No one can set the atmosphere of his stories with a few well-placed descriptions like China Mieville. It's a gruesome, disturbing reality that Saul Garamond is sucked into when he meets the King of Rats to support him in his fight against the Piper of Hamelin, and it's the underworld of London, the literal sewers as well as the subculture of Drum'n'Bass, that serves as their battlefield.

The story is not the most intricate, but even in this debut Mievielle proves that he is first and foremost a master wordsmith. The vividness of his environments and the depth of his characters is not so much one of ideas, but of presentation, resulting in a story to fall into. He could probably make the life of an oak tree an intricate story. ( )

A clunky read at times (as I have often found Miéville's books to be )
but... what a brilliant ending! The protagonist manages to turn the tables on the villain in the most complete and satisfying way - and it is all conveyed in a single sentence - obliterated, wiped out, tabula rasa, dead parrot! - he manages to destroy everything the villain stands for and worked towards during all of the narration and he does it with a single gesture, remaining completely in character, true to his life and beliefs and "honoring the father" (his real father, the one who brought him up, duh), his true roots, - pure genius.

The radio existed to communicate. But here it was failing, it had gone rogue, it had forgotten its purpose like the piano, and the people could not reclaim the city.

A few weeks ago I listened to a London Review podcast of Miéville
reading a story about the immolation of animals. It was certainly the New Weird, the images clung to me, no doubt enhanced by his nuanced delivery. Miéville said he found the story a child of Austerity. I liked that. I suppose a YA audience would like the milieu of King Rat, whereas I did not. I hated the book. It is lad lit expressing daddy issues. It is a clumsy reworking of a few myths with the virtual art of Drum and Bass spot-welded on board to provide urban edge. I read this as a part of a group read but I was afraid to spoil the collective mood with my face-palming and kvetching. I expected much more from that strangely talented author.
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This urban grunge fantasy is Mieville's debut novel and the first of his works I've read. This is a riff on the Pied Piper of Hamlin and is imaginative and fast-paced. The language is delightful as is the imagery. The plot, however, is entirely predictable and there is one clear flaw in the plot, having to do with the protagonist's ability to resist the Rat Catcher's tune when no one else can. Still, it's a fun and fast read, and shows Mieville's developing talent. I'll read more of his work. ( )

Well I rated this 5 stars then promptly forgot to write a review when the story still lingered fresh in the air. I think I was marinating in the beautiful ambiance this story left behind for me.
well, Now it has to be a dumbed down version of an intelligent review.
The point is- I love this story, with all my heart and the author is incredibly talented.
I own two hairless Rats... the way the author depicted rat characteristics is SO accurate its mindblowing. I want to read more from this author asap! ( )

It's an intriguing premise, and very well written - the language is brilliant and evocative. But it feels a bit padded, possibly because of all the beautiful language. It doesn't help that I found myself wondering why the hero didn't do something in particular at the big climax, and that annoyed me. Overall, it's a good first novel. ( )

Hacía tiempo que le tenía ganas a Miéville, y me miraba desde la estantería. La recomendación de empezar por este fue un acierto, sobre todo sabiendo por los comentarios que en adelante mejora mucho.

Dame mitología y fábulas y me tienes en el bolsillo. Con ese estilo descriptivo que a otros aburre, si bien es cierto que entiendo que puede hacerse un poco lento y pesado, a mí no me supone un problema y me ayuda a meterme en la historia.

Hacía tiempo que no me enganchaba tanto con una novela desde el principio, normalmente suele costarme unos cuantos capítulos o bastantes más. En cambio la historia me ha enganchado rápido, incluso siendo previsibles las referencias en las que se desarrolla y basa el libro.

