Kraken centers around a scientist at the Museum of Natural History in London named Billy who is responsible for preserving a specimen of a giant squid, architeuthis. The squid is one of the most popular exhibits at the museum, but has also caught the attention of London’s secret underworld of mages and cults, who believe it to be both a god of the deep and the harbinger of an apocalypse.  The Kraken is stolen from the museum, although there is no practical way to remove it from the room. Billy finds himself flung into the depths of a London he never new existed, a reluctant prophet for a cult that worships the squid, as well a person of great interest to the various supernatural factions in the city. What follows is a fairly standard “chase the McGuffin” story in which Billy and his new allies attempt to locate the squid and stop the end of the world, while various antagonists hunt for him.

I won’t reveal any spoilers here, because there’s lots of great surprises in the book — an unusual labor movement, a Star Trek loving mage (as well as an insightful look into a particular Star Trek trope that is often taken for granted by fans), a pair of terrifying immortal hit men called Goss and Subby, a man with a bizarre tattoo on his back and much more. However, for all the unique ideas, I can’t help but think of Kraken as a crazier version of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, or a saner version of Grant Morrison’s comic book series, The Invisibles – either way, it covers ground that other writers have explored in better stories.  In many ways, it is a conventional urban fantasy novel, except unlike others in the genre, the characters are ciphers who exist to carry Mieville’s big ideas. Billy, though the central character, is mostly unknown to us through the end. We know he’s very good at pickling squids, but other than that, we learn very little about him as a person. Others we get to know a little better, but given the strength of Mieville’s past protagonists, I expected more.

Overall, Kraken is an entertaining read, but not Mieville’s best. If you’re new to his work, I’d recommend starting out with Perdido Street Station and The Scar, both of which are worth your time.

Inexplicably, the San Antonio Current has a great overview of the movement.