Perdido Street Station by China Miéville

The macabre city is diseased, gangrenous, festering, filthy, covered in grime and stench, with all the vices of a huge metropolis - violence, crime, drugs, corruption, poverty, and politics.ĭominated by the eponymous bulk of Perdido Street Station, with the enormous ribcage of a long-dead ancient giant jutting out in the middle of it, built on the banks of rivers from which you'd better not take a drink, it appears to be made of the stuff of nightmares. Ruthless militia patrols the streets while crime bosses prosper and the courts sentence the criminals to the horrendous Remaking. It is the melting pot of Mieville's world, with many races happily living grudgingly coexisting within it. New Crobuzon is 'the sunless city of mundane betrayal and danger', a sprawling metropolis in the Industrial Revolution era-like setting. 'I turn away from him and step into the vastness of New Crobuzon, this towering edifice of architecture and history, this complexitude of money and slum, this profane steam-powered god.' What the book is really about is the city of New Crobuzon itself, and Mieville's amazing boundless imagination knows no limits when it comes to creating a living breathing creature of this surreal, phantasmagorical place. Yes, there is an interesting storyline with mystery and danger and love and betrayal - but it is neither the strength nor the focus of Perdido Street Station. All roads lead away from Ankh-Morpork New Crobuzon, but sometimes people walk along them the wrong way.'Ī word of warning: if you read only for the story and plot, this book is not for you.

To paraphrase Pratchett, 'There's a saying that all roads lead to Ankh-Morpork New Crobuzon.

Perdido Street Station by China Miéville