Perdido Street Station
A dystopian steampunk novel set in the city of New Crobuzon.
Perdido Street Station is a novel by British writer China Miéville, published in 2000 by Macmillan. It is the first in a series set in the fictional world of Bas-Lag and won the Arthur C. Clarke award. The book combines elements of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and steampunk, and has been the subject of academic study.
Quick Facts
- Author
- China Miéville
- Illustrator
- Edward Miller
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- Series
- Bas-Lag novels
- Genre
- Speculative fiction
- Publisher
- Macmillan
- Released
- 2000
Facts from the source article.
World
The story takes place in New Crobuzon, a city-state that dominates the world of Bas-Lag politically and economically. Its society mirrors early industrial capitalism, with steam engines, gas lamps, airships, railways (including aerial ones), heliotypes, and steam-powered constructs. Magic, called thaumaturgy, works more like engineering and supplements steam power. This ancient city, built on the skeleton of a giant creature, is nearly two thousand years old but now in decline. A broken cloud tower, whose weather-controlling technology is lost, looms overhead. Dense and sprawling, New Crobuzon is filthy, polluted, and riddled with crime and disease, described as a breeding ground for infection and rumor.
Plot
Isaac Dan der Grimnebulin, a scientist in New Crobuzon, is approached by Yagharek, a garuda whose wings were removed as punishment, to help him fly again. Isaac collects flying creatures with the aid of Lemuel Pigeon, a fence with criminal connections. One creature, a large caterpillar stolen from a government lab, feeds on a hallucinogenic drug, grows, and pupates into a slakemoth that can paralyse victims with hypnotic wing patterns. It escapes after eating the mind of Isaac's colleague. Isaac, Yagharek, and Lemuel resolve to destroy it. Isaac's girlfriend Lin, a khepri artist, is commissioned by mob boss Mr Motley to sculpt him. Mr Motley has four more slakemoths, whose milk he sells as drugs. After Isaac's slakemoth frees its siblings, Mr Motley imprisons Lin, demanding Isaac return the creatures. The slakemoths terrorise New Crobuzon. With journalist Derkhan's help, Isaac learns Mr Motley bought the slakemoths from the government. The government suppresses rebellious elements and tries to enlist demons and the Weaver to recapture the slakemoths; the demons refuse, and the Weaver aids Isaac.
Critic reviews
Critics noted the novel's complexity, scope, elaboration of details, completeness, and the credibility of its world. The main achievement was considered to be New Crobuzon, which is also the main character. Michael Moorcock, reviewing for The Spectator, called it a massive and gorgeously detailed parallel-world fantasy with a range of exotic creatures wonderfully drawn, praising Miéville's descriptive gift and observant eye. However, he suggested that Miéville's determination to deliver a page-turner leads to genre borrowings that set up misleading plot expectations and cause characters to behave out of character, forcing rationalisations at odds with the book's creative substance. Brian Stableford called the stunning book the most compelling in British fantasy since Robert Irwin's The Arabian Nightmare. He noted the central conflict involves outsiders who combine animal and divine traits, and that the heroes realise they must win even if victory is only the lesser evil. Stableford described the ending as the only possible one for fantasy, affirming moral and intellectual responsibility, with hope for a possible future human utopia. He depicted New Crobuzon as a productive phantasmagoria, depressing like paintings by Bosch and Bruegel, yet more a Garden of Earthly Delights than purgatory, in the throes of progress that could lead to a better world.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who illustrated Perdido Street Station?
Perdido Street Station was illustrated by Edward Miller.
How many pages is Perdido Street Station?
Perdido Street Station has 867 pages.
Which book follows Perdido Street Station?
Perdido Street Station is followed by The Scar.
More in British Steampunk Novels
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