623 pages
English language
Published March 17, 2003 by Ballantine Del Rey.
Beneath the towering bleached ribs of a dead, ancient beast lies the city of New Crobuzon, where the unsavory deal is stranger to no one--not even to Isaac, a gifted and eccentric scientist who has spent a lifetime quietly carrying out his unique research. But when a half-bird, half-human creature known as the Garuda comes to him from afar, Isaac is faced with challenges he has never before encountered. Though the Garuda's request is scientifically daunting, Isaac is sparked by his own curiosity and an uncanny reverence for this curious stranger. Soon an eerie metamorphosis will occur that will permeate every fiber of New Crobuzon--and not even the Ambassador of Hell will challenge the malignant terror it evokes.
Started slow and dense and then turns into a rollercoaster. Incredible world-building, can't wait to read the rest of the series.
Perdido Street Station is a slow burn, so slow in fact that people would find it really boring. China Miéville has spent a lot of time thinking about the world of New Crobuzon in great detail and then goes on to explain every aspect of it. While it does get rather technical and scientific, Miéville’s writing style was enjoyable enough to keep me going (a lesser writer I would have quit 300 pages in). The stunning settings of the seedy New Crobuzon, along with the well-crafted writing was the saving grace of this book.
New Crobuzon is a beautiful city, mixing many elements of Steampunk and Fantasy to create the authors very own version of London. After reading China Miéville’s book The City and The City, I knew that this author did define the weird genre; his imagination of the interlocking cities was so complex it was hard to keep …
Perdido Street Station is a slow burn, so slow in fact that people would find it really boring. China Miéville has spent a lot of time thinking about the world of New Crobuzon in great detail and then goes on to explain every aspect of it. While it does get rather technical and scientific, Miéville’s writing style was enjoyable enough to keep me going (a lesser writer I would have quit 300 pages in). The stunning settings of the seedy New Crobuzon, along with the well-crafted writing was the saving grace of this book.
New Crobuzon is a beautiful city, mixing many elements of Steampunk and Fantasy to create the authors very own version of London. After reading China Miéville’s book The City and The City, I knew that this author did define the weird genre; his imagination of the interlocking cities was so complex it was hard to keep up with it all. Then I came to Perdido Street Station and not only was the city overly thought out, all the creatures and the science behind it all was. I’m not sure how this author does it and I don’t think I would ever want to spend a day in the brain of China Miéville.
The Characters are so flawed, it was actually a joy to learn more about them and everytime they try to ‘do-the-right-thing’ you just know that they don’t know the bigger picture and the consequences of their own actions. The social aspects of this world thought out too, in fact I think the author knows more about the scientific, social and political aspects of New Crobuzon than he does of England and the world.
The two major plots within this book played out rather well and I think if I enjoyed Fantasy novels more that I actually do, I might have enjoyed Perdido Street Station a lot more. For me this book could have used a good editor to thin it out without losing all the proses that Miéville expertly uses. The 880 page paperback was really uncomfortable to read, I think I will stick to an e-reader for the next big book I tackle.
