A dark urban fantasy thriller from one of the all-time masters of the genre
Kraken
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'Meanwhile, blogger Damien G Walter enjoyed the literary fantasy of the year, finding in China Miéville's Kraken, a tale of cops and apocalypse in an alternative London, "a prodigious imagination letting rip".' --Guardian, Fiction Recommendations of the Year
Book Description
Deep in the research wing of the Natural History Museum is a prize specimen, something that comes along much less often than once in a lifetime: a perfect, and perfectly preserved, giant squid. But what does it mean when the creature suddenly and impossibly disappears? For curator Billy Harrow it's the start of a headlong pitch into a London of warring cults, surreal magic, apostates and assassins. It might just be that the creature he's been preserving is more than a biological rarity: there are those who are sure it's a god. A god that someone is hoping will end the world.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
135 of 144 people found the following review helpful
By Si
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
China Mieville, I've always said, is a genius. I think I need to get that out of the way before I carry on with this review. He is possessed of the most toweringly wicked imagination, fearsome skills of characterisation and plot development and the ability to keep the reader on the edge of their seat, in my case, on occasion, literally. If I were sad enough to sit and write down my top 10 fiction books of all time, 'The City and the City', 'Perdido Street Station' and 'The Scar' would be somewhere amongst them. I've read his book of short stories, 'Looking for Jake', about five times now. And I hate short stories.
However, even genuises have their off-days, and that seems to be what's happened here. I say "seems" because I can only guess at what prompted Mieville to approach this book in the way he did. This is not China Mieville, this is Clive Barker on acid. It's completely mad, perhaps the result of a bet as to how much weirdness Mieville could cram into 400 pages.
The concept is promising, and indeed a short synopsis would sound equally appealing. Mieville's writing style, whilst an acquired taste due to the author's of chain-of-consciousness prose interspersed with quirky colloquialisms, is rich and beautifully delivered. There's humour too, and several laugh-out loud moments, the politically incorrect outbursts of the virtual retro police officers being a case in point. However, a few dozen pages into the novel things start to go bad and the key problem quickly becomes evident. This problem, in summary, is that anything can happen.
Mieville has created a world entirely without rules and without boundaries. This sounds exciting, especially bearing in mind the author's formidable powers of imagination, but what it actually does is rob the plot of all suspense.... Read more ›
However, even genuises have their off-days, and that seems to be what's happened here. I say "seems" because I can only guess at what prompted Mieville to approach this book in the way he did. This is not China Mieville, this is Clive Barker on acid. It's completely mad, perhaps the result of a bet as to how much weirdness Mieville could cram into 400 pages.
The concept is promising, and indeed a short synopsis would sound equally appealing. Mieville's writing style, whilst an acquired taste due to the author's of chain-of-consciousness prose interspersed with quirky colloquialisms, is rich and beautifully delivered. There's humour too, and several laugh-out loud moments, the politically incorrect outbursts of the virtual retro police officers being a case in point. However, a few dozen pages into the novel things start to go bad and the key problem quickly becomes evident. This problem, in summary, is that anything can happen.
Mieville has created a world entirely without rules and without boundaries. This sounds exciting, especially bearing in mind the author's formidable powers of imagination, but what it actually does is rob the plot of all suspense.... Read more ›
25 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I was wondering when China first started writing this. I discovered him with 'Perdido Street Station' and read on from there, I read King Rat after 'The City and the City' and noticed his maturing as a writer. Reading Kraken, over ages, believe me,I wanted to put this book down so many times I can't tell you, but I'm a fan, so I stuck with it. Seems to me that either his Editor has said 'You'll make more money if you dumb down and get on the Gaiman train' , or this was the book after King Rat.
There are of course the Marxist underlays and the quiet jokes to the knowing, but my biggest complaint is that I felt a little bit insulted by this, there is plagerism (and that is an opinion, not an accusation) and the general impression that he wasn't really trying.
I saw England play Algeria last night and felt the same way.
Personally, I blame the publisher, I read Alistair Reynolds 'Terminal World' and felt the same way.
Don't force our greatest writers to churn out pulp, I'll wait for the masterpiece.
There are of course the Marxist underlays and the quiet jokes to the knowing, but my biggest complaint is that I felt a little bit insulted by this, there is plagerism (and that is an opinion, not an accusation) and the general impression that he wasn't really trying.
I saw England play Algeria last night and felt the same way.
Personally, I blame the publisher, I read Alistair Reynolds 'Terminal World' and felt the same way.
Don't force our greatest writers to churn out pulp, I'll wait for the masterpiece.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By C. Hart
Format:Hardcover
First off, it should be known that my biggest fear is the sea; specifically its dark depths and the creatures that lurk within. Like with many people I presume, because I fear this so vehemently, I am at the same time incredibly drawn to it and seek it wherever I can in fiction. Take the scene in James Cameron's The Abyss that sees Ed Harris' character make his slow descent into an abyssal, pitch black canyon on the floor of the ocean. I can watch the scene with ease, but at the same time it scares me magnificently, and compels me beyond belief.
The point to be taken is: I love sea monsters. Miéville's The Scar - an infinitely better book than this one - concerns in large part a gigantic sea monster from another universe called an Avanc; the inclusion and dealing of which I loved (one excellent aspect is Miéville's choice to never describe the creature in any detail; allowing my imagination to run wild with it - making the fear potential increase enormously). So when I saw that Miéville's latest work was to be titled Kraken, I immediately built up high hopes.
