The Scar by China Mieville.

So, technically I finished it, in that I turned the last page, read the last word, and realised that the story had come to a conclusion that was somewhat satisfying.

But what the fuck? I mean, that went nowhere. Literally. A motherfrogging huge city puttering around in the middle of the ocean, powered occasionally by something we couldn't see, heading to a place we never reached, contemplating its own navel in poorly-revealed, petty, grubbing politics.

Bad post-modern fantasist. No Hugo!

OK, overreacting ceased, attempting rational thoughts.

The key characters were good. Bellis, Silas, Uther, the Brucolac... all great. Tanner pissed me off, thought, and Shekel. The rest were somehow rising above the everyday, but those two were fairly stock-standard. Bellis was a new iteration of the cynical-bitch heroine (though occasionally just too pansy-assed and oddly insipid), Silas was intriguing, and the Brucolac was that most amazing of things - a vampire that doesn't take over the whole book. Uther was so fucking cool I kept waiting for him to stop being gratuitously cool and start being usefully cool... but it never really happened. I have this niggling urge to call him Uther "Mary Sue" Doul, but that might be being unfair.

The plot, however, was rather mundane spec-fic normality, hidden behind a new sort of setting. What's more, it lacked any sort of really thought-provoking, larger-than-life climax, rather just disappeared up its own fundament and trickled to a halt. (And regarding said setting, it was fun, but I certainly hope China at least bought M John Harrison and the other cyber/steam punk fantasists a beer.) And his writing style really lacked grace, elegance or subtlety. It had loads of confidence, but occasionally that just meant it felt like he was bulling his way through.

But still, better than most. And it was fun. It was an experience. It was not as spectacular, innovative or brilliant as I was lead to believe it might be. Maybe I should have read Perdido Street Station. Maybe one day I will.