Rating: 
Summary: Good ... but the best is yet to come!
Review: I should have enjoyed this book ... unusual rythms, engaging if flat main character, great themes. But I have to say it left me feeling let down, because the book I read before this was PERDIDO STREET STATION, China Mieville's sequel. It bears about as much resemblance to King Rat as the Lord of the Rings does to the Hobbit. So watch this space ...
Rating: 
Summary: Worth a repeat read
Review: I so admire Mieville's ability to create character in just a few simple sentences. The most heart-rending protrayal is of a man who barely appears in the novel alive. After so many years, it's wonderful to find fantasy this imaginative, that takes an old, old tale and puts a heretofore unimagined spin on it. Especially from a new author! I hope for more, soon.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and Fun
Review: I was really drawn into the dark fantasy world of this book. It reminded me of a grittier Neverwhere (which I also love). I especially liked the animal superiors, and loved the character of King Rat. Sometimes I was more sympathetic to him than to Saul, the main character.I felt the ending was set up for a sequel, and really hope the author considers writing one. I thought about this book for days after I finished it. Fast read, lots of action, fun story.
Rating:
Summary: very unique read...takes you into another world!
Review: i will admit that i picked up this book because it incorporated Drum n Bass into the story. DnB is my one true love and i wanted to see how the Mieville would pull this off, since DnB and its (mostly underground)culture are not somehting many people understand or even know about. Drum n Bass was the perfect genre of music for this fascinating novel about London's underground...but if a reader had no prior knowledge about the music and it's culture, they would only get a quick (and almost outdated?) lesson from this book. Anyway, i don't think Mieville's sole purpose was to educated unfamiliar readers about a musical genre from London's urban youth (with a 10+ year history) so much as to simply use it to help create and support his unqiue and mysterious scenes in the novel (such as the Rat King's sewers). Okay, about the novel for people who don't even care about DnB...i loved how it incoporated the childhood tale of the Piped Piper and made a present day story out of it. You are defintely brought into another world...one that lurks right under the city's feet. The reader can sympathize with the main character, Saul, who is violently dragged into this surreal situation. Some of Saul's revelations are probably familiar to many of us...such as how he can feel so very alone in a huge city that isn't even aware of the struggle ensuing below its streets-his struggle. It was a quick read for me and it is exciting since something new is always developing. I really enjoyed the book and it was nice to finally read something different for a change. I am looking foward to reading Peridio Street.
Rating: 
Summary: A fun read--exceeded my expectations
Review: I'd describe this as hybrid of The Alienist and the recent X-Men film--but rather better than either. Much more finely written than the pulp thillers that sell so well these days-- I hesitated to pick it up based on the "horror genre" label i had seen it associated with, but it's really fairly classy gore, what there is of it. The detective is a little lame as a character, but i won't quibble. Entertaining and memorably creepy page turner--with a satisfying streak of originality, at least to my experience.
Rating:
Summary: A new author to add to my favorites list
Review: I've just discovered China Mieville and after reading so many rave reviews of The Scar and Perdido Street Station decided to go out and pick up those books. I noticed King Rat and although I had not heard anything about it, I recently read Neverwhere and enjoyed it. Since this book seemed to have a similar theme and setting I took a chance on it. Great read! The story was drawing me in, anyway, but once it revealed that it was a dark retelling of a myth, I knew I was hooked. I've always enjoyed stories that either purport to tell you the *real* story behind the myth, or attempt to bring characters from a myth into modern times. Great characters. The three kings were very well done. The Piper was one of the best villians I've read. Saul seemed to avoid feeling cliche-ish as he "comes of age". Can't wait to check out more Mieville.
Rating:
Summary: A new author to add to my favorites list
Review: I've just discovered China Mieville and after reading so many rave reviews of The Scar and Perdido Street Station decided to go out and pick up those books. I noticed King Rat and although I had not heard anything about it, I recently read Neverwhere and enjoyed it. Since this book seemed to have a similar theme and setting I took a chance on it. Great read! The story was drawing me in, anyway, but once it revealed that it was a dark retelling of a myth, I knew I was hooked. I've always enjoyed stories that either purport to tell you the *real* story behind the myth, or attempt to bring characters from a myth into modern times. Great characters. The three kings were very well done. The Piper was one of the best villians I've read. Saul seemed to avoid feeling cliche-ish as he "comes of age". Can't wait to check out more Mieville.
