“Veldt to scrub to fields to farms to these first
tumbling houses that rise from the earth.”
With this first line, China
Mieville begins our journey into the heart of his vast fantasy metropolis, New
Crobuzon. It’s a heaving, vicious and chaotic beast; filled with a host of
bizarre sentient species and a sprawling network of train lines, culminating in
the heart of the city: Perdido Street Station.
Perdido Street Station is the
story of Isaac der Grimnebulin, fringe scientist and research extraordinaire.
When Isaac is hired by a Garuda (a sentient bird-like species) named Yagharek
to restore his powers of flight, Isaac sees the potential to apply some of his
more bizarre theories to something tangible, and proceeds to examine a host of
different flying species, to see just what it would take to get Yagharek off
the ground again. But through a series of unfortunate events (Yup) Isaac finds
himself in possession of something far more dangerous than he realises. And
when that thing is unleashed on the city of New Crobuzon, it will take all of
Isaac’s considerable genius to stop everyone from coming to a horrifying end.
This is China Mieville’s
second novel, and it is truly enormous, both in scope and narrative. Normally, 300 pages of Mieville is enough to
get my brain spinning with ideas for months on end. Suffice to say, I won’t be
forgetting Perdido Street Station any time soon. It is jam-packed to bursting
with elements of the fantastic which are always completely and utterly original. Every page has
something new to absorb; be it a weird creation, a bizarre monster, an
ingenious idea, or just Mieville’s ever-striking prose. I’ve read Mieville
before and so had a small idea of what to expect, but with this book I just
wanted to absorb every sentence – every word.
The characters that Mieville
has created in Perdido Street Station are all fully rounded individuals –
nobody, except perhaps the villainous Mr. Motley, is black or white. No-one that simple. Isaac is
the novel’s central protagonist, but there are plenty of moments, particularly
towards the end of the novel, where he makes decisions which are questionable
at best. Mieville also manages to give the non-human characters personalities
of their own, all affected by their cultural backgrounds and life in New
Crobuzon, and the rest of the outside world (aka Bas-Lag).
But the real main character
of this novel is New Crobuzon itself. It comes alive in ways I haven’t seen in
any other single novel. The only other fantasy city I can think of which has
this level of depth and realism is Terry Pratchett’s Ankh Morpork, and that has
developed over many years and many books. New Crobuzon is alive from the first
page – as Yagharek, an outsider, much like the reader, is introduced to every
physical element of the city as it slowly envelopes him, the further in he
travels. It’s a real masterwork of fantasy creation, and I can see why it is
always placed so highly when discussions of fantasy settings take place –
despite Bas-Lag only featuring in three novels to date.
The plot itself is perhaps
the books weakest attribute. Mieville spends much of the early stages of the
novel setting the scene and introducing us to New Crobuzon, that the plot barely
moves forward in the first 150 pages. Although I personally didn’t have a
problem with this (as the setting was an absolute joy to read) – I did notice
that it began to get a bit much in the later stages of the book, when the plot
catches up with Mieville and he has to race to tie everything towards a climax.
Ultimately, it’s a bug hunt – but this is China Mieville we’re talking about –
so those bugs are far from simple. Once Mieville sets up his players, the
endgame is fast, frantic and dripping with tension. The ending is quite
shocking and, thematically, the perfect closure for a book which puts the city
at the heart of everything.
I really enjoyed Perdido Street Station. It
took me about 10 days to read, but it really was a joy to soak up Mieville’s
world, despite how dirty it made me feel at times. Its plot is perhaps
underwritten – despite the fact I would not suggest lengthening the book any
further. Ultimately, though, Perdido Street Station is about New Crobuzon. It
introduces a world which is so well developed, I’m dying to dive into the next
Bas-Lag novel, The Scar, as soon as possible. As someone else has suggested to
me, Perdido Street Station is the work of a master craftsman at the top of his
game. All I have to say is, if this isn’t the top of his game – I’m extremely
excited to see what is.
3 comments:
Great review! Sounds totally worth to read but I already see me struggling with it (I had problems getting into Embassytown)...
"Garuda (a sentient bird-like species)" Really? Aren't the bird-men in Nights of Villjamur called Garudas too?
Well from what I've read - Embassytown is a tougher read, despite it being much shorter. I haven't read Nights of Villjamur, but I think Perdido Street Station came first. Maybe Garudas are a mythical creature? I really have no idea.
Fantastic review! I just finished Perdido Street Station this evening. Enjoyed it for the most part, LOVED the world-building; it is so rich and creative and unlike anything I'd read before, a really refreshing change from medieval fantasyland peopled with elves and wizards. I struggled with the second half, though - I found the moth plot less interesting than the "commissions" story and the characters of Isaac and Lin in the first half. Still, it recaptured my interest towards the end and left me wanting to know more, so all in all, a success.
Post a Comment