I picked up King Rat knowing that it was China Miéville’s first novel and, having wanted to read more of his works, I let my OCD win me over, and so started from the beginning. That, and I used to have pet rats when I was younger – the absolute sweetest animals! 11/10 would recommend (with thorough and detailed research into their care and needs beforehand first!). So my interest was even more piqued as I wanted to see how these unique and lovely little animals would feature throughout book.

King Rat is set in the damp and dark streets of 1990s London, often creeping into her underbelly through the sewer system and down ancient drains. The story follows Saul Garamond, a listless and lost Londoner who is wrongly blamed and imprisoned for the murder of his father. Stolen away by a mysterious and eccentric individual – the namesake of the book – Saul is then introduced to a wild and incredible world that is hidden from the general populace. Initial disgust at his new existence slowly turns into appreciation as he adjusts to the life that has been unexpectedly thrust upon him.

Of the rats that appear in the story, that Saul felt distaste and nausea towards at first, respect and appreciation is quickly adopted as Saul gets to know the helpful furry critters. So much so, that Saul then finds himself in the sudden and unexpected role as their leader, which he wants no part of: Saul only wishes to nurture the rat’s independence and separate them from their crowd psychology.

This attitude only made me like Saul’s character all the more. All of the ensemble cast had their quirks and grew on me in various ways and I found myself looking forward to hearing how their individual stories would tie in with the overarching narrative, but Saul’s empathy and determination secured his spot as my favourite character in the story. That isn’t to say that how characters reacted and interacted to each other also wasn’t down right grim and nasty…

I did find the writing to be very enjoyable, with such richness and detail, that I was able to vividly imagine the action taking place in a lot of the scenes as though it was happening right in front of me. Everything in the story came together in such a way that it made me eager to read the next chapter each evening. Sometimes, it was hard to put the book down.

At it’s core, King Rat is a unique take on the ancient and famous story of the Pied Piper, with all the musical fanfare and excitement of the original story to go with it. But Miéville manages to tactfully weave urban fantasy elements into a 21st century London setting in such a way that King Rat, on occasion, hinted at a larger world and mythology behind what the audience was allowed a glimpse at – a method of show-not-tell that I thoroughly enjoy in narratives as it allows my mind to wander, elaborate on points, and create ideas that extend the world that has been spun out by the author.

With a lot of unexpected twists and turns to the story, I truly had no idea what was going to be coming next when I turned the page. This was an aspect of the story that I really appreciated and I think, going forward, I’ll try and know as little about a book before I begin reading it. That way, I can be just as surprised as I can possibly be as I read.