Kraken

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Wati, a living Egyptian afterlife familiar who heads the UMA, the Union of Magicked Assistants, on strike. I would like to thank Goodreads and Del Ray for sending me an uncorrected proof of Kraken through the Goodreads First Reads program. Mieville keeps his plot aloft, and there's never a dull moment, though there are a number of artificially dramatic moments, his short chapters often ending in sudden twists and evoking the cliffhangers of a radio melodrama "Will Abigail survive? Within a few chapters CM pulls one fantastic, fiendishly creative and often outlandisch concept out of the proverbial hat, proudly parades it by us (and straight down the roads of hapless London) and then promptly forgets about it, having it fade away like fog at noon.

I found it fascinating and interesting, yet it was still a slog until the last 80 pages or so when the pace picked up. This becomes particularly glaring at the very end of the book (if you are spoiler-averse you should skip this paragraph).

Grisamentum, a dead magician who was chief rival to The Tattoo, whose former associates are forming new alliances. Every few chapters, just when I thought we would make a big break, there would be a new twist or new piece of information.

Miéville is a bit of an acquired taste, he assaults the reader with an unrelenting bombardment of ideas and thoughts which may result in some sinking under their weight. He constantly wants to get word to Leon’s girlfriend who he barely knows, but doesn’t seem to think his family might want to know as well. I think most would agree Miéville’s strongest asset is his formidable imagination and here he gives it free reign to populate London’s theological underworld with all manner of bizarre cults, weird creatures, and unusual magic. Mieville es inventivo, a veces sorprendentemente pero su estilo en la trama y los diálogos lo vuelven cansino, denso y la trama se volvió aburrida en un batiburrillo de personajes y sectas que se pasa de rosca.The basic premise is not original: there's a secret magical underworld in London coexisting with the "normal" world.

He never nails down any rules to the magic being used, and while that weakens the ending slightly, it means he can have people invoke magic in all sorts of different ways. Kraken does not suffer in this regard as Miéville always remembers the reader and always remains within the all-important boundaries.

But while Miéville scores a palpable hit against the body of urban fantasy, he fails to skewer its heart.