perdido street station

fantasy-literature at its best. you really feel with the well-elaborated characters living in the dark city of new crobuzon. the main plot is about creatures who basically live of human dreams and their excrements are used as a powerful and very valueable drug. but sometime all of this gets a bit out of control... very exciting and original story.

"The book has a large and interesting cast, many of which die violently (and fantastically) throughout the book. One scene which sticks out more than most is the mayor of the city going to the ambassador of Hell for aid, and the ambassador of Hell (yes, the fiery, demonic place in the afterlife) refusing because he is too afraid to help."

In the Sprawling gothic city of New Crobuzon, a stranger has come to request the services of Isaac, an overweight and slightly eccentric scientist. But it is an impossible request —that of flight—and in the end Isaac's attempts will only succeed in unleashing a dark force upon the city.
Complex, grand, absorbing, and darkly haunting, Perdido Street Station is replete with endless weird and ghoulish places and characters—characters that (apart from human beings) include aliens, hybrids, mythical beings, constructs, and chilling 'Remades'. Merge Dickensian London with the L.A. of Blade Runner, add the characters of Lewis Carroll, and you will begin to get an idea of the hypnotic quality of Perdido Street Station.