Kraken

A giant preserved squid vanishes from London's Natural History Museum, triggering a frenzied search across the city. The disappearance pulls museum curator Billy Harrow into an underground world of competing cults, criminal organizations, and supernatural forces. London becomes a battlefield where ancient magic meets modern city life. The story features a diverse cast including special police units, squid-worshipping cultists, supernatural gangsters, and entities that exist between reality and myth. The investigation reveals layer upon layer of hidden London, where tattoos come alive and faith can reshape reality. Each faction believes the missing kraken holds the key to preventing - or perhaps ensuring - the end of all things. This urban fantasy novel explores themes of faith, knowledge, and the power of belief to shape reality. It questions the boundaries between science and religion while examining how meaning is created in a seemingly chaotic universe.

Readers describe Kraken as a dense, complex urban fantasy that requires patience. Many note it combines elements of police procedural, cosmic horror, and dark comedy. Readers appreciated: - Creative religious and mythological elements - Unique magic system based on faith and belief - Dark humor and clever wordplay - Detailed London setting - Complex side characters Common criticisms: - Meandering plot that loses focus - Too many characters and subplots to track - Overly complex vocabulary and sentence structure - Slow pacing in middle sections Ratings across platforms: Goodreads: 3.6/5 (25,000+ ratings) Amazon: 3.9/5 (500+ ratings) LibraryThing: 3.7/5 (900+ ratings) Review quotes: "Like Neal Gaiman meets H.P. Lovecraft in a London alley" - Goodreads user "Brilliant ideas buried under unnecessarily complicated prose" - Amazon reviewer "Takes work to read but rewards the effort" - LibraryThing review

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🦑 Giant squid can grow up to 43 feet long, making them one of the largest known invertebrates - and a fitting center for a novel about mythological power. 🎨 China Miéville holds a PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics and frequently weaves political theory into his fantastical narratives. 📚 The book's title "Kraken" comes from a legendary sea monster of Scandinavian folklore, first described in detail by Erik Pontoppidan, a Danish-Norwegian bishop, in 1752. 🏛️ The Natural History Museum in London, where the story begins, houses over 80 million specimens, including one of the largest collections of cephalopod specimens in the world. 🖋️ The novel won the 2011 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel and helped establish the "New Weird" genre, which blends elements of science fiction, fantasy, and horror in urban settings.