English language
Published Nov. 21, 2010 by Pan.
Kraken is a fantasy novel by British author China Miéville. It is published in the UK by Macmillan, and in the US by Del Rey Books. The book bears the subtitle "An Anatomy" on the title page. It was the winner for the 2011 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel. Miéville has described the book as "a dark comedy about a squid-worshipping cult and the end of the world. It takes the idea of the squid cult very seriously. Part of the appeal of the fantastic is taking ridiculous ideas very seriously and pretending they’re not absurd."
Although my bewilderment level remained high throughout, this was a great read. London will never be the same for me again!
I had a little difficulty wading through this one. It's quite different than Mieville's previous works, though it's not difficult to see how this evolved from them. Characterization is very strong, with characters that strengthen and evolve logically throughout the narrative. The plot and magical system mesh precisely: both are constructed out of thickly layered and highly detailed metaphor.
Absolutely a book where every little detail is important, will likely come back to effect the plot at some later point.
The missing star in this review is really only to do with the slightly disjointed transition between events, which was rather annoying to me in a few instances. Overall, I would absolutely recommend this book.
The magic system in this book is so incredibly brilliant, that I keep coming back to it. I really hope to see Mieville use it again.
