Perdido Street Station by China Miéville

Perdido Street Station

Perdido Street Station comes highly recommended on the steampunk genre, and is the winner of various awards. I haven't read much of steampunk (if you consider Wells' The Time Machine steampunk, then that's all I've read), so I decided to give the genre a try. And I can say this will not be my last book (either on the genre or by China Miéville).

There are two important characters in Perdido Street Station, Isaac, the scientist; and Yagharek, the Garuda (yes, a garuda, a bird-man flying humanoid). The story follows both, as Yagharek reaches New Crobuzon, the city that is the stage of this book, and asks Isaac for help. Yagharek has been made earthbound as his sentence for a crime, and this means that his wings have been sawed off. He asks Isaac to help him fly again, by any means that he can. Isaac as a scientist, will take this problem full on, studying all manner of flying things (and like with any scientist, the solution will be his field of expertise, his life long research).

The problems start (or escalate, because New Crobuzon is a polluted city-state, with a corrupt government, keen on spying on its inhabitants, most of which are terribly poor and lost to drugs) when one of the grubs Isaac acquires grows into a moth, and starts attacking the city. And Isaac will try to fight this new menace.

Perdido Street Station took me a long time to read. Not because it was boring (it wasn't, although there is always a lot of information being given to the reader), but because it was intricate, not a story to be rushed, but to be enjoyed and appreciated. There are parts where the descriptions are beautiful, poetic even, and that bring a vivid image to our minds. This is extremely good, because the creatures and places in the book are built in likewise fashion, of different parts stuck together, in ways that shouldn't, and sights so alien that couldn't possibly belong there.

What I loved the most about Perdido Street Station was the science. When the main character is a scientist, an unorthodox one, full of seemingly crazy ideas and theories, that branch through all the possible fields, there is a chance that the story will feature some science. And, if in the beginning I was unsure and unconvinced by the slow moving plot, all it took to hook me in was a lecture in physics by Isaac (and followed later on by another one on biology). But amidst all the science that happens in New Crobuzon, all the inventions and clockwork (because, after all, this is steampunk), there is still space for magic.

I have read, years ago, that in Fantasy/Science Fiction you have to choose your mojo: you'll either have technology or magic, but not both. I've seen this “rule” defied before, of course, but never as well as in Perdido Street Station, where magic occurs next to a completely analytical Constructed Intelligence (a robot, with Artificial Intelligence, in our world), and it's entirely believable (although I always have to give praise to any author that makes magic entirely believable).

Of all the characters, the one I loved the most was Yagharek, even after I discovered what his crime was. To me, this book was about him, his journey, both geographical and interior, and I always looked forward to those chapters between parts, told in his voice, of his fears and hopes. I also liked Isaac, especially because as the “hero”, he is a completely different one, that coughs and wheezes when he has to run or do the slightest bit of physical work.

There are also other species other than human and garuda, there are insect khepri, water-based vodyanoi, the prickly cactacae people, and a multitude of other different races. With this motley population, there is space to show the tolerance and xenophobia that exists in New Crobuzon. Some races stand apart, some mingle, and some individuals just do as they please.

Betrayal is also a theme in Perdido Street Station, it occurs throughout the novel. In some cases it left me angry, others deeply heartbroken. In all, it was a book that gauged strong emotions, from some amazement and revulsion at the beginning, to the bitter sweet ending.

I loved this book, it appealed to the scientist in me, it was different and it was unmistakeably good.

(4.5/5)

Other reviews: Speculative Horizons

The Painted Man by Peter V. Brett

The Painted Man
The Painted Man is set on a world filled with demons that rise every night to hunt and terrorise humans. The only protections humans have against the demons are the sunlight and the defensive wards of old. The offensive wards, the ones that allowed humans to fight back, are long lost, and everyone hides behind warded walls after dark, hoping they will hold through the night.

But there are some that refuse to cower to the monsters of the night and will fight back, and among those are Arlen, Leesha and Rojer.

Fast paced, and full of action, like a lot of the fantasy written nowadays, it feels a bit like a role playing game, and anyone who has been around them will identify Brett's demons as elementals. The concept of painted wards is nice, and although not done very much in fantasy, is not new either. Being a novel filled with action means that the characters are not developed to their full extent, which is a bit sad, because there is potential for a lot more.

