King Rat by China Miéville. Introduction by Tim Maughan.
First published in 1998. Reprinted in 2023 by Tor Essentials

Review by Warner Holme: China Miéville’s King Rat is a fascinating mixture of the elements in late 1990’s urban fantasy. Coming out originally as the breakout volume for someone who would become a byword of the genre, this book deals with a hidden world outside of and beneath what is known, dealing with a focal point in London. 

Specifically it is about a man called Saul dealing with the sudden death of his father, as he is thrust into a strange underworld where King Rat, a human looking figure, who explains he has a hidden ancestry and great destiny, though he might be fighting against a mind controlling force. While this seems straightforward enough, the fact more is going on becomes obvious from the get-go.

A very nice new introduction attempts to give some background on the book, and in particular on the musical genre known as Jungle which features within it. This is a relatively small genre to be sure, and as a result a reminder for readers who are unfamiliar with it will be greatly appreciated.

The depiction of this strange underworld as centered around rats, spiders, and birds is a clever way to reference back to old mythologies and folk tales. It is also, however, somewhat arguably a slightly classist way to reference back towards the people of the streets in the process, almost treating them as vermin. Odd era-appropriate images of class, like some groups hating acoustic playing along with samples or people being suspicious of a cellphone user, are clearly finding the whole matter completely out of date. More than this, the clueless but legitimately honest and well meaning cops are an especially noticeable oddity in what is obviously a left leaning story, and this has only become more-so over time.

Class and race play roles in this book, although the elements of each are not what might be obvious. The use of music is clever and could easily be seen as an examination of the dangers and weaknesses regarding cultural appropriation. This is not to say that this was intentional, and indeed character dynamics mean that even the more socialist sentiments raise questions as characters often espouse them for personal reasons.

The similar subjects and release dates matching well enough means that for many Neil Gaiman’s Neverewhere supplants this book in memory. This is an unfortunate association as both are enjoyable but they do not approach the material from a similar philosophical point of view. While forgetting the homeless or strange is treated as unfortunate in Neverwhere, here even the powerful of the underworld are treated as a special example of privilege and desperate to maintain that control to which they are accustomed.

The Tor Essentials line has republished volumes both well known and obscure. This falls somewhat into a middle category, as it was successful enough on release and from an author who is considered one of the great names in the genre of fantasy. Certainly to be recommended to fans of the author, urban fantasy aficionados will undoubtedly like a look at this strange volume as well.

(Tor, 2023)