First I read Perdido Street Station by China Mieville, then more recently I read Thunderer by Felix Gilman. The similarities between them are numerous. Updated to review The Scar as well.

Perdido Street Station

Starts off slowly. My first impression after reading a bit of it was to question the accuracy of the back cover blurb. The first part, describing New Crobuzon as a city of weird stuff, sets the scene accurately enough. “Soon an eerie metamorphosis will occur...”—soon is a relative term, and while the book is long enough it’s probably accurate, you’re going to be reading for a long stretch before any metamorphosing takes place. ”...and not even the Ambassador of Hell will challenge the malignant terror it evokes”—technically true, though it’s worth noting the Ambassador of Hell only appears in the book just long enough to decline the challenge. For the curious, without giving away too much, I would summarize the book as mad scientist tries to invent flight, instead hatches Big Bad Butterfly (herein BBB), BBB terrorizes city, assorted allies and factions (AoH excluded) do battle with BBB.

There’s a lot going on here, maybe too much. One major subplot and one minor one are eventually tied in, but don’t really seem relevant except by coincidence. Various factions fighting the BBB are rather strange, requiring introductions that rival their action sequences. More so than any particular humanoid, the city itself is the most memorable character. New Crobuzon is apparently surrounded by a lot of not much, and everything its inhabitants could want is found within. It’s split into a million tiny neighborhoods, each a little world of its own, often complete with distinct humanoid species. There is some mention of a world outside (where did all these races come from, after all?), but we mostly assume that for the people in the city, the city is all of existence.

Thunderer

In comparison to Perdido, has a more restrained feel. The characters aren’t quite as zany or numerous, and we can more easily keep track of them and see how they fit together. The big event which sets everything in motion takes place right on the first page. There are two main plots, Arjun searching for the Voice (his god) and Jack disrupting the orphan-slave society. These stories are kept quite separate until the end, but each is a worthy tale to tell. It’s worth noting that in the course of his hunt, Arjun accidentally turns loose the malevolent slime monster (MSM), and the novel increasingly focuses on the fallout of that. For his part, Jack inherits the power of flight when another god, the Bird, flies overhead, and it’s this power which turns him into a hero.

Once again, everything takes place in a sprawling city. Ararat is occupied by solely by humans, but they belong to various cults/sects devoted to living deities who occasionally visit. More magic, less science. And this city is truly limitless, at least in three directions. While a few new concepts are introduced as the story proceeds, most of the exposition takes place early. I found Thunderer to be more enjoyable than Perdido, but that has more to do with it being easier rather than necessarily better, by whatever standard you use to measure a book. Someone who wants to like Perdido more probably will; it’s more richly described.

Comparison

The setting for both books is the obvious connection. We have two enormous cities, each located in a world where the laws of physics/magic/science are slightly different than our own. Also, despite the best efforts of their top mad scientists, said laws are not fully, perhaps not even partially, understood. The general populace is divided into factions whose cultural differences are greater than we’re used to, but somehow these people all get along. Very tolerant societies. Both books explore the political aspects of their cities and how unofficial rulers are as important and powerful as whatever official government may exist. Each society has an exploited underclass, Perdido’s Remade and Thunderer’s orphan house laborers. In terms of earth chronologies, I’d place Perdido around 1800 and Thunderer a little earlier, maybe 1700. Perdido is definitely more steampunk, Thunderer more fantasy, but neither fits entirely within those labels.

Isaac (the mad scientist from Perdido) is well matched against his Thunderer counterpart, Holbach, although Holbach plays more of an auxiliary role. Thunderer is more centered Arjun, the crippled wanderer, whose Perdido counter, Yagharek, is the sidekick. And of course, the unintentionally released evil behemoths, Perdido’s BBB vs Thunderer’s MSM. In fact, the general lesson is that one should avoid mucking about with preternatural powers.

On the whole, I think it’s interesting to think about an intersection of the books. How would Arjun, Jack, and Holbach deal with the BBB? Certainly, Isaac would have had an easier time getting Yagharek to fly in Ararat.

Which city would I want to live in? Probably New Crobuzon. Its mysteries are more accessible to its citizens. Ararat sounds great for the lucky residents picked by a fun god, but not nearly so great for the less fortunate.

Next

There is a not a sequel but in the same universe followup to Perdido, The Scar. And a more direct sequel to Thunderer, Gears of the City. Will read both eventually, though I’m more excited about The Scar. I felt the Thunderer ending was more than sufficient, and Ararat is big enough that something interesting has to be happening somewhere else in it.

The Scar

The best of the three so far, winning easily. Again we have a story taking place in a fantastic city. This time, it’s Aramada, a floating pirate city comprised of ships bound together. In comparison to Perdido, I felt everything was introduced more smoothly. We arrive at the city with Bellis and mostly share her viewpoint. As she learns things, so do we, and there’s a lot to be discovered once we’re set loose on the high seas. In some regards, the story follows closer to Thunderer. Newcomers arrive at the grand city, supernatural powers are called forth and harnessed, terrible infighting between the city’s factions as they oppose the leading sector disrupts the protagonists’ efforts to return home, lightning quick heroes of sorts. The world, however, is all Mieville. Weird people doing weird stuff. Not everything works, like the brief interludes of baffling stream of consciousness alternate viewpoints, but this is exactly the book I had hoped Perdido would be when I started reading it.