Review: Perdido Street Station

Perdido Street Station Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I knew it would be difficult to find something like The City & the City but I was hoping a book from the same author would approximate it. It didn't - this is a very different book - but it has charms of its own. It is definitely a book that rewards the patient. The world described in the book a more dystopic version of Terry Pratchett's Ankh Morpork. Instead of the standard fantasy species, the inhabitants are grotesque caricatures reminiscent of the creatures in Mos Eisley from Star wars. Living in a real dystopic world myself, I find little comfort reading about fictional ones. To make things worse the original story lines in the book appear weak and trite. What kept me reading was China Mieville's masterful command of the language and his powerful imagery. After about 250 pages of nearly forced reading, a novel and unexpected story line arises and this one is gripping and fast paced. The language remains elaborate and roundabout, but still fascinating, and now it also has a satisfying tempo and an element of suspense. From that point on, I had been looking forward to my next reading session. The story has elements of the traditional heroic adventure, with many twists and turns and unexpected events and characters. The aftermath inevitably departs for the traditional "happily ever after", which is all I can say here without introducing spoilers. Mieville is a virtuoso writer and it is a pleasure to study his style.


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