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A review by mediaevalmuse
Kraken by China Miéville
3.0
I picked up this book on recommendation from a friend - although I have a lot of Mieville’s books, this is the first time I’ve actually gotten around to reading one of them. In a lot of ways, it was right up my alley: urban fantasy with TENTACLES. I love weird stuff like that, and I did enjoy this book as a whole. I think my main problems lie in some technical aspects, but I’m picky, so it may not be bothersome for a lot of people.
Things I Liked
1. Premise: I’m a sucker (heh) for psudo-Lovecraftian weirdness, especially things focused on the deep sea or octopi/squid. That a missing squid was in the center of this story and some big players were a cult of kraken-worshipers made me unbelievably happy.
2. Imagination: Mieville’s imagination is superb, drawing together a bunch of images and ideas that had me in awe of the expansive world of magic and fantasy that he cooked up for this book. There was a character who could only manifest in statues, a character who was a sentient tattoo, “witches,” summoners, and all kinds of people belonging to strange religions and cults that could only exist in a fantasy world. A lot of the fantastical aspects reminded me of some of Neil Gaiman’s books, and it was delightful to be kept guessing at what kind of figure I’d encounter next.
3. Prose: Mieville is very good at stringing together phrases that paint a vivid picture of his fantasy world while also combining imagery that readers might not expect to go together. His similes and metaphors are also well-chosen and not cliche, which added to the fantastical or weird feeling of the narrative. His prose is also great at bringing London to life in a way that makes it feel brimming with underground cults and secret lives.
4. Wati: Wati had to be my favorite character, since he’s a strike organizer for magical familiars and he could only manifest in statues, which meant he bounced around from body to body (often with comedic results). I also loved that he cared about the familiars and was committed to helping the main characters in any way he could.
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Narrative: While I really liked the world of the novel, I wasn’t too crazy about the overall plot. End-of-the-world is all well and good, but the way the novel was laid out, I didn’t feel like it was building towards the climax - just bouncing from one weird image to the next. There weren’t kernels of information that the reader could easily follow to help unravel the mystery of the plot (perhaps because there was just SO MUCH going on and yet also not anything at times) and that was a bit frustrating for me.
2. Character Development: As much as I liked the characters on an individual basis, I never felt like they developed much or had enough to do. There was not really any interiority to the characters, which meant that I didn’t feel much of a connection to them. Marge and the FSRC seemed to not do anything significant until the very end - just chase after info that sometimes felt fruitless. Billy also felt like he was just along for the ride, even though he was a central character.
3. Grisamentum: I never really felt like this character was set up enough to make his involvement in anything feel real. He seemed to pop in when needed, which was frustrating given his role in the plot.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in urban fantasy, fantasy novels set in London, cults, strange religions, apocalypses, and squid/kraken.
Things I Liked
1. Premise: I’m a sucker (heh) for psudo-Lovecraftian weirdness, especially things focused on the deep sea or octopi/squid. That a missing squid was in the center of this story and some big players were a cult of kraken-worshipers made me unbelievably happy.
2. Imagination: Mieville’s imagination is superb, drawing together a bunch of images and ideas that had me in awe of the expansive world of magic and fantasy that he cooked up for this book. There was a character who could only manifest in statues, a character who was a sentient tattoo, “witches,” summoners, and all kinds of people belonging to strange religions and cults that could only exist in a fantasy world. A lot of the fantastical aspects reminded me of some of Neil Gaiman’s books, and it was delightful to be kept guessing at what kind of figure I’d encounter next.
3. Prose: Mieville is very good at stringing together phrases that paint a vivid picture of his fantasy world while also combining imagery that readers might not expect to go together. His similes and metaphors are also well-chosen and not cliche, which added to the fantastical or weird feeling of the narrative. His prose is also great at bringing London to life in a way that makes it feel brimming with underground cults and secret lives.
4. Wati: Wati had to be my favorite character, since he’s a strike organizer for magical familiars and he could only manifest in statues, which meant he bounced around from body to body (often with comedic results). I also loved that he cared about the familiars and was committed to helping the main characters in any way he could.
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Narrative: While I really liked the world of the novel, I wasn’t too crazy about the overall plot. End-of-the-world is all well and good, but the way the novel was laid out, I didn’t feel like it was building towards the climax - just bouncing from one weird image to the next. There weren’t kernels of information that the reader could easily follow to help unravel the mystery of the plot (perhaps because there was just SO MUCH going on and yet also not anything at times) and that was a bit frustrating for me.
2. Character Development: As much as I liked the characters on an individual basis, I never felt like they developed much or had enough to do. There was not really any interiority to the characters, which meant that I didn’t feel much of a connection to them. Marge and the FSRC seemed to not do anything significant until the very end - just chase after info that sometimes felt fruitless. Billy also felt like he was just along for the ride, even though he was a central character.
3. Grisamentum: I never really felt like this character was set up enough to make his involvement in anything feel real. He seemed to pop in when needed, which was frustrating given his role in the plot.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in urban fantasy, fantasy novels set in London, cults, strange religions, apocalypses, and squid/kraken.