The best bit about a long train journey: chosing a new book to immerse yourself in – and Mieville is totally immersive!

After reading this, the last of Mieville’s trio of Bas Lag novels, I have to say I was a bit disappointed. Iron Council is definitely my least favorite of the three, despite (or perhaps because of) being the most overtly political. Perhaps because of the focus on revolution, I felt the characters of this novel were much less interesting then the previous two. Unlike Isaac or Bellis, I never really connected with or identified with Cutter, Ori, Ann Hari or any other person or felt drawn into their conflicts (which I was completely with Perdido Street Station and the Scar). In particular, I felt the character of Judah to be fairly bland and I admit to being a bit bored with him and the whole Iron Council saga that took up a majority of the middle of the novel.
However, Mieville does continue with his unique brand of world building, making the blend of a corrupt industrial-magical society seem not only completely alien but also very real, from the bizarre Cacotopic Stain to the various neighborhoods of New Crobozon.
I also liked that, as in his previous novels, there is a bit of genre blending taking place in Bas Lag, which I find interesting. Perdido Street Station, for instance mixed a lot of horror and some noir into its fantasy while the Scar was very much a swashbuckling adventure story. In Iron Council, there is some definite Western stylings showing up, though the extra genre is a little less evident then in previous Bas Lag stories.
In conclusion, I felt that Iron Council was a bit slow moving with comparatively undeveloped characters, though I enjoyed this last exploration of the world of Bas Lag and particularly, the city of New Crobozon and continues with Mieville’s brand of genre blending.

Like Mieville’s other New Crobuzon fiction, this has some high quality prose poetry, a lot of imaginative ideas, offbeat characters, and some stuff that will gross you out. Avoid if you have a weak stomach!

Flesh golems… really?