What can you say about a book such as Kraken by China Miéville?
It is a marvellous, fantastical mix of vanishing giant squid, guardian angels cast from bottles, a talking tattoo, assorted cults, conjurers, deceased crime lords, timeless assassins, familiars on strike and so much more. And then there’s Billy Harrow propelled into the middle of this chaos when he discovers the miraculous disappearance of that giant squid from its home in the Natural History Museum.
This tale is a phantasmagorical smorgasbord of supernatural imagination which at times leaves you struggling to take on board the latest wonder revealed by a turn of the page. So although I enjoyed the story I did find myself a bit overwhelmed trying to keep track of everything that was going on.
Miéville is a part of the New Weird genre, which I’ve only been peripherally aware of up until now. And I guess that is appropriate as there is much weirdness at play in Kraken. Though based on my past reading experiences I’d opt for Lovecraftian as a more familiar categorisation and certainly a source of influence. A lot of the scenes described in Kraken struck me as very reminiscent of those created by Lovecraft in those stories featuring other and parallel worlds (e.g. The Horror At Red Hook, The Colour Out Of Space, At The Mountains Of Madness). I also felt I detected the influence of Clive Barker’s Weaveworld and Imajica. Given Lovecraft’s and Barker’s influence on the genre of fantastical horror such comparisons are perhaps no bad thing.
Anyhow, Kraken is a very impressive work of imagination and an absorbing read. Be warned, though, some of the scenes conjured by this particular imagination are dark, disturbing and a-drip with gore.
Enter Miéville’s world at your peril.