Perdido Street Station
Encyclopedia
Perdido Street Station is the second published novel by China Miéville
and the first of three independent works set in the
fictional world of Bas-Lag
, a world where both magic
(referred to as 'thaumaturgy') and steampunk
technology
exist. The novel has won several literary awards.
In an interview, Miéville described this book as "basically a secondary world fantasy with Victorian era technology. So rather than being a feudal world, it's an early industrial capitalist world of a fairly grubby, police statey kind!"
Perdido Street Station is set in Bas-Lag's large city-state of New Crobuzon
: the title refers to a railway station at the heart of the city.
crime boss, and "milked" to produce the drug. When the fifth larva transforms and escapes, it frees its brethren, and together they plague the citizens of New Crobuzon until Isaac can find a way to stop them.
for Best Novel
and Hugo Award
for Best Novel
. It won the British Fantasy Society
's August Derleth Award
in 2000, the Arthur C. Clarke Award
in 2001, the Premio Ignotus
Award in 2002, and the Kurd Laßwitz Award in 2003. It also won the Amazon.com
Editors' Choice Award in Fantasy in 2001. In May 2009, it was made available as an audiobook from Random House.
Michael Moorcock
reviewed the book and said "Perdido Street Station, a massive and gorgeously detailed parallel-world fantasy, offers us a range of rather more exotic creatures, all of whom are wonderfully drawn and reveal a writer with a rare descriptive gift, an unusually observant eye for physical detail, for the sensuality and beauty of the ordinarily human as well as the thoroughly alien." However, he suggests "Mieville's determination to deliver value for money, a great page-turner, leads him to add genre borrowings which set up a misleading expectation of the kind of plot you're going to get and make individuals start behaving out of character, forcing the author into rationalisations at odds with the creative, intellectual and imaginative substance of the book." He concludes, "That aside, Mieville's catholic contemporary sensibility, delivering generous Victorian value and a well-placed moral point or two, makes Perdido Street Station utterly absorbing and you won't get a better deal, pound for pound, for your holiday reading!"
China Miéville
China Tom Miéville is an award-winning English fantasy fiction writer. He is fond of describing his work as "weird fiction" , and belongs to a loose group of writers sometimes called New Weird. He is also active in left-wing politics as a member of the Socialist Workers Party...
and the first of three independent works set in the
fictional world of Bas-Lag
Bas-Lag
Bas-Lag is the fictional world in which several of China Miéville's novels are set. Bas-Lag is a world where both magic and steampunk technology exist, and is home to many intelligent races...
, a world where both magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
(referred to as 'thaumaturgy') and steampunk
Steampunk
Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain or "Wild West"-era United...
technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
exist. The novel has won several literary awards.
In an interview, Miéville described this book as "basically a secondary world fantasy with Victorian era technology. So rather than being a feudal world, it's an early industrial capitalist world of a fairly grubby, police statey kind!"
Perdido Street Station is set in Bas-Lag's large city-state of New Crobuzon
New Crobuzon
New Crobuzon is a fictional city-state created by China Miéville and located in his fictional world of Bas-Lag. It is prominently featured in both Perdido Street Station and Iron Council, and serves as a plot device and background for The Scar....
: the title refers to a railway station at the heart of the city.
Plot
Isaac Dan der Grimnebulin is an eccentric scientist living in the city of New Crobuzon with his Khepri girlfriend Lin. While Lin, an artist, is commissioned to create a sculpture of mob boss Mr. Motley, Isaac is offered a unique challenge. He is approached by the garuda Yagharek, who asks for the restoration of his wings which were cut off by his tribe as punishment for a crime that he claims has no human equivalent. Isaac is sparked by the seemingly impossible nature of the task, and gathers all manners of flying beasts to study in his lab - including a multicolored, unidentifiable larva gathered through illicit means. Once Isaac learns that the caterpillar only eats a hallucinogenic drug called "dreamshit", he begins to feed it, unwittingly stimulating its metamorphosis into an incredibly dangerous, hypnotic and monstrously large butterfly-like insect, a slake-moth, that feeds off the dreams of sentient beings, leaving them as catatonic vegetables. Later, it is revealed that dreamshit is in fact the "milk" of a fully-grown dream slake-moth, and that four other such creatures have been sold to Mr. Motley, a hideously RemadeRemade
The Remade are a fictional group of bio-engineered people in the novels and stories by China Miéville set in the world of Bas-Lag. Bas-Lag itself is a mix of magic and technology, and the Remade are an example of this...
crime boss, and "milked" to produce the drug. When the fifth larva transforms and escapes, it frees its brethren, and together they plague the citizens of New Crobuzon until Isaac can find a way to stop them.
