King Rat
- 352
- Pages
- about 6 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“King Rat”, China Miéville’s debut, already shows his gift for strange urban fantasy, loosing a centuries-old feud on late-1990s London. After his father’s death, Saul Garamond is taken in hand by the mysterious King Rat and drawn into that rivalry. Some readers find it simpler than his later novels but no weaker, and wish they had seen more of its hidden world. It makes a natural first Miéville.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
King Rat is an urban fantasy novel by British writer China Miéville, published in 1998. Unlike his Bas-Lag novels, it is set in London during the late 1990s. It follows the life of Saul Garamond after the death of his father and his meeting with King Rat. As King Rat takes Saul under his wing, the young man is quickly embroiled in a centuries-old rivalry. King Rat was Miéville's debut novel.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 6.5 across 56 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 27% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Fantasy average of 8.0. That is how 7.6 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardcover | 6.5 | 56 | 100% |
Frequently asked
How long is King Rat?
It has 352 pages — shorter than 89% of the ranked books in Fantasy.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Fantasy — with scores between 7.5 and 7.6, closest to this book.
