Perdido Street Station (2000)
A gripping psychological thriller set in a vivid steampunk city.
This is a proper doorstopper of a book: 847 pages, set in the sprawling city of New Crobuzon, and I was gripped throughout.
The city is a rough place to live: politicians and crime lords work together, a militia rules with an iron fist, and there’s lots of xenophobia towards the city’s non-human residents (including Khepri, Vodyanoi, and the cactacae). Punishment takes the form of “remaking,” where parts of your body are removed or rearranged, often replaced with mechanical or other species’ parts.
We follow Isaac, a scientist who is hired by a garuda (a humanoid bird) to recreate his ability to fly, after his wings have been sawn off in punishment. During his research, Isaac inadvertently releases a slake moth, which can paralyse its victims with hypnotic patterns, then consume their dreams. The moth and its brethren wreak havoc on the city, and it takes a concerted effort to stop them. Along the way, many of Isaac’s friends are killed or incapacitated, and he gets help from a supernatural Arachnid “the Weaver”.
The slake moths are a horrifying idea, and I felt just how dangerous they are. Multiple attacks are described in vivid detail, and it’s clear that very few people in the city know how to control them. (The most successful pest control comes from the city’s crime lord, who was breeding the moths and using their feces as drugs. The city’s “constructs”, intelligent machines, also lend some assistance, as they are conscious but don’t have dreams.) I was reminded of Antimetics Division and Silo season 3; this is a horror that affects your memory and sense of self.
The city itself is also richly described. There’s so much detail describing the different neighbourhoods and how they’re connected, and I have a good sense of what it’s like. I was reminded of Birds Without Wings; there are lots of things I’m allowed to pick up from context and which aren’t described explicitly.
This isn’t a pleasant story, but I enjoyed immersing myself in this world. It turns out this is the first in a series of novels, and I intend to read the sequels.
Quotes and highlights
Chapter twenty-one, when Isaac and Lin are both making progress on their secret projects, but the progress is keeping them apart:
The only person he missed was Lin. Her work was keeping her at least as busy as him, and as the momentum of his research picked up, it was increasingly difficult to find times when they could meet.
Instead, Isaac sat up in bed and wrote her letters. He asked her about her sculpture, and he told her that he missed her. Every other morning or so he would stamp and post these letters in the box at the end of his street.
Chapter thirty-one, when the militia storm Isaac’s lab:
The door was still unlocked from when David had fled. The militia had not expected this, and had tried to break down a door which did not resist them. They fell, sprawling and idiotic.
There was a confused moment. The three militia scrabbled to stand. Outside, the squad of officers gaped stupidly into the building. On the ground floor, Derkhan and Lemuel stared back at them. Isaac looked down at the intruders.
Then everyone moved.