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Post by Pale on Aug 25, 2003 5:06:30 GMT -5
Anyone else read it ?
It's very different from his Bas Lag novels.Due to the modern settings.It reminded me of Neil Gaimans "American Gods/Sandman" or Douglas Adams "Long Dark Tea Time Of The Soul".
It certainly has that "First novel " feel....and sometimes tries too hard to be contemporary i.e the Drum N Bass sections ( Jungle/Junglist urban music, to the uninitiated ).
Overall; a great tail...no tale
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Post by LooseCannon on Aug 26, 2003 12:02:12 GMT -5
I still haven't read it yet. I think I should have read it before the Bas-Lag novels because now all I want is more Bas-Lag from Mieville  |
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Post by Pale on Aug 26, 2003 12:06:59 GMT -5
I think you should track it down. It's certainly enjoyable , if slight in it's concepts. And you can see Mieville developing as a writer as it progresses.
Although ;i agree it is not a patch on PSS,SCAR etc.
( I'll post a few King Rat book covers etc in the Art thread later )
Cheers
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Mort
Wyrman
An Abyss gazing into you
Posts: 19
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Post by Mort on Aug 26, 2003 22:58:39 GMT -5
Well,
I read King Rat (most recently at the start of the year). It is, as Pale says, definitely a "first novel".
There are elements that are trying for the contemporary (the b-boys and Junglist leanings) but also scintillas of what ends up as Bas Lag. There is an atmosphere of steampunk goth (? I hope y'all know what I mean there) with the caracters living in the underworld and only briefly touching thelives of "normals". In addition, the art referred to, with its anachronism/modern paradox has been carried through, although on a cultural level, to PSS and Scar.
Additional to what Pale has already said - I think it is closer to Neverwhere than American Gods (books by Gaiman) - and not just due to the setting. Both novels see authors trying to find their feet - although, my memories suggest King Rat does so better than most.
I loved the take on children's fairy tales - especially the Piper (a seriously DNFWM character who I don't want to meet in the dark alleys).
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Post by Pale on Aug 27, 2003 3:22:27 GMT -5
@mort .Now you mention it ."Neverwhere" does seem to be closer to King Rat. Even in a number of plot details. i.e man learns of secrect family,drops out of modern life and enters and underground/mythical London...hmm.
Also to quote...
"There is an atmosphere of steampunk goth (? I hope y'all know what I mean there)"
Yes i know exactly what you mean.Watch this space...i mean the Other writer/Author section...
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Mort
Wyrman
An Abyss gazing into you
Posts: 19
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Post by Mort on Aug 28, 2003 16:56:17 GMT -5
Umm, have posted in your steampunk thread with my thoughts.
May need to rephrase what I meant though - KR is perhaps more Goth than steampunk. It is more a fairy tale dressed up in its older brother's clothes, oushing a little bit of a sociopolitical theme - though nowhere near as strongly as in PSS and Scar
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Wizz
Wyrman
Destroyer Of Worlds.
Posts: 10
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Post by Wizz on Sept 5, 2003 1:00:12 GMT -5
King Rat totaly has the Neverwhere feel to it!
Still first novel or no I really did enjoy this book. I hate to sound like a fanboy, but really thus far China has managed to captivate me with all his work.
You have to admit that the climax of King Rat and the showdown at that rave was pretty gruesome!!
I dunno though...whenever they started eating garbage i just couldnt get myself to accept it lol!
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Mort
Wyrman
An Abyss gazing into you
Posts: 19
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Post by Mort on Sept 15, 2003 0:55:09 GMT -5
Nice Avatar Wizz
I know what you mean. The garbage eating was a little EUWW! - but it also fits in pretty well with everything else that CM builds on in his later worlks. Their is a lot of squalor and filth in his universe and it all add to the "reality" of it all.
Having said that - I oved the description of the painting the one dude is working on.
The scene at the end is also pretty good - but it fizzles a bit. The cops seem like they are there just to round out the cast - they seemed to be the part that didn't work as well as the rest.
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Post by Possible Den on Oct 27, 2004 10:47:04 GMT -5
In regards to:
"It certainly has that "First novel " feel....and sometimes tries too hard to be contemporary i.e the Drum N Bass sections ( Jungle/Junglist urban music, to the uninitiated )." from Pale.
I spoke to China a few weeks ago at a signing in London and he is a very big fan of Jungle and Hip Hop. Obviously, Jungle has peaked now and gone back underground so it may 'date' the book slightly but it's important to note he didn't just chuck in some urban stylings to be down with the kids.
I'm waiting for my copy of KR to come from Amazon and I'm reading my (signed) copy of IC right now!
IC, you
PossibleDen
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Post by Habit on Jun 2, 2005 18:16:40 GMT -5
As somebody who has had an avid interest in drum&bass for the last six or seven years and a lifelong Londoner myself, I warmed to this novel quite quickly. The whole "Weird London" thing was pretty cool, reminded me of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere particularly.
I would actually be very interested to know of Mr Mieville still follows the drum&bass scene. Its moves at quite a rate, mutating all the time in subtle ways - I wonder what his thoughts are on the current prevalent sounds..
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Post by kaelcarp on Jan 5, 2006 13:09:06 GMT -5
I'm about 50 pages from being done with King Rat. A good story, I think. It definitely feels like a cross between the Neil Gaiman books Neverwhere and American Gods, although it came out before the latter of those. Even shares a mythological character with American Gods. In some ways, the similarities can be staggering. I wonder if Gaiman read it while working on American Gods.
This is so different from the Bas-Lag books. I've read Looking for Jake, and that was my only exposure to his "real-world" stories. Very well done. I can see why he got a book deal with this one. It's grounded in the modern world. Still, my heart lies with the Bas-Lag books more.
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