Book Review - King Rat (China Miéville)

In this review, I examine China Miéville's 1998 debut, an angry, vicious modern fairytale.

King Rat follows a young man named Saul who's one day arrested on suspicion of murdering his father. He's then sprung from prison by a mysterious creature who calls himself King Rat and who claims to be Saul's long-lost uncle. King Rat tells Saul that his previous life is over and that he must adapt to a life in the sewers and living on rubbish. Soon Saul learns that a ferocious demon is hunting him, King Rat, and all the other supernatural denizens of London. Saul must then lead a reluctant army of rats to save himself, his friends and the whole city.

This book was quite a surprise for me. It took a while for me to get into it as a lot of it felt very familiar. The tone reminded me a lot of Neil Gaiman through its blend of supernatural and a very modern setting. The “I am your Father/Uncle/Grandfather” revelation also gave the book a very by-the-numbers feel to it, as did the catalyst of Saul's father dying. Something else that didn't surprise me while reading was the incorporation of the myth of the Pied Piper into the story, with the Piper playing the main villain. For a while the book felt tolerable, if a little predictable.

All this changes midway when the tone suddenly shifts into much darker territory, starting with the Piper's kidnap of Kay, one of Saul's friends, and then literally tying him to a railway. I expected Kay to be eventually rescued but was shocked when he was run down by a train, which Miéville describes in a very simple yet still gruesome way. Another shock comes when Saul meets a homeless woman named Deborah, who's set up as if to become a friend and possible love interest, only to be brutally murdered herself by the Piper.

Midway through the book, King Rat is also shown in a much more unpleasant light which undercuts the earlier impression of him. He's introduced as an eccentric figure who acts as Saul's mentor. But it's later revealed that he's not Saul's uncle but his father, and that he raped Saul's mother in an alley to give him a rat-human hybrid that he could use as a weapon against the Piper. Not only does this transform King Rat in the reader's eyes, it also radically alters Saul as a character. He goes from being a scared little man who doesn't want the responsibility of being king of the rats, to a determined leader who leads the fight against the Piper.

This book stunned me with its vicious undermining of my expectations, and made a lasting impression on me because of it.

Miéville also situates the book very well with constant references to London landmarks and districts. Places such as Battersea Power Station and the Elephant and Castle become crucial points in the story and I'm sure would immerse Londoners in the story very well.

The story's characterisation is used to explore the theme of isolation which can arise from living in a compact urban setting. Miéville does this by drawing parallels between Saul and his two friends, Natasha and Fabian. While all three go through seperate experiences, they're all cut off in some way from their former lives and the world they understand. Saul struggles to cope with the loss of his father while at the same time facing a swarm of rats who see him as their new messiah. Natasha is imprisoned in her flat by the Piper, who wants to use her musical abilities to enhance his own hypnotic powers. Fabian feels increasingly lonely as his friends continue to disappear from his life. This recurring theme added heavily to the bleak tone of the story and made it far more than a simple urban fantasy novel.

King Rat was a not exactly pleasant surprise for me but I found it an amazing book nonetheless. After reading it, I'm keen to read more of Miéville's work and hope to be as gripped as I was here.