King Rat by China Mieville
An urban fantasy set in London, China Miéville’s debut novel King Rat tells the story of Saul Garamond, the Prince of Rats. Unfortunately for London’s rats, the Pied Piper of Hamelin has recently come to town… Miéville’s debut contains many of the ingredients of his later work, including an unusual urban setting, a revisionist approach to fantasy, and an original vocabulary. As we might expect, Miéville tosses in a few great ideas, my favorite here being the rebellion of the rats against their king. Compared to other urban fantasies, King Rat feels hip and adult, perhaps because Miéville focuses on drum & bass culture as much as he does on rat powers and life in the sewers. Many readers will approach King Rat in the hopes of reading something more akin to Miéville’s later work, and these readers may find themselves a little disappointed. However, urban fantasy fans will find a great deal to love in King Rat. Though King Rat may not be as exciting and “weird” as his later novels, China Miéville was already off to a good start when he wrote King Rat. Read the rest.
