Despite featuring a woman with a scarab for a head and her Da Vinci-like lover, a sentient, near-omnipotent spider-god and an anthropomorphic bird whose wings were hacked off for in incomprehensible crime, Perdido Street Station's most memorable character is New Crobuzon, the city in which it is set. Reminiscent of Victorian London, but peopled by a host of fantastic races and strewn with wonders and horrors, Mieville goes to extraordinary lengths to maintain the reader's interest in his creation. Much of the delight to be had in this book is to be had exploring New Crobuzon and the lives of its inhabitants. Astonishingly, Mieville manages to square every product of his prolific imagination with the internal logic of this believable - if bizarre - world. There are only a few moments in which some new MacGuffin feels like a plot device rather than a natural product of New Crobuzon's melting pot of alien minds and steampunk technology.
Several hundred pages in, however, the reader may begin to tire of Perdido Street Station's lengthy asides, detailing imaginary peoples, places and science at the expense of character and plot. The indulgence of Mieville's editor weighs most heavily on the middle of the book. The dialogue, too, may begin to grate; as other reviewers have pointed out, Perdido Street Station's characters lack distinct voices, and too often indulge in rambling profanity. As the scope of the novel widens, cracks begin to show. Scenes of supposedly Machiavellian politicking do not ring true, and Mieville's credibility is undermined by some factual errors. (He appears to regard the cerebellum as synonymous with the brain, for example). The arrival of the book's antagonists doesn't add much urgency at first, and indeed gives rise to several new but ultimately irrelevant plot threads which add to the sense of drift.
The book gathers pace again as its finale approaches, and the spectacular showdown atop Perdido Street Station will not disappoint. What had me truly gripped, however, was its melancholy aftermath. The book's last few pages demonstrate that, when not indulging his hyperactive imagination, Mieville is capable of dark, ambiguous writing and intelligent characterisation. Had Perdido Street Station featured more of this - and been 200 pages shorter - it might have been a classic. Instead, it is a fascinating riot of imagination, and an exhilarating thrill ride. Despite its failings, it comes highly recommended.
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Fed up of Tolkien? Or not. Either way it’s great
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 July 2018
This book is long. Really long. Like nearly a 1000 pages long. It is fantasy after all.But it's not fantasy as you know it. Mieville, as always, bucks the trend and sticks every middle finger and tentacle up at fantasy stereotypes. You won't find elves here, instead finding humanoid insects and living, breathing cacti.Mieville's worldbuilding and prose are dense and at times difficult, but I did not once find myself tempted to stop. There's a distinct danger of attempting to read the book cover to cover, something I'm not sure is even possible with such a hefty tome (if you need an extra little bit of justification to buy the paper copy, it would make a handy door stop or paperweight or blunt-force weapon should you be burgled).It's hard to decide which bit I liked most: the depth and connection with the characters (a difficult feat in fantastic literature, especially when key characters include a mysterious giant bird man (who lost his wings, of course) and an anthropomorphised insectoid artist.), the quality of the prose or the gripping plot. Yes, it's not perfect, every book has its flaws. This is certainly a more literary and weird version of the fantastic than many readers will be used to. But the rewards are worth it.You should go into this with the full knowledge that you will soon be purchasing the sequels, and lamenting the fact that only three exist in the series. At a push, I'd say The Scar manages to trump Perdido, which you may find hard to believe when reading it. You'll then go on to buy Mieville's entire catalogue. It's a good thing the paper copies are so well designed; I have one very well decorated shelf in my book case. After completing Bas Lag, I'd recommend (well, anything) Embassytown or The City & The City, which the BBC just released a four-part series of. That Perdido Street Station has not had the GoT treatment yet is criminal.Halfway through reading the book I had already purchased both sequels, and given copies to three friends. Why are you still reading? Buy it now. I don't think I could ever recommend a book more.If you found this review useful in any way I’d be super grateful if you clicked the “helpful” button below to let me know :)
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 July 2018
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