Rating:
Summary: Raw, fascinating, powerful
Review: In "King Rat" China Mieville has created a Pied Piper tale for the 21st century. Using the duality of the ultra-chic yet hyper-primitive culture of the London club scene as his backdrop, and writing with machine-gun pacing, Mieville has created an alternate world that is by turns amusing and terrifying. Unlike his other two novels (which are brilliant in their own right) "King Rat" is raw, there's really no other way to say it, Mieville's words drip and fester like the sewers that are his settings, and his characters resonate with appropriately primal emotion. It would be extraordinarily difficult to do any more than sketch out the storyline without blowing the plot, but, as I alluded to above, it can safely be said that this is an entirely new and unique take on the Pied Piper. Mieville has transformed the Piper from a jilted, mean-spirited employee, into a force of overawing malevolence and tremendous power. At the same time, as one might deduce from the title, we follow the rats into the sewers and watch as they, and their king, plot revenge for a thousand year old injustice. As always, Mieville's worldview is always just skewed enough to keep the reader off balance. He takes the reader inside the Piper's song, and reveals that it is a cry out to our most base desires: lust, gluttony and greed. Unlike a devil, which speaks with a deceitful tongue, he pulls back the veil that separates humans from animals, and that instills animals with self-preservation. He promises all that we ever wanted, but would never admit even to ourselves. Likewise, Mieville's characters are excellent as usual. In particular, Saul, the half-man, half-rat who forms the centerpiece of the story is supremely well conceived and written. His hesitance to turn his back on the human world even as he is lured by the rat world is fascinating, and both real and surreal at the same time. In addition, the supporting cast of characters is also excellent. Saul's human friends exude a pathos, a certain patheticism...weakness that stands in stark contrast to the animal in Saul. Finally, there are several characters that skirt the fantastic while still being utterly grounded. I don't want to ruin any surprises, but it is fair to say that each is superbly realized and effectively captures the essence that Mieville had in mind. I read both of Mieville's other novels ('Perdido Street Station' and 'The Scar') when they came out, and I enjoyed them both thoroughly. Mieville's command of the language is second to none, and he absolutely revels in the descriptive power of the written word. His characters are always morally ambiguous, and hence completely human. That said, I never completely appreciated these novels until I explored their roots in "King Rat"; where it is raw and jarring, they are contemplative and polished. However, they all share Mieville's boundless imagination and thoughtful writing. "King Rat" is the first stepping-stone in what I expect to be a brilliant career, and as such, it is a superb work in its own right, and even more so, within the context of a greater body of work.
Rating:
Summary: A really great read
Review: King Rat is a difficult book to find a place for. It is neither science fiction nor fantasy and will be overlooked by many of those readers. It likely belongs in the shelf with other horror novels where its redeeming qualities will likely be overlooked by legion fans adoring vampires, psychic abilities, and X-philes looking for a new home. Its future may lie closest on the screen for which it is exquisitely well suited. Once there it will give rise to a wealth of mainstream readers who will adore its ferocity, puerility, and pace.
WHO SHOULD READ THIS:
If there was ever a book that served as an oasis for the connoisseur of speculative fiction, it is King Rat. Very quick, quite short, and immensely engaging it carries just enough political weight and psychological angst to be well worth the invested time without causing sleepless nights pondering its mysteries. A 5-hour plane ride coming up? There is no better book.
WHO SHOULD PASS:
Certainly if you're squeamish of rotten food, rats, or spiders, then this is no the book for you. Similarly, it is a novel rife with coarse language, violence, filth, and enough remorseless sentiment over modern humanity to give pause to the pure still among us. Do not expect redemption from Saul.
READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW AT INCHOATUS.COM
Rating:
Summary: rat tale
Review: King Rat is a fun read whose fantasy element is skilfully worked. Mieville has an obvious love of London's dark underside and his other sources. The problem with fantasy is that you have to believe the fantasy and not just the story. Mostly Mieville makes this leap successfully. But where the book doesn't quite succeed is in its violence (I prefer the play on dark folk tales rather than the more graphic fights) and in its passion for Jungle music - the latter is fine if you share it and makes a nice background for the modern setting of rat tales, but may be just a little too much for non-fans. But, if you're looking for a bleak, tricksy, dirty and easy to read exploration of London's real or imagined underground, this has more than a good share of thrills in story-telling and imagination for this genre.
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