King Rat

published by TOR

ISBN-10: 0312890729

ISBN-13: 978-0312890728

reviewed by Adam Armstrong

07.12.2008

“Rats! They fought the dogs and killed the cats” –Robert Browning

Saul Garamond wakes up to find that his father has been murdered and he is the main suspect. A shadowy figure with incredible strength breaks Saul out of a London prison. The figure calls him self King Rat. Soon Saul finds that he is not only on the run from the police but he is running from a more dangerous foe called The Piper who can control others with music. Along the way Saul meets others like King Rat: Anansi who controls spiders and Loplop who controls birds. Supernatural forces join Saul in his battle but The Piper has found more than one way to play music in this modern day.

A wonderful modern day retelling of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, King Rat is worth a close look. Miéville paints unique dark heroes that have to battle with each other as much as they battle the villain. The fast pacing mixed in with the references of Jungle music made it hard to put down. This novel is set in the “real” world versus Miéville’s more popular Bas-Lag series. As a stand alone book I thought it was fantastic.

Pick up a copy:

5 out of 5