Perdido Street Station

Rating:
Summary: Should Secure Mieville's Preeminence In Speculative Fiction
Review: When an author acknowledges M.John Harrison and Mervyn Peake as sources of inspiration, one has cause to grow excited. And this novel certainly delivers on its promise. In broad terms fantasy, it blends elements of science fiction and horror into a dark and brooding cityscape as much a character of the novel as the labyrinthine corridors of "Gormenghast" or the haunting, spectral-lit streets of "Viriconium." Blending the industrial decay and squalor of Philip Dick's "Bladerunner" with a society and landscape almost medieval in tone, the city of New Crobuzon rises upon a foundation of refuse, intrigue and urban wonder in which the bizarre is at one with the ordinary, at once familiar and alien, delightfully and vividly rendered. And the city is as much alive, a breathing, often strange and always inseparable presence, as any of the narrative's marvelously wrought characters.

The narrative is inhabited by a diverse, often bizarre and multi-ethnic cast of characters, almost perversely Dickensian in scope, ranging from the grotesqueries of the Remade to the horrifyingly beautiful and ethereal slake-moths, sentience found both in the mechanical as well as races neither entirely animal nor human. Religion is a masque macabre and society a squalid pageant, both parody and pathos, with dignity and courage found often in unlikely places. It is a world as hypnotically rendered and richly textured as the wings of the slake-moths, and should equally hold the reader enthralled. Its conclusion is both bittersweet and unexpected.

None of this would succeed were it not for the imaginative, vivid and exceptional writing of the author. New Crobuzon and its denizens are beautifully and descriptively rendered, with a use of language that equals the wonders that are being wrought. The author's writing skills stand apart from those of his contemporaries, immediately distinguishing him as one of speculative fiction's best literary stylists, head and shoulders above the majority of the genre's writers. Nor is this a simple tale, existing just on the surface of events. While it can be read simply for the pleasure provided in the unfolding narrative, the conflicts of its characters and building of its world, there is far more going on just below the surface, like the underworld of the city, waiting for those who wish to look beyond the architecture and its characters for the more metaphoric and subliminal messages. This is a book that will reward both recreational and intellectual pleasures.

Without doubt one of the finest works of speculative fiction I have encountered over almost a half century of reading, and unique in its creation.

Rating:
Summary: Makes you wonder.....
Review: Oh my god, what a book. Sorry for the loose reaction to the novel, but I am still on the come down. Complex, gritty, emotional, fantastical, dark..... all of these apply to what I consider to be an immense, and epical tale from an imagination that sems fit to burst.

Its a big book. It took me a while to fall into its grasp. Once I had established a relationship with the content, I was pulling 6 hour reading stints. And as a TV producer/researcher, I don't have that sort of time.

Sink your teeth into this novel. Just as 'Lord of the rings' took you to another world, so will this book. You will feel yourself relating to the world it creates, and almost smelling the atmosphere described on paper. It is a story of love, freaky creatures that suck out your dreams, and insects that spit art..... If that doesn't make yo want to read it, what will? Happy reading.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Dark Fantasy
Review: Perdido Street Station is a marvelous dark fantasy, full of marvel and invention. It's set in a world -- in a city -- populated by a mixture of humans and non-humans. Some of the non-humans are nearly human -- cactus people, people with heads like scarab beetles, and so on. Others are incredibly alien, particularly the Weaver, a wonderful spider-like being.

The book is full of the types of scenes that will stick with you forever. The characters are well drawn, but, with a few exceptions, they pale beside the incredible world around them.

The book does have its flaws. It takes 150 pages before the true plot of the book emerges. And a key scene near the end features a real deus ex machina conclusion (particularly annoying because the author did not need to handle the scene this way). But these flaws are minor compared to the rich, engaging tapestry of Perdido Street Station.

Rating:
Summary: a fabulous fantasy
Review: I bought this book almost by accicent--I disliked the title (and it's not a very good title) and I am suspicious of writers with goofy names that sound like they should be writing romance, but then I remembered that this book had been included on a list of prize-nominees along with some other books that I had read and liked, so I bought it. And I am not sorry. It's an elegant, intelligent and sensual tale, although at times over-written. It also at times seems a tad too familiar--I get the Mervyn Peake references, but I've never read M. John Harrison, so I am not entirely sure where this is coming from. I think much of my feeling of familiarity is that the author writes some of the chapters, such as those describing the underworld bosses, with a bit too much emphasis on generic genre. That aside, it's a terrific read, seldom boring, with engaging characters (although I think Lin the khepri-woman could have been a bit more exotic) and a quite fascinating culture, which has enough familiar references to keep you wondering (the ambassador from hell, the garuda, the London-esque tube map and place names) and enough exoticism to make you feel you've taken a trip somewhere far, far away ...

