Perdido Street Station by China Mieville

Isaac Dan der Grimnebulin found a new exciting project when a Garuda named Yagharek asked him to make him fly again.

Isaac asked his friend Lemuel Pigeon to get word across the criminal underworld that he needed samples of species that can fly. It didn’t matter what it looked like.

Meanwhile, his girlfriend Lin, a khepri, was commissioned by a Mr. Motley to make a sculpture of his likeness. Lin was terrified when she got a good look at her new patron. Isaac doesn’t know about it and Lin was ignorant of Isaac’s research. Isaac unknowingly unleashed a terror in the city unheard of before. His rush to recapture an escaped specimen unearthed the city’s dirty secrets including sentient beings from unlikely places.

Set in the city of New Crobuzon, Perdido Street Station is the first of the three novels set in Bas-Lag. In Bas-Lag, thaumaturgy and steampunk technology exist side by side. It has blurred the lines of different genres including horror, fantasy and science fiction.

China Mieville’s writing is a treat for a jaded reader. I thought I’ve seen every possible innovation in the speculative fiction genre, but Perdido Street Station was a pleasant surprise. The story doesn’t have anything new to offer--careless scientist causes trouble---but the setting of the story is unusual.

It’s a beautiful read. The novel is lengthy, but the imagery, the stories and the characters made it all worthwhile.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10