Leaving London

King Rat by China Miéville.

I want to reaffirm my statement that China Miéville is some kind of insanely talented god. Okay, this book is nowhere near as vast in scope as Perdido Street Station or The Scar, but the language is every bit as beautiful, the writing and plot every bit as relentless, the characters every bit as sympathetic. It's also nice to see that he can write an urban fantasy with just as much skill as he writes the other. London takes on a new look, one that is dark and teeming with things unseen. The descriptions of Drum and Base music, and the associated scene, are clear enough for me, an outsider with no knowledge, to understand. Miéville translates his passion for the city and the music to the page amazingly well.

As a writer Miéville both inspires me and plunges me into deep regions of self doubt. Since reading this book I've bounced between two trains of thought: one, that all writing should be this good, and that this is something to aspire to; and two, that I should give up now, throw away my pen, because I will never write anything a quarter as good as this man. It's worrying.

Later . . .