All in all though, I'm sad to say that I was let down. I love Miéville (and I haven't even read Perdido Street Station or The City & The City yet), but his latest effort falls considerably short of his abilities in my opinion. New Weird in style Miéville certainly is, but this all too weird for my tastes. From animal servants picketing for their rights to an omniscient invisible flying cartoon pig, this grasps completely in the wrong direction for an altogether ludicrous kind of strange. Add to this a plot full of questions to which we are given all too easy and entirely unsatisfying answers and it doesn't amount to much.... Read more ›
The point to be taken is: I love sea monsters. Miéville's The Scar - an infinitely better book than this one - concerns in large part a gigantic sea monster from another universe called an Avanc; the inclusion and dealing of which I loved (one excellent aspect is Miéville's choice to never describe the creature in any detail; allowing my imagination to run wild with it - making the fear potential increase enormously). So when I saw that Miéville's latest work was to be titled Kraken, I immediately built up high hopes.
All in all though, I'm sad to say that I was let down. I love Miéville (and I haven't even read Perdido Street Station or The City & The City yet), but his latest effort falls considerably short of his abilities in my opinion. New Weird in style Miéville certainly is, but this all too weird for my tastes. From animal servants picketing for their rights to an omniscient invisible flying cartoon pig, this grasps completely in the wrong direction for an altogether ludicrous kind of strange. Add to this a plot full of questions to which we are given all too easy and entirely unsatisfying answers and it doesn't amount to much.... Read more ›
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By MJF
Format:Paperback
I was absolutely hooked for the first couple of chapters. The author's imagination is incredible and the originality was so compelling. I barely understood what was going on, but felt sure that all would become clear.
Halfway through I still had no idea what was going on, but decided to give the author the benefit of the doubt. It must be a technique he's using to help the reader empathise with the protagonist who also doesn't have a clue, I naively thought.
Now, having finished it, I only have the vaguest grasp of the plot and feel thoroughly disappointed.
The character of Billy Harrow was also lost about two-thirds of the way in, when he suddenly begins to understand, abandoning the poor confused reader. I found myself wishing that Collingswood was the main character instead as she was far more interesting.
Overall, a fantastic idea and so much potential, completely wasted by the author trying to pack in about 5 books worth of ideas into 1, and explaining nothing. I'm so disappointed.
Halfway through I still had no idea what was going on, but decided to give the author the benefit of the doubt. It must be a technique he's using to help the reader empathise with the protagonist who also doesn't have a clue, I naively thought.
Now, having finished it, I only have the vaguest grasp of the plot and feel thoroughly disappointed.
The character of Billy Harrow was also lost about two-thirds of the way in, when he suddenly begins to understand, abandoning the poor confused reader. I found myself wishing that Collingswood was the main character instead as she was far more interesting.
Overall, a fantastic idea and so much potential, completely wasted by the author trying to pack in about 5 books worth of ideas into 1, and explaining nothing. I'm so disappointed.
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3.4 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Really, surprisingly awful
I would consider myself a fan of this author but in recent years I haven't had as much time to read and in turn found myself with quite the pile of unread novels. Read more
Published 1 month ago by David
1.0 out of 5 stars
Well,Well
Heres something very unsuspected. I've read four novels by China Mieville and this is by far his most immature and totally lost book. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Whiskeyjack
1.0 out of 5 stars
(Don't) release the Kraken!
Welcome to London. Its all happening, init?
The Natural History museum's latest exhibit is the remains of a mysterious giant squid. Read more
The Natural History museum's latest exhibit is the remains of a mysterious giant squid. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mostly Harmless
1.0 out of 5 stars
Too squidilicious
I've been told that China Miéville is in fact all that. This book is modern day magic, set in London, involves the Science and Natural History Museum AND the British... Read more
Published 2 months ago by P. J. Coffey
2.0 out of 5 stars
A bit like Discworld
I expect a talking 20 legged suitcase to come flying out of a turtles arse before playing bingo with a game of monopoly, If you like a wacky full of nonsense storyline WITH NO... Read more
Published 4 months ago by John
1.0 out of 5 stars
Got so impatient with it - I skip read to the end....
I was given this book on my Kindle and having read some of the reviews - thought it was worth a go.
I disliked it from the start - but thought I would plough on as there... Read more
I disliked it from the start - but thought I would plough on as there... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Bagpuss
2.0 out of 5 stars
Thank the Lords of Chaos that that's over...
In the same way that the Mounties always get their man, I always finish a book. But it's been a struggle... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Toadjuggler
1.0 out of 5 stars
Very putdownable
I didn't finish the book. It just didn't keep me interested enough. Something which isn't interesting enough to finish only deserves a single star.
Published 5 months ago by Serial Downloader
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful dark tale
I really liked this book, my favourite book by the same author is the amazing 'Perdido Street Station'. Read more
Published 7 months ago by L. Gibson
3.0 out of 5 stars
Hmm
Not a bad book. Unfortunately it's not great either. Nowhere near as good as The City & The City.
Anyone else think Kraken rips off Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere a tad?
Anyone else think Kraken rips off Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere a tad?
Published 9 months ago by Garold
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