King Rat - China Mieville

An artful exposition into the underworld of London...

When delving into this undercurrent of London life, I was struck with a familiar feeling. Actually it was more an acute sense of having delved into these murky sewer waters before; Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere was the memory to be precise. This was the book i'd read previously, and it's very similar in tone, setting and plot.

In both a man is thrust from his normal, run of the mill life, down to the world that exists out of sight and out of reach for most. Neverwhere and King Rat both feature almost exclusive contact with that devilish watery rodent, the rat obviously. The knickers of London are exposed in an Alice of wonderland style, in both, Gods run amok freely, plus some delightfully realised villains.

Though enough with those sort of comparisons, yet needless to say if you liked the content of either one, be sure to pick up it's twin. King Rat then was published in 1998, and was to be the first of a clutch of delightful books from China Mieville. I'd previously read and utterly devoured Perdido street station, so anything along those lines would satisfy this hungry soul.

King Rat is a blend, a dark swirling mix of genres, and that you might expect from a New Weird author. The book is a resplendent image of the grotesque, a searing look at the underground forces that live beneath out feet. Our window into this world is Saul Garamond, and we swiftly see his world torn down, and as a consequence is taken under the wing of one King Rat. A dispossessed ruler of the rat kingdom, and very concerned with gaining his status back.

Mievilles liquid prose is a joy to read, and he takes us effortlessly through the streets and sewers of deepest dank London. The horror traits that come to be ever present in his later works, are woven into the character of the Pied Piper, a mailicious power hungry myth with melodious strands of command in his magical pipe. The guy sounds like a fairytale like character, yet his persona is one of tongue in cheek homicidal maniac.

Strictly its a standard tale of finding oneself in a new world, exploring your new surroundings and learning to cope with new challenges. The difference that Mieville injects into this tale is one of fragmented madness, sporadic bursts of lunacy that dot the book. Their are some truly dramatic scenes and spurious confrontations that mark this as landmark book, in the beginning of what has so far been a flawless and exciting writing career.

While flowing throughout, and with a dark inner content, I felt the ending marred what could have been an exceptional debut novel. I'll leave it for you to make your own up about it, but I couldn't feel it was a wrong choice, I can see why and in a sense it's exactly what needs to be done, but it felt strangely forced. Though it's very minor and hardly prevented me from enjoying the experience of one of my favourite authors.

Mieville is a literary force, his books pack many a punch. Read anything by him quickly.

KING RAT - 9 / 10