Me declaro instafan de Miéville, y me arrepiento de haberlo tenido en espera en mi Caos Lector (TM) tanto tiempo. Gracias a todos los que me habéis regalado sus novelas y a los que me las habíais recomendado. ( )

Saul Garamond's father dies and he finds himself in a shadow London where he is half-rat, half-man, and hunted by a mysterious Piper. Mièville relishes the wastegrounds and unloved places of London, which form the backdrop to this tale. ( )

In King Rat by China Miéville Saul Garamond's father is murdered under mysterious circumstances the night Saul returns to London. Saul, who was asleep at the time of the murder, is left implicated in the crime. After being questioned by the police and left locked up in a cell, a mysterious figure, King Rat, breaks Saul out of jail and the adventure begins in London's underground and sewers, with the music of Drum ‘n’ Bass, mixed strangely with the flute, always in the background.

King Rat is a murder mystery, urban fantasy, and horror story, that uses rewritten folk lore and mythical characters to tell the story. China Miéville reworks the story of the Pied Piper and includes King Rat, Anansi the spider, and Loplop the king of birds, as characters. In his version the Pied Piper is an evil psychotic killer. This is a dark, gritty narrative set in the garbage strewn alleys, sewers and the underbelly of London.

There are some similarities to Miéville's Un Lun Dun. As in any good myth, in both a seemingly normal person has a destiny or task that they must complete to save others from a deadly outcome. While King Rat is set in London, Un Lun Dun is in an alternate London. King Rat is, however, a far darker and menacing tale and a very urban fantasy.

This was China Miéville's first novel and probably would be considered the start of his "new weird" genre of literature. In some ways I wish I knew Drum 'n' Bass music in order to hear the musical background pulsing throughout the novel. On the other hand, I could have looked into it and didn't, so my lack of total understanding didn't prohibit me from enjoying the tale. Admittedly, I enjoyed Perdido Street Station, Un Lun Dun, and The City and the City more, but King Rat is highly recommended. http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/
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When Saul's father is found murdered, he is the prime suspect. He's innocent, but he has no way to prove it, especially while he left sitting in a jail cell. Then a mysterious stranger appears, casually breaks him out, and introduces him to a hidden world beneath the streets of London. Now he must use this knowledge to find out who killed his father, and why.

This was just okay for me. There is technically nothing wrong with it, I can't thing of a single thing about it that I didn't like, but it just didn't pull me in. The fantasy/fairy tale aspect was interesting, I liked the characters, and all the twists and turns of the plot were actually quite satisfying. ...and despite all of this, I just couldn't get into it!

I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it, but it's getting an average rating from me. ( )

A quicker read than Mieville's later books - less complex, but has a great tone and feel... The Pied Piper of Hamelin meets "Neverwhere"... ( )

I am impressed with authors who can beautifully describe music--meld words and sound--as Mieville does in this book. The epilogue is also just perfect. Overall, King Rat is not as good as Perdido Street Station (which I read as a TA for a speculative fiction class), but it's very good; it lives up to the recommendation by the speculative fiction professor I worked for.

Mieville is one of my top 5 authors but almost entirely because of his Bas-Lag novels. The others I've found cool and fun but not as good. This one was no exception. It was dark, gritty, disgusting, violent and original but not totally my kind of thing. I loved Lop Lop.

I didn't fully understand the entire music angle until the end so it felt like it was just added because he was into that kind of music (Jungle). I was also never sure how Anansi's powers worked. ( )

King Rat is festering with atmosphere and drowns you in a cacophony of Jungle Bass and Drum. It takes you to London’s underside, it’s stinking bowels, and gives life to the world below. It does all this in a very good way. I swear. King Rat is my first taste of Mieville and I’m still not sure if it was the best place for me to start, but it certainly isn’t a bad place to start. This is his debut novel and does not seem to be as widely read or recommended. I have also heard that it is a bit different from the rest of his novels. Since I obviously have not read the others, I can’t comment on that myself. But I can share what I thought of King Rat.

My largest comment is that I love his atmospheric descriptions. You could just feel the malodorous sludge coagulating and dripping, see the colors and wonders (and horrors) of the city of London, and most importantly, you could hear and feel and practically live the rhythms of the Jungle Bass and Drum music that is prominently featured in the story. Within all of this (and keep in mind, his descriptions work way better than my feeble attempts), I could see brilliance that I am sure is carried over to his other works. In these descriptions, I could easily understand the fan base he has acquired.

