A review by stucifer_
King Rat by China Miéville
3.0
Probably more of a 3.5, but rounded down because I wasn't prepared for there to be a pivotal plot point centered on a sexual assault. I recognize this book was published 23 years ago and we culturally have more awareness of content warnings now, but updating the summary on this website to include major content warnings costs no money.
I am glad I had read other Miéville before this one, because the dialogue here gets a bit clunky, and the emotions of the MC lose sincerity for me when they run high. (Poor dude has been through a lot, but it seems he has the same response to King Rat throughout the entire second half of the book, and that's just angrily calling him the same three things.) I'm also not sure the dialects work; they seem a bit overdone. Having read another of his novels, I know his dialogue writing has improved, is more natural and nuanced now, but if I hadn't done so, I think I'd be a bit put off.
That said. I love the concept of this book. A crime thriller mashed up with a dark, contemporary subversion of fairy tales, with elements of horror, all set in a specific mid-90s London subculture? Sign me up! The sense of place and atmosphere is fantastic, the percussive beat of the language often feels like listening to the very music that runs through the novel, and the suspense was artfully crafted; I genuinely could not foresee the specifics of how the climax would resolve. I do also love the political bent, especially at the end, but I think it's a bit hamfisted; the author has gotten better at the social commentary as he has continued writing, as well.
Whenever I find an author I really like, I love reading their books in release order, to see how their writing has changed over their career. I'm looking forward to doing the same for Miéville, and all in all this was a really fun (and promising, I'm sure) debut.
I am glad I had read other Miéville before this one, because the dialogue here gets a bit clunky, and the emotions of the MC lose sincerity for me when they run high. (Poor dude has been through a lot, but it seems he has the same response to King Rat throughout the entire second half of the book, and that's just angrily calling him the same three things.) I'm also not sure the dialects work; they seem a bit overdone. Having read another of his novels, I know his dialogue writing has improved, is more natural and nuanced now, but if I hadn't done so, I think I'd be a bit put off.
That said. I love the concept of this book. A crime thriller mashed up with a dark, contemporary subversion of fairy tales, with elements of horror, all set in a specific mid-90s London subculture? Sign me up! The sense of place and atmosphere is fantastic, the percussive beat of the language often feels like listening to the very music that runs through the novel, and the suspense was artfully crafted; I genuinely could not foresee the specifics of how the climax would resolve. I do also love the political bent, especially at the end, but I think it's a bit hamfisted; the author has gotten better at the social commentary as he has continued writing, as well.
Whenever I find an author I really like, I love reading their books in release order, to see how their writing has changed over their career. I'm looking forward to doing the same for Miéville, and all in all this was a really fun (and promising, I'm sure) debut.