King Rat

In "King Rat" China Mieville has created a Pied Piper tale for the 21st century. Using the duality of the ultra-chic yet hyper-primitive culture of the London club scene as his backdrop, and writing with machine-gun pacing, Mieville has created an alternate world that is by turns amusing and terrifying. Unlike his other two novels (which are brilliant in their own right) "King Rat" is raw, there's really no other way to say it, Mieville's words drip and fester like the sewers that are his settings, and his characters resonate with appropriately primal emotion. It would be extraordinarily difficult to do any more than sketch out the storyline without blowing the plot, but, as I alluded to above, it can safely be said that this is an entirely new and unique take on the Pied Piper. Mieville has transformed the Piper from a jilted, mean-spirited employee, into a force of overawing malevolence and tremendous power. At the same time, as one might deduce from the title, we follow the rats into the sewers and watch as they, and their king, plot revenge for a thousand year old injustice. As always, Mieville's worldview is always just skewed enough to keep the reader off balance. He takes the reader inside the Piper's song, and reveals that it is a cry out to our most base desires: lust, gluttony and greed. Unlike a devil, which speaks with a deceitful tongue, he pulls back the veil that separates humans from animals, and that instills animals with self-preservation. He promises all that we ever wanted, but would never admit even to ourselves. Likewise, Mieville's characters are excellent as usual. In particular, Saul, the half-man, half-rat who forms the centerpiece of the story is supremely well conceived and written. His hesitance to turn his back on the human world even as he is lured by the rat world is fascinating, and both real and surreal at the same time. In addition, the supporting cast of characters is also excellent. Saul's human friends exude a pathos, a certain patheticism...weakness that stands in stark contrast to the animal in Saul. Finally, there are several characters that skirt the fantastic while still being utterly grounded. I don't want to ruin any surprises, but it is fair to say that each is superbly realized and effectively captures the essence that Mieville had in mind. I read both of Mieville's other novels (`Perdido Street Station' and `The Scar') when they came out, and I enjoyed them both thoroughly. Mieville's command of the language is second to none, and he absolutely revels in the descriptive power of the written word. His characters are always morally ambiguous, and hence completely human. That said, I never completely appreciated these novels until I explored their roots in "King Rat"; where it is raw and jarring, they are contemplative and polished. However, they all share Mieville's boundless imagination and thoughtful writing. "King Rat" is the first stepping-stone in what I expect to be a bri

One theme amongst the other reviews for this marvelous book is to compare it to the author's next, Perdido Street Station which most people seem to have read first.I did not. (In fact I have not yet read Perdido, having recently and reluctantly cancelled virtually all of my magazines due to the sad realization that there was not enough time in my life to keep up with both magazines and books.)Nevertheless, I believe I would still have valued King Rat as highly as I do now.King Rat layers levels of reality the way the physical geography of the book is layered with the surface of London, the downbelow, and occsionally the air when Loplop, King of the Birds is aloft.The portrayal of the Techno - Drum and Bass milieu is perfectly realized as if by someone who must have lived it. The realm(s) of the three Kings, whom I cannot help but identify with Elementals, is both physically well drawn and (intentionally or not) an allegory for the sub-conscious.The characters are exceptionally well portrayed. The reinvention of the Pied Piper is so audacious and effective that every page where he appears is haunted by a different Kind of Music entirely.When I finished it, although probably not even the author would agree with the connection, there was nothing for it but to watch my DVD of The Sweet Hereafter, a different sort of work entirely, but one which also uses the Pied Piper as a significant metaphor.Buy it. Read it. Be moved by it.

King Rat is a highly original urban fantasy. It is also unlike anything you have ever read before. I think that Mieville is single most original writer of urban gothic fantasy, more so even than Clive Barker. You will never see London with the same eyes again!Watch out for 'Perdido Street Station', Mieville's second novel, published in the UK earlier this year. It is set in a really strange universe, mixing fantasy horror and science fiction in a way that is unique and original. It will simply blow your mind. This writer is destined to be one of the biggest stars. Buy this novel now and then buy anything else China Mieville writes.

"King Rat" is brilliant. Mieville manages to wrap up Drum & Bass culture with the underlying creepiness inherent in old fables in a mix that is reminiscent of Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere", and yet uniquely its own. Highly, HIGHLY recommended.