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A review by dom_zizza
Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I have never read a book like this one. It is disgusting, depraved, horrifying, uncomfortable and also one of the best written books I've ever read. I truly don't think I could recommend it to anyone, despite it being a masterpiece of fiction - truly outstanding worldbuilding of magic, science and sapient races. It's evident China Miéville is clearly an outstanding author who has an incredible amount of talent and deserves a huge amount of respect. That said, this book feels unrelenting in it's depravity, it grabs you and does not let go.
The pacing is somewhat varied, the first half is slow and meandering - you are introduced to the world, the characters, the intricacies of the setting, and each time you're impressed by an idea Miéville has implemented into the setting, he will one up the creativity of the idea with something else. The second half takes a dramatic and hard shift in pacing, instead reading like a thriller with each chapter leaving you out of breath.
With no spoilers, the ending I found hard to stomach. It felt reminiscent of parts of the book where the depravity - which is ever-present in the setting - felt gratuitous, to an almost unnecessary degree. I appreciate books do not require happy endings, and in no way would there ever be one for a book like this, but I can't help but feel like this was an malicious twist of the knife. In some way Miéville is pushing past the vulgarity of the setting, and trying to bring the reader down with him.
If you are aware of how difficult the book is, both in some very dense (but excellently written) description, and how some intense sections will make you viscerally react - then the book is incredible, but it is definitely not for everyone.
The pacing is somewhat varied, the first half is slow and meandering - you are introduced to the world, the characters, the intricacies of the setting, and each time you're impressed by an idea Miéville has implemented into the setting, he will one up the creativity of the idea with something else. The second half takes a dramatic and hard shift in pacing, instead reading like a thriller with each chapter leaving you out of breath.
With no spoilers, the ending I found hard to stomach. It felt reminiscent of parts of the book where the depravity - which is ever-present in the setting - felt gratuitous, to an almost unnecessary degree. I appreciate books do not require happy endings, and in no way would there ever be one for a book like this, but I can't help but feel like this was an malicious twist of the knife. In some way Miéville is pushing past the vulgarity of the setting, and trying to bring the reader down with him.
If you are aware of how difficult the book is, both in some very dense (but excellently written) description, and how some intense sections will make you viscerally react - then the book is incredible, but it is definitely not for everyone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Injury/Injury detail