King Rat 

by China Miéville 


   Published in 1998, King Rat is an urban dark fantasy novel by China Miéville which is his debut novel as a British writer. Set in London, the plot follows the life of Saul Garamond after the death of his father and his meeting with King Rat. Together they have to overcome Piper who plans to terrorize London through music. The novel embodies the Good vs Evil classic theme represented in various literary works plus, it has a strange concept of half-human, half rat hybrid protagonist. It highlights Miéville's ability of entwining mythical and fantastic elements into modern London.

  At first King Rat is seen to be a protagonist in the story helping Saul to finds true self and heritage but we later find out that King Rat is the antagonist, although not entirely evil – King Rat is mainly selfish as he impregnated a woman to create a cross breed of a man/rat (Saul) in order to defeat Piper. This leads to an identity crisis that Saul has to face.
  It brings us to the second theme heavily centered on identity. Saul struggles to define 'who he thinks he is in contrast to who he truly is'. Despite having to deal with being a rat prince – which involves a variety of responsibilities – Saul is constantly discovering himself along with his abilities. 

   The abilities are very descriptive and graphic. China Miéville depicts the strength and power of rat whilst not diminishing the disgusting aspect of being a rat : "I spill like mercury over the lip of a building...I slide silently through the pile of rubbish in the sepia lamplight".