Now, before anything else, I want to be clear that for a first novel, this really is a great debut. However, I also felt at times some of his scenes drug on for entirely too long. There is a bike ride that is so detailed I think it would put my GPS turn-by-turn directions to shame for being so simple and minimalistic. I think every turn and street name needed was in the book in addition to what felt like an inordinate number of landmarks along the way. It was not a huge deal, but it did pull me out of the story a bit, it seemed to go beyond what was a descriptive setting to an info dump of how to get from point X to point Y in London and everything you might see in between.

I also found the accent/dialogue from one of the characters (Anansi) a bit grating and kind of hard to read. I think if I was familiar with the accent he was trying to get across, it would have flowed much better, but since I wasn’t it just read very awkward. Luckily, he did not have much to say. And sometimes, it was short, and I didn’t have a problem. But if he had a paragraph worth of dialogue, chances are, I had to slow down my reading, and would get pulled out a bit to wonder what he was really supposed to sound like versus my awkward attempt at it. But, minor complaint. Really.

So, while I didn’t find this book without faults (at least for me as a reader), it was certainly still a positive reading experience. If your in the mood to explore the world below London (and have already read Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman), then definitely give this one try. Especially if you enjoy an atmospheric, descriptive book. ( )

Quando ho deciso di leggere questo romanzo, l'ho fatto nella speranza di ritrovarvi parte della meraviglia che ho provato leggendo, anni fa, Nessundove di Neil Gaiman. E in effetti le similitudini tra i due romanzi ci sono, e sono anche piuttosto evidenti, a partire dall'ambientazione (Londra e una Londra sotterranea) e dai personaggi dalle caratteristiche quasi animalesche, invisibili all'occhio distratto delle persone comuni. Questa caratteristica è forse meglio sviluppata in King Rat, e sicuramente Miéville non teme di esagerare nel descrivere le scene grottesche e viscide recitate dal Re Ratto... anzi, la lunga descrizione del primo pasto offerto a Saul non è adatta ai deboli di stomaco!
Ho trovato interessante, anche qui, il legame con le storie tradizionali (Anansi, re dei ragni; Loplop, personaggio creato dal dadaista Max Ernst - il Pifferaio di Hamelin) eppure, mi è mancato qualcosa. Leggendo Nessundove, mi ero ritrovata bambina: piena di meraviglia e assolutamente ipnotizzata dalla storia. Questo romanzo, forse a causa della crudezza esasperata di certe scene, non è riuscito a catturarmi allo stesso modo. ( )

Let’s head back to London again, where all the best magic hides in its gritty underbelly. Saul Garamond is wrongly imprisoned for the death of his father, but is released by a mysterious stranger who claims to be the king of rats. He tells Saul that he is half-rat on his mother’s side, and that his father was killed by the Rat Catcher who can make rats dance to his music, and wants Saul dead because he can resist, being half-human. Drum n bass music, cockney rhyming slang and lush descriptions of London provide edgy details for this updated version of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. ( )

Decent early Mieville, showing the germ of what would become the species of Bas-Lag. Tries a little too hard in places, especially with the whole jungle / drum 'n' bass scene, and sometimes you can perceive the ghost of James Herbert in there, but overall enjoyable and entertaining. ( )

Nowhere near the wild imagination of his later works but still better than most urban fantasy out there. ( )

It's hard to find a review of this novel that doesn't draw comparisons to Neil Gaiman's NEVERWHERE, and that's fair. The two stories share enough plot elements to at least qualify as the same sub-genre of urban fantasy. But Mièville's novel is much more fairy tale than Gaiman's, and not just due to subject matter. The tone and action, although more garishly violent then most Grimm's tales, still follows a fantastical and vaguely dream-like pattern I associate with fairy tales.
And it does it well. It's not as complex, not as refined as Mièville's subsequent novels, but one would be hard-pressed not to recognize the seeds of what he has grown into as a novelist. A quick and fun read, and one I'll likely read again.

