Urban Vermin

King Rat, a “New Weird” fantasy-horror novel by China Mieville, is quite the tale. The story is centered around a man who is half human, half rat that gets accused of killing his father. When King Rat comes to break the man - Saul - out of jail, Saul is introduced to a secret version of London, including monarch-based animal societies, a relentless pied piper, and a unique view of the city itself. With his superhuman abilities, or rather super-rat abilities, Saul usurps the throne from King Rat and helps the birds, rats, and spiders of London take down the malicious Piper.

The story is simultaneously familiar and original. There’s the typical coming-of-age plot used when introducing Saul to the world of the rats mixed with a detective mystery from the point of view of Mr. Crowley. Old folktales and fables are recycled into new renditions of themselves, such as Anansi the Spider and the Pied Piper. However, mixing the worlds of fantastical animal societies with urban, Jungle music obsessed London is unique and intriguing. There’s an odd balance created through that combination of fantasy and modern day, not to mention the added subgenres of horror and mystery bring an extra level of depth to the narrative. I feel that, even though this book belongs to the “New Weird” horror category, the horror acts as an undertone. Yes, the violence is graphic and gratuitous, but that’s it. No other typical horror aspects.

The genre “New Weird” is ill-defined, meaning that a wide variety of stories could fall under that label without being obviously horror. I felt that because of the fantasy elements, horror takes a backseat during the story, used to spice up battles rather than move the plot along. Overall, I really enjoyed reading King Rat! I’ve always loved fables, and seeing those show up in this story was a pleasant surprise. Well-written and entertaining, King Rat is a good type of new weird.