Review - 'Kraken' by China Miéville

First off, it should be known that my biggest fear is the sea; specifically its dark depths and the creatures that lurk within. Like with many people I presume, because I fear this so vehemently, I am at the same time incredibly drawn to it and seek it wherever I can in fiction. Take the scene in James Cameron’s The Abyss that sees Ed Harris’ character make his slow descent into an abyssal, pitch black canyon on the floor of the ocean. I can watch the scene with ease, but at the same time it scares me magnificently, and compels me beyond belief.

To highlight the extent of this fear: to be bluntly honest, Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future on the Dreamcast – exploring the endless deep, shooting through pitch black tunnels, fighting giant sea monsters – scares me so much that I’ve never got past the third level in the 10 or so years that I’ve owned it. But this doesn’t stop me playing it often and loving every minute, all for the intense fear that it evokes.

So the point to be taken is: I love sea monsters. Miéville’s The Scar – an infinitely better book than this one – concerns in large part a gigantic sea monster from another universe called an Avanc; the inclusion and dealing of which I loved (one excellent aspect is Miéville’s choice to never describe the creature in any detail; allowing my imagination to run wild with it – making the fear potential increase enormously). So when I saw that Miéville’s latest work was to be titled Kraken, I immediately built up high hopes.

All in all though, I’m sad to say that I was let down. I love Miéville (and I haven’t even read Perdido Street Station or The City & The City yet), but his latest effort falls considerably short of his abilities in my opinion. New Weird in style Miéville certainly is, but this all too weird for my tastes. From animal servants picketing for their rights to an omniscient invisible flying cartoon pig, this grasps completely in the wrong direction for an altogether ludicrous kind of strange. Add to this a plot full of questions to which we are given all too easy and entirely unsatisfying answers and it doesn’t amount to much.

Unused is the full potential of dealing with a sea monster as utterly terrifying and infamous as the giant squid. I’m sure it isn’t Miéville’s intent to scare here, but I figured I would succumb anyway, due to my phobia, but nothing succeeded in scaring me to any degree, save perhaps the idea of living out Billy’s Kraken dreams.

The whole thing just comes off as one big bad joke; or rather a continual and unrelenting series of bad jokes, punctuated with pointless oddness and unnecessary absurdity. The fact that it could be seen as humour does not excuse the strangeness in my opinion.

There is by no means nothing to salvage. There are points, mostly when Miéville is describing the Gods that exist and the cult religions that follow them, that he hits on some gorgeously Lovecraftian ideas and musings, like with an extract of a ‘holy’ text that Billy (the protagonist) reads:

We cannot see the universe. We are in the darkness of a trench, a deep cut, dark water heavier than earth, presences lit by our own blood, little biolumes, heroic and pathetic Promethei too afraid or weak to steal fire but still able to glow. Gods are among us and they care nothing and are nothing like us.
This is how we are brave: we worship them anyway.

The huge potential of passages like this is never developed further, and all my dreams of being crippled and engulfed by fear are lost with this failing. Kraken is by no means a disaster; it’s just not up to Miéville’s usual high standard, nor as good an execution as I feel the subject matter deserved.

5/10

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Short story: 'Babel's Tower', Chapters 6 & 7 (out of 11)

Chapter Six.
LIFE FOUND

After many centuries of this peaceful observation and personal development a breakthrough regarding the ultimate goal was achieved. Through man’s gradually expanding exploration of the universe a planet was found which it was obvious had quite recently contained intelligent life. Intellectual man, along with normal man, had taken complete control of space exploration (with the other two races merely acting as observers) and it was through their ever increasing ingenuity in methods of space travel that such far reaches of space had been reached. The planet that had been discovered was similar to that of Earth except for the fact that it seemed to be experiencing an Ice Age that had recently come into full effect and was increasing exponentially year by year. Upon this planet lay many ruins of what had been impressive architecture as well as the remains of a species long dead. It was revealed through analysis that this species had looked something like a cross between man and some form of wingless bird species. It was found that they had been covered on most parts of their body by a thick quilt of feathers and seemed to have entertained some type of beak in place of a mouth. It was assumed that their intellect had been advanced, but not past that of ancient man in the first millennia. They seemed to have attained an agricultural level of development and had left very few written manuscripts. Upon further excavation, something more astonishing was found. Not far beneath the surface of their planet existed the remains of what once had been tall industrial buildings, much like those that had existed on Earth in the 22nd Century. Further study showed that these buildings had been destroyed by explosions of a nuclear origin. It was pieced together then, that this race had faced a global war, on a scale that Earth had itself once narrowly avoided, which completely destroyed and ruined this amazing civilisation. The survivors, it seemed, had many years later started to rebuild civilisation, but this time modestly, and had abandoned many things which they could easily have made if they had wished to. In the presumed amount of time this new civilisation resided on the planet after the war they could have built a world up to the standard of their predecessors and more, yet it seemed that they had chosen to live humble and modest lives, in the manner of old man, purely being concerned with agriculture and minor trade, and without excessive technology and weapons.

