Mieville's "Kraken" out in May 2010

[Flying Halftrak]

This just jumped WAY up on my "waiting so anxiously I can hardly stand it" list for 2010. I'd put it just below Dance, but not by much.

Seriously, that sounds unbelievably sweet.

[polishgenius]

That's awesome. Do want.

[Werthead]

That sounds pretty good. Of the 2010 releases I've read so far, Terminal World by Al Reynolds is by far the most impressive. Kraken and ADWD (if it appears etc) are the only two titles I think are remotely in contention with it, although it'd be great for something to surprise me.

[Durckad]

Wootgasm.

That sounds great, almost like Mieville is channeling some Gaiman-Neverwhere there (kinda like he did in King Rat, though hopefully with more impressive results).

[polishgenius]

kinda like he did in King Rat,

And in Un-Lun-Dun, which is ace.

[Datepalm]

Is this guy Mieville really this good? If so, what is the best book to start with?

Perdido Street Station, though the City and the City is short and completely standalone and quite different in style.

[Cuchulain]

Sounds great. I'm definitely getting this.

[Werthead]

Is this guy Mieville really this good? If so, what is the best book to start with?

One of the three or four best spec fic writers around at the moment, and certainly better than the much-more-frequently-mentioned Neil Gaiman (who is still decent), who is one of Mieville's inspirations.

As for the best place to start, all of his books are stand-alone but The Scar and Iron Council take place in the same world as Perdido Street Station and may benefit from having read that first. King Rat, Un Lun Dun, The City and The City and the forthcoming Kraken are all stand-alone books in their own worlds and can be read independantly. Looking for Jake is a very solid short story collection as well which provides shorter, varied samples of his work.

[Calibandar]

First chapter here:

http://www.panmacmillan.com/extracts/displayPage.asp?PageID=7991

[kcf]

I just got a copy of the US ARC in the mail. It lists June 29th as the publication date and the Panmacmillan site lists July 5th as the release. So, it looks like it got pushed back.

Now I have a decision, I usually like to read and review an ARC pretty close to its release date, but this is China Fucking Mieville (and a particularly awesome sounding Mieville book at that). So, what do the good folks of Westeros think I should do?

[aidan]

Read it now. Write your review. Sit on the review for a couple of months.

[The Evil Hat]

I would probably read it, write the review, then look over the review (and reread it if you have time) right before you post it closer to the date and make any edits you want.

[polishgenius]

The PanMacmillan website doesn't list July 7th, it lists 5th of May in the English format. So do your review thingy now.

[Calibandar]

Read it now. Write your review. Sit on the review for a couple of months

I would say read it now and review it now. Don't sit on it. It's still interesting now that no one else has reviewed it.

[kcf]

I would say read it now and review it now. Don't sit on it. It's still interesting now that no one else has reviewed it.

The reality is that of course I'm going to read it now, and it's not likely I'll sit on the review for long. I'm about 50 pages into it now.

If I got a copy, you can bet that loads of others have copies as well. With a release like this and with Mieville being such a darling of critics, we can expect reviews to begin popping up at any time now.

[oneeye]

I think I will wait for 2012, or 13 or whenever.

[Werthead]

A giant, dead squid on display at the Natural History Museum in London goes missing, to the consternation of its curator, Billy Harrow, and that of the police officers of the FSRC (Fundamentalist and Sect-Related Crimes unit). The police think Billy might be a link. So does the Church of God Kraken, which is unhappy with one of their deities being half-inched. Less happily, so do Goss and Subby, murderers and pain-merchants for hire. Half of London is out looking for the squid, for its disappearance is related to fevered dreams and portents of apocalypse. The squid must be found, or the world will burn.

