Kraken

China Miéville
Kraken Cover

Kraken

everythinginstatic
1/19/2013
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A clever novel on religion and power of belief, Kraken looks at the story of Billy Harrow, Dane Parnell and a missing giant squid. A romp through London and a highly diverse cast of characters -- from the witty Collingswood to the creepy Tattoo, Goss and Subby -- Mieville is a much, much better Gaiman. The story does falter a tiny bit towards the last half, but with an apocalypse coming, I suppose things do get harrowing and confusing. I enjoyed it immensely, particularly as it's one of the few fantasy novels not to feature a love story (prominently) and actually develop characters beyond the simple, "Yes they are good, this never changes".

It certainly made me borrow another of his novels (Un Lun Dun) to see how well he can write main female characters (the ones in Kraken are developed, interesting and have a lot of agency, btw).

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