Even so, the characters are likeable enough, both the major ones as some of the supporting cast. Much of the focus is given to Arlen, the Painted Man, which makes sense (the book is named after him, after all), but I felt that Leesha and Rojer were only there because they were meant to meet him, and that most of their actions will always be a result of Arlen's actions or expectations. I would love to see these two characters better explored. There is also the potential love triangle forming, one that I'm not sure which side I rooting for (How can I choose between a tattooed man and a red-head one?) or even if I'm interested enough by it.

There were some things that irked me in this book. One was the characters' fixation with breasts. The allusion to “bosoms” and “paps” was made enough times to make me wonder if breasts have any magical property. Other was the rapid recovery of a raped girl, that only four days after the tragic incident, is ready to a roll in the mud with another man (and one that she hasn't known long).

The different nations on The Painted Man are, like in many fantasy works, inspired on our real world, as well as fantasy clichés, which usually leads to stereotyping. This is specially truth with the Krasians, the desert people. Open Diana Wynne Jones' Tough Guide to Fantasyland, on the Desert Nomads entry, and you'll have a very close description of the Krasians (only Krasians aren't nomads).

The Painted Man is hardly ground-breaking fantasy, but it has nice concepts and the action packed plot means it's an easy and fast read, and enjoyable enough. I will read the next one in the series, because I want to know what happens next, not because I loved this first book.

(3.5/5)

The Third God by Ricardo Pinto

The Third God by Ricardo Pinto

The Third God is the last book of the Stone Dance of the Chameleon, a much anticipated ending to the series. Although the wait for this third book has been long, it was worth it.

At the end of The Standing Dead, the Ochre tribe has been massacred by Osidian, who becomes the most cruel and hateful person in the world in Carnelian's eyes. But there is also the threat of the Masters coming to Earthsky, putting the lives of Carnelian's loved ones in danger, so that he is forced to protect and ally with Osidian in order to save them.

The Third God tells of the return of Osidian and Carnelian to Osrakun, the war they wage against the Chosen that stay in their way and Osidian's revenge against his brother and mother.

I thought, when I bought the book, that the title was one "Big Spoiler". It is, and it isn't. In some sense it warns to the existence of another God, but its significance is really only learnt at the end of the book. There's a revelation that the title hints at, but only at the what, and not at the how.

Beautifully crafted in terms of world building, this book requires some time to read. Not only because of its size, but because of the pace of the action, that is not as fast as most fantasy, but takes time to describe both the beauty of the places and people, and the horror of war and human nature. Since the first book that I loved the Caste System that rules the Three Lands, the Masks and Costumes, the different people that inhabit it, and the sheer complexity of the politics and laws that make the world that is found in The Stone Dance of the Chameleon (I was really happy to find that there is a lot of extra material regarding the world building on the author's website).

I admit to being lost on some parts, when I couldn't remember exactly what happened in the previous books (after all, it has been some time since I read them), and when sometimes I couldn't see much sense to the characters actions. But when all the pieces finally were set in place, and the "secret" comes out, it makes so much sense, and it's perfect. That probably was what I loved the most in The Third God – the discovery of the founding stones of that society, the whys of the rules set in place. Much like in Tolkien's Silmarillion, I wanted to delve into the History of that fantasy world, that because of its complexity and level of detail, feels frighteningly real.

My favourite character from the beginning of the series was Osidian, and it was with some sadness that I came to realize that the story was not about him. It was with some apprehension that I continued reading, dreading what usually happens to characters that are evil in any way: their death. Osidian is not "The Evil One", although he is not a very pleasant fellow either. One of the strong points of The Stone Dance of the Chameleon is that it's ripe with morally grey characters, there is no black and white. Osidian is completely brutal and monstrous, but at the same time very much like a lost child in search of approval and love.

I loved reading this series, but, like it usually happens with good things, I'm sad that it came to an end. Different from most fantasy I've read, it evokes a vivid imagery every time I think about it. Not a fast or light read, but an immensely enjoyable one. I will probably do a re-read of the entire series in a near future.

(4.5/5)