Rating:
Summary: An Essential Work of Fantastic Literature
Review: This is a great novel for anyone interested in contemporary fantasy literature. The writer is very inventive, populating his book with a large, exotic cast of characters--both human and otherwise--and yet none are stereotypical cut-outs; their individuality makes the strangeness of the city come alive. This novel is so good that it will likely be embraced by the mainstream 'literati,' without any acknowledgement of the work's fantastic roots; I see traces of M. Moorcock and the author acknowledges Mervyn Peake as an influence. New Crobuzon is a worthy heir to Gormenghast!

Rating:
Summary: Can't come up with a title for my review, no way.....
Review: Okay, I closed the book and said one word, out loud, to myself: WOW. I also immediately ordered the UK hardcover because this book is definitely for those who keep copies of treasured books. It is so strange, so different, so alien. There's nothing like it that I've ever read. You know, I trust folks' reviews, I order the books they recommend, and more often than not I'm disappointed. NOT THIS TIME. This book will bend your mind.

Rating:
Summary: None
Review: Move over Clive Barker. Graham Joyce, Neil Gaiman, Charles de Lint, and Tim Powers, step to the rear. There's a new urban fantasist taking control of the genre, and China Mieville is the name to watch, and the name to remember. Mieville is not 'on' the cutting edge; he 'is' the cutting edge of fantasy and he'll blow you away...PERDIDO STREET STATION is a dazzling and wild tour-de-force that will leave the reader gasping for breath and pleading for more from this extremely talented and mesmerizing young author GARY S. POTTER Author/Poet.

Rating:
Summary: Dickens, Kafka and Neal Stephenson all rolled into one!
Review: Perdido Street Station is an extraordinary book; a work of enormous imagination fueled by a writing talent that is rare in genre novels. His skills in world-building and his brilliant use of elements from our own various mythologies lend a strange familiarity to the tone of the book. Instead of relying upon the tired, tried and true stereotypes of traditional sword & sorcery to tell his story, he has created something utterly new, utterly bold.

The nightmare that is unleashed upon the city of New Crobuzon as a result of one man's good intentions is simply terrifying. The characters he has peopled the city with are neither all-good nor all-bad. They are complex, emotional, real and we understand them. They are us.

Do nothing else until you read this book. And remember the name of China Mieville; he may very well be a genius.

Rating:
Summary: A novel that must be read
Review: Perdido Street Station is the first truly great novel of the new millenium. Not reading it is a sin of the first rank, particularly for anyone who hungers to live for at least a little while in a world (and an imagination) bigger and more thrilling than ours.

Jonathan Carroll author of THE WOODEN SEA

Rating:
Summary: okay
Review: So China Mieville invents a sort of creature with the body of a human woman and the head of a scarab beetle! The males of this marvellous, if unlikely species are mindless bugs, and reproduction requires them to climb up the female and have sex with her head! Eew! Mieville even manages to tell a good part of this very long story from the perspective of one of these creatures. So what goes on in the head of such an odd person? Nothing very startling I'm afraid, because Lin the Khephri is completely human. She's disgusted by the thought of "head sex" and is engaged in a perfectly commonplace affair with a human male. Oh well. The author's acknowlegements express gratitude toward Mervyn Peake and M. Jonh Harrison (a gratitude shared by all right thinking people) and the book seems to aspire to the sort of high grotesquerie achieved by these masters, but although it's an enjoyable read it doesn't quite succeed. Mieville seems keen to throw as much into the pot as possible and the result is a sometimes ham fisted farrago of false notes and missed opportunities, mixed in with hints of the genuinely strange and disturbing (the ambassador from hell with the echo in his voice) plus the compulsory episodes of stomach churning violence. Especially in the early chapters it sometimes degenerates into a by-the-numbers sort of business, where points are hammered home a little too heavily, every cliche of colourful lowlife is explored (sideshow freaks! Low dives!) and an unfortunate lack of editorial ruthlessness is shown generally. The book is far too long. Quite a lot could profitably have been left out. The pseudo-philosophical discussion on pages 164 - 170 for example. All of chapter eight. All the same, I liked it. About half way through the story starts to get moving, and it's a good story, so things improve from there.