Kraken

By: China Mieville

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

With this outrageous new novel, China Miéville has written one of the strangest, funniest, and flat-out scariest books you will read this—or any other—year. The London that comes to life in Kraken is a weird metropolis awash in secret currents of myth and magic, where criminals, police, cultists, and wizards are locked in a war to bring about—or prevent—the End of All Things.

In the Darwin Centre at London’s Natural History Museum, Billy Harrow, a cephalopod specialist, is conducting a tour whose climax is meant to be the Centre’s prize specimen of a rare Architeuthis dux—better known as the Giant Squid. But Billy’s tour takes an unexpected turn when the squid suddenly and impossibly vanishes into thin air.

As Billy soon discovers, this is the precipitating act in a struggle to the death between mysterious but powerful forces in a London whose existence he has been blissfully ignorant of until now, a city whose denizens—human and otherwise—are adept in magic and murder.

All of them—and others—are in pursuit of Billy, who inadvertently holds the key to the missing squid, an embryonic god whose powers, properly harnessed, can destroy all that is, was, and ever shall be.

©2010 China Mieville (P)2010 Random House

Critic reviews

"Mr. Miéville's novels - seven so far - have been showered with prizes; three have won the Arthur C. Clarke award, given annually to the best science fiction novel published in Britain…. [H]e stands out from the crowd for the quality, mischievousness and erudition of his writing…. Among the many topics that bubble beneath the wild imagination at play are millennial anxiety, religious cults, the relationship between the citizen and the state and the role of fate and free will." ( The New York Times)

will done but I did not like it

this book is just fine. The tries to do some interesting clever things. But for whatever reason I just did not care

Fantastic Tale and Beautiful Performance

I'm glad I had to read this for a Arts and Humanities class. If you love sci-fi, gods and adventure/mystery, then this is something to read. Mieville brings to life anything and everything in a tale of how a god is stolen and chaos is brought to London. John Lee's accent is icing on the cake as the setting is in London! I could easily tell when a characer change happened. So much emphasis was placed on body and changes; e.g. Watti's ability to move through statues and other objects. Sound wise, there was no background noise that I could pick up.

Some of my favorite characters were Goss and Subby for there terror factor. You get to know each character as they come along, but I would note that there are extras and armies of people that could be tough to remember. This is something to read and then read again before you get the full picture and understanding. A beautiful piece of work and an excellent tribute to the Sea, in my mind.

Funny Horror

Back in 2012 my favorite movie was "The Cabin in the Woods." A lot of my friends didn't liked it, but I thought that it was funny and horrifying at the same time. If you liked that movie, you will enjoy reading "Kraken" because it's well written from the comical aspect from the horror genre. Trying to catch the giant squid, talking tattoos and the sci-fi setting, is just funny.

Most people likes slasher movies with blood, but I find them boring. I enjoy China Mieville's writing because he is very clever with his words. Instead of being chase by a killer, you are on a deep path of funny horror. It's very clever. I really enjoy this author because once you understand his style of writing, you can only assume that Mieville got sent to the principal's office many times.

A little confusing

I really liked this book and the idea behind it. I was intrigued by the religious overtones and I really liked the characters. One of the other reviews I read said it was funny, which I did not think it was, but none the less the story really held my interest. It was a bit confusing towards the end but all in all I enjoyed the listen.

Still a huge fan

this is the 3rd book I've read from this author and he never disappoints. excellent!

Easily one of my favorite fantasy novels

Where does Kraken rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of the best audiobooks I've listened to.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite characters are Collingswood and Goss. Their personalities and manner of speaking appeal to my mind as well as my ear.

Which character – as performed by John Lee – was your favorite?

It's hard to choose. He brings the main characters to life so well. I guess I would have to say Goss is my favorite voice.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me laugh. But it also shocked me at times and caused wonder and excitement as well.

Exhausting inventiveness

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Only if the friend doesn't care much about characters; because the characters are so thinly conceived, the story has little to offer besides the author's admittedly hugely inventive fantasy imagination.

Would you ever listen to anything by China Mieville again?

Only if someone can assure me that he's grown as a writer. Readers who like urban fantasy but want something with more depth should try instead Nick Harkaway's Angelmaker.

What aspect of John Lee’s performance would you have changed?

For some of the detective novels I've listened to, Lee's narration is often quite appropriately plain and restrained. You'd think that a book as rich in visuals as Kraken would be better served by the more old-fashioned narrational style that Lee favors, but in fact the thin characters might have been improved by a livelier, more actorly approach. And the lack of speech tags in the writing absolutely demanded a greater range of voices than Mr. Lee deployed.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Maybe.

Imaginative & fun

I really enjoyed this one by Mieville. It almost feels like something that could have been written by Neil Gaiman, which I mean as a compliment. Definitely one of my favorite books by this author. Compelling characters & excellent world building.

Creepy creeps up from the deep...

Would you consider the audio edition of Kraken to be better than the print version?

yes

Who was your favorite character and why?

hero - quite the adventure, you learn so much in such an strange world from his step by step path into this magical and hyper-verison of Harry Potter.

Have you listened to any of John Lee’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

fantastic!~

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes... but there is soooo much I could not. I enjoyed days of this amazing tale...

Any additional comments?

Harry Potter for adults. Smart adult, who like a good mystery and are not too squeamish about creepy bad guys killing people is really creepy ways....

Narrator is Insufferable

Would you listen to Kraken again? Why?

No, the book is great. I own a physical copy. I've struggled to make it 15% of the way into the audiobook. The narrator doesnt do voices well and sounds very stiff.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of John Lee?

Yes. I think this would solve my main issue with this book.