Kraken is China Mieville's seventh novel, and probably his most barking mad book to date. Kraken is a total one-eighty from the measured, focused crime noir that was his previous novel, The City and the City, and shares many more elements from his young adult-aimed Un Lun Dun, such as the fantasised (much more lightly here) depiction of London and a whimsical sense of humour (not to mention the short chapters). Where Un Lun Dun stumbled slightly in its opening chapters with Mieville trying to be down with the kids a little too hard, Kraken aims its culture and pop references more clearly at geekdom, with multiple references to TV shows like American Gothic, Lexx and Battlestar Galactica ("The revamp, obviously,"), a number of Moorcock references and a number of plot points related to Star Trek. There's also some nods at Gaiman, particularly Neverwhere (which also inspired elements of Un Lun Dun and King Rat), with Goss and Subby coming over as worthy homages to the latter's Croup and Vandemar, only less pleasant.

For a book that's so satisfyingly bananas in places, it makes you work hard in others. Mieville gropes for a prose style in the opening hundred pages or so, meaning that the opening part of the book is delivered in short, staccato bursts, one moment enjoyable, the next annoyingly obtuse to the point of turgidness. Mieville has never been an easy read, but he's also never been one with problems of flow in his books, and Kraken presents the first issues with this that I've come across in his work. Luckily, once the book shakes off its jitters and gets down to business, these problems fly out the window as well-defined characters, enjoyably weird factions and an ever more engrossing plot come to the fore. Along the way we meet some fantastic characters and creations, from Wati the stone-bound spirit to the loathsome Goss and Subby to the monstrous being known only as the Tattoo, and events culminate in an ending that is satisfying, if a little predictable (and the "It's the end, whoops, no it isn't, here's another one, and one after that too!" nature of the multiple endings is slightly wearying). Previous Mieville novels have perhaps been overall more cohesive, but ending an extended narrative seems to be something Mieville has struggled with in the past (his short fiction is notably better at this, most notably The Tain). Here he shows some true flair in his ending.

Kraken (****) takes a while to get going but once it does, it fires on all cylinders until it reaches a solid conclusion. Frustrating and hilarious by turns, it is a novel that rewards commitment. It will be published in the UK on 7 May and in the USA on 29 June.

[pat5150]

And you can win an Advance Reading Copy of Miéville's Kraken on the Hotlist! :D

Patrick

[Werthead]

And congratulations to China for winning the Arthur C. Clarke Award for The City and the City tonight. He previously won the award for both Iron Council and Perdido Street Station.

[kcf]

Well, after life has tried to throw me off of actually getting time for reading, I finally finished up Kraken. I loved it as expected - below are a few excerpts from my review:

Kraken is urban fantasy as it should be – dark, dangerous, and creative with both a modern and nostalgic feel, and lacking trite pop culture interpretations of mythological monsters covering up romance and wish fulfillment. Miéville slowly reveals the underbelly of magical London through religious and criminal fanatics, including a tattooed kingpin, squid-worshiping cult, rogue assassins, cults of all kinds and personalities, familiars on strike, and a duo of bad guys channeling the likes of Gaiman’s Croup and Vandemar, Bond’s Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd , and even Pen & Teller. Miéville further peppers the text with homage to science fiction and fantasy books, film, and television and a wicked sense of dark humor largely lacking in his earlier works.

Kraken generally takes the form of an action-thriller with Billy and his allies frantically evading enemies while trying to avert the coming apocalypse, full of the usual action and plot-twists. Hell, it’s practically a classic ‘buddy movie’ complete with all the action, adventure, and sardonic one-liners (if a bit more clever than most). However, this is China Miéville and he simply can’t write without at least a bit of social context. Perhaps the most obvious is through Wati, a sort of magical union boss directing the familiars of London in a strike – this story line is complete with picket lines, strike breakers and a scab familiar squirrel. But more subtle a the discussion of religion and humanity. Religion, cultism, fanaticism, and the like all play a key role in Kraken and the inevitability of humans relying on such – perhaps not a condemnation, but a conversation bearing a mirror, a conversation occurring between the lines.

Full Review