623 pages
English language
Published Nov. 11, 2003 by Del Rey/Ballantine Books.
In the squalid, gothic city of New Crobuzon, a mysterious half-human, half-bird stranger comes to Isaac, a gifted but eccentric scientist, with a request to help him fly, but Isaac's obsessive experiments and attempts to grant the request unleash a terrifying dark force on the entire city.
Started slow and dense and then turns into a rollercoaster. Incredible world-building, can't wait to read the rest of the series.
It should go without saying that reading fantasy requires that the reader actually has fantasy. Even so, a lot of fantasy seems to revolve around pages upon pages of lengthy descriptions of creatures, races and phenomenon that - given the presupposition that the author has a story to tell -leaves little to no room for the reader's own ability to fantasize.
Given this sad fact, it's quite refreshing to read a book that chooses to introduce a whole new world without bothering to explain more than absolutely has to be known to make sense of the story. It does make me want to read more, just to know more about the garuda - or whatever, actually. I like how Miéville takes it for granted that his world (Bas-Lag) is perfectly well known to the reader, even though he's perfectly aware that it's not. It's humbling, in a way. Like being …
It should go without saying that reading fantasy requires that the reader actually has fantasy. Even so, a lot of fantasy seems to revolve around pages upon pages of lengthy descriptions of creatures, races and phenomenon that - given the presupposition that the author has a story to tell -leaves little to no room for the reader's own ability to fantasize.
Given this sad fact, it's quite refreshing to read a book that chooses to introduce a whole new world without bothering to explain more than absolutely has to be known to make sense of the story. It does make me want to read more, just to know more about the garuda - or whatever, actually. I like how Miéville takes it for granted that his world (Bas-Lag) is perfectly well known to the reader, even though he's perfectly aware that it's not. It's humbling, in a way. Like being a stranger in a strange land, not a visitor with a guidebook like in so many colourless Lord Of The Rings-ripoffs that have been written over the years. It keeps the reader on his/her toes.
I sort of lose interest in the story after a while, though. It's like there's no real room to get to know and care about the main characters before getting to know the city and the world. Of course even a sightseeing tour needs a guide, and I understand fully well that 800+ pages of New Crobuzon facts wouldn't work. But I expected a little more from Miéville and the book, than a fantastic (because it is fantastic, even though I said I lost interest in it) story that ends in what can only be described as an anticlimax with a handful of loose threads.
The ride was nice enough, though. I just might read one more.
The city is rich with detail and texture and the characters are distinctive and memorable. Not everything "meshed" and the focus wandered a bit at points, but the rich descriptions and clever contrivances kept the pace moving along.
Ugh. I'm 20% through and giving up for a while. Slogging through exposition and wishing for some character development.
3 to 3.5 stars. How I wish Goodreads let me choose half stars. I quite struggled with this book. For one, the author loves the use of big words. English is not my native language and so for the first time ever I had to make heavy use of the Kindle-provided dictionary. I probably forgot most of those big words again.
Describing the plot of PSS is tricky, because it's such a lengthy story, and even now that I am done, I am not 100% sure what the main story was. Was it Yagharek's struggle? The slake-moths? The crisis engine? I don't know. But I am getting ahead of myself.
Perdido Street Station is the name of the central railway station of New Crobuzon, a large city in the world of Bas-Lag. The world itself is a mix of magic and steampunk elements. To me, New Crobuzon felt like a …
3 to 3.5 stars. How I wish Goodreads let me choose half stars. I quite struggled with this book. For one, the author loves the use of big words. English is not my native language and so for the first time ever I had to make heavy use of the Kindle-provided dictionary. I probably forgot most of those big words again.
Describing the plot of PSS is tricky, because it's such a lengthy story, and even now that I am done, I am not 100% sure what the main story was. Was it Yagharek's struggle? The slake-moths? The crisis engine? I don't know. But I am getting ahead of myself.
Perdido Street Station is the name of the central railway station of New Crobuzon, a large city in the world of Bas-Lag. The world itself is a mix of magic and steampunk elements. To me, New Crobuzon felt like a second London, with a grimy layer of industrialization, poverty and oppression above it all. Technology was strange. You have steampowered constructs on the brink of achieving AI. You have a strange technology called Remaking that creates men with mantis arms, hookers that are all legs or whatever fetish is desired, or creatures like Mr. Motley, the crime boss of New Crobuzon.
Set in this world we have Isaac, who has a secret relationship with his khepri lover Lin. She's insectoid, and their relationship is taboo. He works as a scientist, she is an artist. Everything changes when Yagharek arrives at Isaac's door. He is a garuda, an avian race, and he committed a crime amongst his people that saw his wings removed. He now comes to Isaac to have him develop a way to fly again for the desperate garuda. In his thirst to accomplish this feat, Isaac unknowingly unleashes a threat upon the city that threatens to destroy all of New Crobuzon and more, the deadly slake-moths.
Really, when I summarize this, I marvel at the unique setting and the races, and everything that makes this novel special. I also despair that this is wasted when the author chose to make this novel at least 30% longer than it should have been. The cast of characters is too large, and some elements seemed pointless. Why introduce us to Derkhan's editor? Only to show us that New Crobuzon's government is ruthless? The exposure is too much, the hunt for the slake-moths takes too long, and even the end drags on after the grand finale. The book goes out with a whimper, not a bang. I am really quite torn if I should continue with the next book set in this world.
It's not light reading, and it drags, but it's also not what I would consider completely terrible. For the adventurous steampunk fan, I suppose.