This discovery had huge repercussions back on Earth. Man had now confirmed the creator’s lack of care for his creations. An intelligent race upon another planet had been totally annihilated, even after achieving complete rehabilitation and a lack of arrogance, and yet God had not intervened in the slightest to save his race; he merely let them die without a care. This confirmed that if ever mankind were to face extinction, God would take the same approach in doing nothing to stop it. Many men, normal, intellectual, physical and spiritual, united gloriously in the righteousness of their beliefs and wept bitterly upon the true realisation that they were not cared for. This was considered a time of huge victory for the hateful faction, and their number increased dramatically. The hearts and minds of many were changed; all of normal men now belonged to this hateful faction, as well as two thirds of Physical Man and even one quarter of Spiritual Man. Mankind as a race was now becoming increasingly hateful towards God and it seemed that upon completion of the ultimate goal, the result was far more likely to become a hostile one than a peaceful one.

Chapter Seven.
THE RETURN OF WAR

All through the new men’s existence normal man was forced to take a backseat to all that was happening, and had long resented it. Some claimed that it was a mistake to have created such beings and yet others claimed that it was necessary and the only way to achieve the ultimate goal. Whichever view they took, all were united in their fear for their own existence and in their resolve to survive. Intelligent Man had long since cut off all communication and involvement with normal man, deeming it futile, and it was well known that his despite for him had reached a new height.

Three and a half thousand years after the finding of alien life, all of normal man, Intellectual Man and Physical Man now belonged to the hateful faction. Only Spiritual Man held out in its majority with members of the alternate faction. The general despite of God among the newer races was now a source of great danger for normal man. The final part of the ultimate goal was now fully conceived. Once God had been found he would be met by mankind with fierce hostility and after everything man wanted to know had been found out, God would be destroyed with the same complete lack of empathy he had showed man. This led to the train of thought that before they defeated the ultimate creator they must defeat their immediate one; normal man. Although they had initially been treated by them with great empathy and love, these relations had long since faded and the situation, in the view of Intellectual and Physical man was beyond repair. Coupled with their uselessness and constant plundering of the Earth’s precious resources, it was decided that they had to be destroyed. In terms of population at this time normal man took up around 40% of the world, Intellectual Man 15%, Physical Man 30% and Spiritual Man 15%. War was promptly declared by Intellectual and Physical Man against normal man. Spiritual Man did not try to intervene. This was mostly due to his fear of the complete control Intellectual Man seemed to have over Physical Man; but he bravely refused Intellectual Man’s request for allegiance (which greatly angered him) and stood completely neutral throughout the war.
Normal man did not last long. The war was fought almost completely in the old fashion style, with army pitted against army. Both sides agreed not to ruin the planet with the extreme explosives man had crafted over the years. Intellectual Man had Physical Man under complete control; only Physical Men were used in their armies, so that Intellectual Man was not put directly in harms way. After a decade and a half the war was finally coming to a close. Normal man’s weapons had inflicted some damage but proved ultimately ineffective against Physical Man’s highly developed powers, coupled with the machines that Intellectual Man had devised to aid him. Telekinesis, advanced strength, self-regeneration, manipulation of the elements and more were all used to bring about normal man’s downfall.

With the complete destruction of their creators, and taking courage in Physical Man’s mass depletion, Spiritual Men finally united in strong defiance of the other two races and the atrocities they had committed.

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