Characters
- Isaac Dan der Grimnebulin, a human scientist, dabbling in all fields but obsessed with his pet theory of "crisis energy". Lover to Lin, and close friends with Derkhan Blueday.
- Yagharek, an exiled and de-winged garuda from the Cymek Desert, far south of New Crobuzon. He comes to Isaac in order to have his flight restored, willing to accept any method or price.
- Lin, Isaac's lover, and a khepri artist who is commissioned by the gangster Mr. Motley to create a sculpture in his form.
- Derkhan Blueday, a middle-aged journalist and seditionist, co-editor of the underground newspaper Runagate Rampant. She is the only openly gay character in the novel.
- Lemuel Pigeon, Isaac's contact with New Crobuzon's criminal underworld.
- Mr. Motley, New Crobuzon's most feared ganglord, who runs a dreamshit harvesting operation, among many other nefarious activities. He has altered his body many times through remaking, into an amorphous collection of body parts and appendages.
- Mayor Bentham Rudgutter, the corrupt mayor of New Crobuzon who bargains with crime syndicates and demons alike.
- MontJohn Rescue, an ambassador of the feared handlingers (powerful parasites who take over other species as hosts), working for the mayor.
- Teafortwo, a dim-witted and friendly wyrman who runs small favours for Isaac.
- Construct Council, a hive-mind artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
formed in the city's rubbish dump. It controls many constructs (simplistic robots originally engineered for janitorial and other purposes) in New Crobuzon. - The Weaver, a multi-dimensional being in the form of a giant spider, who speaks in a never-ending torrent of free-verse poetry.
Reception
The novel was nominated for the 2002 Nebula AwardNebula Award
The Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
for Best Novel
Nebula Award for Best Novel
Winners of the Nebula Award for Best Novel, awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The stated year is that of publication; awards are given in the following year.- Winners and other nominees :...
and Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
for Best Novel
Hugo Award for Best Novel
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
. It won the British Fantasy Society
British Fantasy Society
The British Fantasy Society began in 1971 as the British Weird Fantasy Society, an offshoot of the British Science Fiction Association. The society is dedicated to promoting the best in the fantasy, science fiction and horror genres....
's August Derleth Award
August Derleth Award
The August Derleth Award is an annual award given out by members of the British Fantasy Society for best novel of the year. The award is named after American writer and editor August Derleth.-Winners of the August Derleth Award:...
in 2000, the Arthur C. Clarke Award
Arthur C. Clarke Award
The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. The award was established with a grant from Arthur C. Clarke and the first prize was awarded in 1987...
in 2001, the Premio Ignotus
Premio Ignotus
Premios Ignotus are annual Spanish literary awards that were created in 1991 by the Asociación Española de Fantasía, Ciencia Ficción y Terror . The awards, which are in the genres of science fiction and fantasy, are voted on by members of Hispacon, the national science fiction convention of Spain...
Award in 2002, and the Kurd Laßwitz Award in 2003. It also won the Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
Editors' Choice Award in Fantasy in 2001. In May 2009, it was made available as an audiobook from Random House.
Michael Moorcock
Michael Moorcock
Michael John Moorcock is an English writer, primarily of science fiction and fantasy, who has also published a number of literary novels....
reviewed the book and said "Perdido Street Station, a massive and gorgeously detailed parallel-world fantasy, offers us a range of rather more exotic creatures, all of whom are wonderfully drawn and reveal a writer with a rare descriptive gift, an unusually observant eye for physical detail, for the sensuality and beauty of the ordinarily human as well as the thoroughly alien." However, he suggests "Mieville's determination to deliver value for money, a great page-turner, leads him to add genre borrowings which set up a misleading expectation of the kind of plot you're going to get and make individuals start behaving out of character, forcing the author into rationalisations at odds with the creative, intellectual and imaginative substance of the book." He concludes, "That aside, Mieville's catholic contemporary sensibility, delivering generous Victorian value and a well-placed moral point or two, makes Perdido Street Station utterly absorbing and you won't get a better deal, pound for pound, for your holiday reading!"
External links
- Audio review and discussion of Perdido Street Station at The Science Fiction Book Review Podcast
- Runagate Rampant: Perdido Street Station description, list of awards, publication history, and annotations.
- Perdido Street Station at Worlds Without End