false 68498 10 Saul Garamond returns from a journey in late evening and sneaks into his bedroom to avoid a confrontation with his estranged father. He awakes to the intrusion of police and the news that his father has been murdered and he is the number-one suspect. Forgotten in a jail cell, he is freed by a peculiar, stinking, and impossibly strong stranger--only to his find rescue may be worse than imprisonment. The plot moves through subterranean and rooftop London quick as a techno beat, as Saul discovers his curious heritage and finds himself marked for death in an age-old secret war among frightful inhuman powers. Saul must confront the forces that would use him, the forces that would destroy him, and the forces that shape his own bizarre identity. China Miéville's urban fantasy novel, <I>King Rat</I>, is an impressive, even daring, debut. It is a Lost Prince story that avoids both black-and-white morality and the standard fantasy-novel adoration of royalty. Furthermore, it is inspired by the unlikeliest of sources, the Rat King legend and the Pied Piper of Hamelin fairy tale. Finally, <I>King Rat</I>, powered and propelled by the rhythms of jungle/drum-'n'-bass music, is a fantasy novel set in the 1990s that genuinely captures the 1990s. <I>--Cynthia Ward</I> 1870961 1998 King Rat total:747|5:77|4:285|3:286|2:84|1:15| 747 2566 1137 74 5 3 false false Wed Jun 25 20:41:13 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 10 13:44:51 -0700 2008
To tell you more would be to ruin the book, really. It is, like Mieville's work usually is, an experience, no...more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Sep 08 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 05 11:05:28 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 08 13:58:27 -0700 2008 King Rat that it was China Miéville's debut novel and the chances of it being on par or better than PSS weren't high. With that in mind, I wasn't too disappointed.

Saul Garamond's come home to London after a camping excursion and finds the place q...more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Apr 07 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 13 14:48:53 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 13 15:03:36 -0700 2008
This book i...more...]]> 2 1 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 03 12:00:27 -0800 2008 Wed Jul 30 11:36:56 -0700 2008 King Rat: Neil Gaiman and China Mieville were sitting at a pub one cold 1998 evening, right? And China makes some wager with Neil, a wager that Neil ultimately loses. (Let's say China bets him he can't write a better comic book series than The Sandman.) So for losing, Neil has t...more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 14 03:24:43 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 03 16:40:52 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 1 false false Sun Jan 11 07:13:21 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 11 07:14:35 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Sun Jul 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 04 13:12:36 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 08 07:01:55 -0700 2009
The main character's dad dies mysteriou...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jul 08 00:37:41 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 15 20:02:43 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Feb 17 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 10 03:54:34 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 18 04:07:00 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 03 11:20:24 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 01 05:22:11 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Sep 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 25 21:23:40 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 02 20:26:42 -0700 2009
... I picked this book up because someone told me that China Mieville is a bit like Neil Gaiman, and I guess that's true. I've heard good things about his newer book, "The City and the City" and so I might still give that a try.
King Rat kind of fell fla...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Mar 25 12:08:51 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 25 12:08:58 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Sep 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 23 01:57:14 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 06 23:16:43 -0700 2009
Set in London, Miéville’s first novel, King Rat is about Saul, whose life is turned upside down when his father is murdered and the cops try to pin him with the crime. Th...more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Nov 09 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 19 05:40:08 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 09 09:05:30 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Aug 10 15:15:49 -0700 2009 Thu Dec 04 08:20:42 -0800 2008 Mon Aug 10 15:15:49 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Mar 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Nov 28 15:50:30 -0800 2008 Tue Mar 10 13:53:45 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jul 17 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat May 31 06:13:56 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 17 13:46:39 -0700 2008
I've always thought that villains are far more interesting than heroes. In King Rat, the villain was heinous and irredeemably evil in a pecu...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu May 29 12:26:49 -0700 2008 Sat Jun 21 12:53:24 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat May 24 17:33:15 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 04 21:22:51 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2003 Tue Jan 22 11:53:03 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 22 11:53:03 -0800 2008
It amazes me, after having read King Rat, that China Mieville didn't start getting widespread recognition until after his third novel, Perdido Street Station. King Rat heralded the coming of a great new writer, and most of the planet ignored it. Their lo...more...]]>