
Car 3 paggengers
Car 4 passengers
Car 5 passengers
Car 6 passengers
Car 7 passengers
The End of the Line
Don't miss this important 253 announcement!
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This site is the original 1990s encoding of thE prize-winning hypertext novel 253: A NOVEL FOR THE INTERNET IN SEVEN CARS AND A CRASH. The internet version and 253 THE PRINT REMIX went on to win the Philip K Dick Award for Best SF Novel not published in hardback.

253 was published in sections from 1996 to 1998. It was written, encoded and uploaded by Geoff Ryman . Graphic design and resources were provided by Roland Unwin. Any questions? Email info@253novel.com

New texts by Geoff Ryman: Looking back from 2023


The world of 253
Loops: the Circle Line
The bad side of the internet

Carmen Maria Machado writing for GRANTA blogs named 253 the best book published in 1998.
'Astonishingly vibrant portraits of each person on the train...A disturbing, melancholy work but also lyrical and totally engaging.' LOS ANGELES TIMES.
'A triumph of imagination, lnterlaced with considerable wit.' NEW STATESMAN.
'A novelist completely in control of his material.' INDEPENDENT


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