This is my first try with Mieville. Unfortunately, this just wasn't for me, which is sad because I had heard a lot of great things.

For me the problem just came down to the writers voice, nothing against China Mieville, I just didn't like the way the words came off the page. It didn't feel natural to me, it felt stoppy-starty and robotic. The book never took to it's own gravity. It was a constant effort to read it, like swimming upstream.

Since the problem I had with this book was so subjective, I will still encourage others to give it a try. It does have a very interesting story that starts with the pickled remains of a giant squid completely vanishing from it's holding place within a museum. It's a weirdly interesting book, I just wish the words had been arranged by someone else.