Slashdot Mirror
King Rat
King Rat is incredibly similar to Gaiman's American Gods and Neverwhere -- I've purposefully not looked into the chronology of publication so I don't want to assert who was influenced by whom, but some significant elements of Neverwhere -- London as a setting, the critical presence of rats, a malevolent, almost-unkillable foe -- and American Gods -- a protagonist who loses someone dear to him very early in the work (Shadow loses his wife in AG, while Saul loses his father), and who struggles through a new understanding of his role in the world, a new appreciation for the fact he was born for a specific destiny, and a rebellion against his father. Hell, one character actually appears in both American Gods and King Rat.
There's probably a very strong correlation between people who liked American Gods and Neverwhere and people who'll like King Rat. At the same time, King Rat's tone is incredibly different -- it's not a derivative of Gaiman's work as much as it is a close family relation. It's almost totally bereft of humor, unlike Neverwhere, and not quite as awash in a palpable sense of loss as American Gods (especially given Shadow's ongoing relationship with his wife). Unlike the other two books, I found this one a little slow to get into, reading five pages here, ten pages there, until it finally hooked me.
King Rat's story revolves around Saul Garamond, who comes home one night to find that someone has killed his estranged father -- and the police think it's him. Garamond is broken out of prison by the title furtive character, who lost his dominion over the rats in the Hamlin catastrophe, and who introduces himself as Saul's uncle. So yes, the protagonist of King Rat is, in fact, Prince Rat (who is half man and half rat).
The rest of the book is the detailing of the conflict between the Rat, Bird, and Spider people and the pied piper of Hamlin who, in fact, turns out to be quite evil and fond of killing things.
Music is at the core of King Rat, from the basic most powerful talent of the nemesis, to the particular defenses of Saul (since he's a halfling, neither human-snaring music nor rat-snaring music alone could get him), to the interweaving of Saul's story with that of Natasha, a friend of his and a jungle-music DJ. Parts of the book, discussing the music arrangement and the role of bass in the actual communication of emotion to an audience, felt like they might be lost a little on a reader who hasn't been awash in that rhythm in a club. Thankfully for the vast majority of slashdotters, that's not a huge part of the book and even if you've never gone clubbing, held a rhythm, or danced your ass off, you're not likely to be alienated by it.
Mieville decided to end the book and the conflict in a way that felt more ambiguous than it could have been. While I applaud any author who doesn't bow and scrape to the convention that if you have a battle between good and evil, evil must be completely vanquished by the end of the work, I couldn't help feel that Mieville ended the book in such a way at least partially so a sequel could be written, featuring largely the same characters. It left me uneasy and on the verge of feeling a little cheated.
So that's the downside. On the upside, I found Saul's characterization engaging, interesting, and real. Saul is not as good of a man as we all would like to be, but he's probably as good as most of us get to be. Especially in the beginning, he's pretty wretchedly whiny. He's not exceedingly brave, or truthful, or kind. He's just ... a guy, with some special powers due to his parentage, thrust into a reality that is wildly different from his own, and he does his best to adapt to it. Saul's friends, Natasha Fabian and Kay, can't be drawn with as fine of a stroke because the book isn't about them, but they're still interesting and nuanced. Pete, the piper of Hamlin, is rather less complex. He's evil. He's strong. He is, in Jules' immortal terms, a bad motherfucker. With a flute.
Darn decent book, I'd say. If you liked Neverwhere (and can stand urban fantasy that isn't funny), or American Gods (and can stand urban fantasy that isn't set in the U.S.), you owe it to yourself to check it out.
China Mieville's official website was down last time I checked -- you may have more luck finding stuff about him at his unofficial home page.
You can purchase King Rat from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
Stonehenge, where the demons dwell Where the banshees live and they do live well Stonehenge Where a man is a man and the children dance to the pipes of pan Stonehenge Tis a magic place where the moon doth rise With a dragon's face Stonehenge Where the virgins lie And the prayer of devils fill the midnight sky And you my love, won't you take my hand We'll go back in time to that mystic land Where the dew drops cry and the cats meow I will take you there I will show you how
We have secretly replaced these Slashdot mods' sense of humor with a rusty nail. Let's see if they notice!!
nt
God, aren't I still annoying?
5th post w00t
ha7e tHheir moments
Kerry in Intern Affair Scandal, W. Clark, "Kerry campaign about to implode"
This is why Dean and Edwards haven't quit yet.
Hello! If we had ever planned to move it would be in the spring/summer when our garden is in its full glory. And this was what my husband said! But, stumbling into our dream house a few weeks ago we now find ourselves moving in January. My incredible garden left behind....
I would like to take some plants with me to start. What are my options? I am in Zone 7, Maryland (Annapolis) and it has just snapped temperature wise this week (mid December). My marigolds were blooming beautifully until today. My petunias still look great with foliage and occasional flowers. I want to take them as they are perennial and lilac, plus some red roses.
Can they be stored in plastic until the spring outside? I was also thinking about moving them to a holding bed at my mother's until spring when I could then transplant them to the new house. Naturally that would be the most work. Is it already too late to move them now? January is out completely or not? Help! What are my options? Thanks so much in anticipation of your advice!
Leah.
Left to chance - if you can't be nice...
dur1ng play, this
offended some users. BSD/OS Have left in The system clean series of internal achieve any of the Though I have never Do, or indeed what large - keep your are abo'ut 7000/5
You must be talking about AD&D rules, since D&D maxes out at level 36. I think this is true even for the newer d20 version 3 or 3.5 - seems like the 'basic' rules go to level 20, and there are 'epic' rules to go to 36 or something. :)
I don't think anyone's really played a character who started at level 1 and lived longer than level 9 anyway