This book takes place in present day London and for that reason alone I got a kick out of it because I happened to be in London as I read it. I hadn't been in London since I was five so it was kind of cool to see bits and pieces of London by day and then read about Saul and King rat exploring those very same locales, albeit from a far different perspective, at night. In fact, at one point, as I was reading in my hotel room on High Holborn, Saul and King Rat ran right past my window in the book (page 98). That was pretty cool. ( )

After reading [b:Perdido Street Station|68494|Perdido Street Station (New Crobuzon, #1)|China Miéville|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327891688s/68494.jpg|3221410] I thought for my next Miéville book I would go back to the beginning. Released in 1998 this book is a lot different to the other books of his I've read. You can tell it was his début work as it lacks the refinement of later novels.

The most marked difference though is the lack of a certain type of "character". By this I mean the setting. I don't know if all his books are the same but so far in the ones I've read the setting is as much a character as anyone/thing else. New Crobuzon, Besźel/Ul Qoma, Railsea. Larger than life locations that permeate through everything. Here the setting is London, and while he does wax lyrical about it a few times it's not to the extent or importance of those other places.

But that doesn't mean there isn't an extra non-living character. This time it is music. Drum and Bass is vital to this book from start to finish. The way Miéville talks about the bass and the rhythm and the melody I wish he had made a soundtrack to go with the book. It was one of the best blendings of music and writing I've come across.

This was a fascinating, dark, animalistic book and I really liked it. It reminds me a lot of Neil Gaiman but as this was written well before [b:American Gods|4407|American Gods|Neil Gaiman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1258417001s/4407.jpg|1970226] I wonder who influenced whom. If you like Miéville read it. If you don't? Read it anyway. It is like his other works but different enough in its own way that you may find you still like it. ( )

Some time back, I read an essay (or website, or something; it was a long time ago) about the human propensity toward "it's like ... but not" comparisons. We need to compare everything against others of its type; nothing can be evaluated in a vacuum.

With that in mind, King Rat is like Neverwhere, but not. It's like War For the Oaks, but not. It's like so much gritty urban fantasy, but still brings its own flavor. It's got the other-world-a-half-step-from-this-one motif, it's got the musician threads, it's got the slacker protagonist suddenly in a position of power and/or leadership. Despite all this, it doesn't feel like a knock-off or in any way derivative. It's a dark, engrossing story, with excellent pacing and good character development. There are a few instances of Cockney rhyming slang, which I just can't make any sense of, but they're not that frequent and they don't detract. ( )

I really wanted to like this book - I usually love China Mieville - but I just couldn't get into it. Maybe someday I'll try it again. ( )

"Instead of dazzling you with a fantastical science, he dazzles you with drum and bass and a gritty sewer London."
read more: http://likeiamfeasting.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/king-rat-china-mieville.html ( )

Début novel from China Miéville takes the reader on a dark fairy tale of a story. Neverwhere crossed with the Brother's Grimm if you will with a setting of London's underground both physically and metaphorically speaking. Saul wakes up to the police hammering at his door and is immediately treated like a criminal upon their entry. What's he supposed to have done? Just the small matter of killing his father! Broken out of jail by a mysterious figure who claims to be king of the rats as well as being Saul's uncle, he is taken in and has his mysterious heritage explained to him as well as the fact that someone wants him dead. As Saul's abilities begin to burgeon he finds out that he wasn't rescued for purely sentimental reasons after all and his uncle wants to use him as a weapon against an old adversary and to win back the respect of his disaffected subjects.

The vivid pictures that the author paints bring to life a darker and more mysterious London as we clamber over the rooftops and through the sewers with a drum and bass soundtrack playing in our ears. I'm sure a previous knowledge of that particular music scene would add greatly to the story's appreciation but unfortunately it's one that passed me by. It's not something that detracts from the narrative though so don't be put off with that little snippet. Those with a nervous disposition may however be deterred by some of the more gruesome scenes or disturbing events in the book (especially the climactic scene). Excellent first novel that should be enjoyed for what it is and not compared too critically with the author's later works. ( )