[Geralt]

Originally Posted by treadlightly

Ah, this is good to know! I had put it on my reading list at the start of the year but it didn't receive overwhelming praise in one of the threads discussing China Mieville so I was waffling about reading it.

Well the reason for that may be twofold at least.

The genre he's writing in is often labeled as New Weird, which he himself also likes to refer as such.
As for what new weird is about:

Spoiler:

What is New Weird Fantasy (aka Slipstream fantasy)?

This sub-genre, also known as “Slipstream”, once only popular with a limited audience is growing in mainstream appeal as more and more fantasy readers are looking for fantasy “that’s different.” And slipstream fantasy IS different.

It's a modern, non-linear, magical-realism type of almost experimental fiction, dancing between borders of science fiction, fantasy and mainstream literary fiction.

Cognitive dissonance seems to be almost a goal of this type, with its unresolved endings, chronological gaps or displacement, refusal to accurately or completely describe characters, and a staunch determination to fit no other category of fantasy.

In layman’s terms, New Weird combines elements of pulp fiction, horror, dark fantasy, surrealism (including magic realism), steampunk, and traditional fantasy into a tasty mix.

There are so many different types of books in this category that it's difficult to characterize them as a whole. A rule of thumb is that if it makes you feel weird, it's probably achieving its goal.

Ergo, it's not everybody's cup of tea.

Second reason, and more important one I think is his style. His prose, is like a feast. Literally some words leave you with a mouthful, but in other sense it's so rich and decadent, you got to have a taste developed enough for those things. Not to mention a dictionary. He's not a quick bite of fantasy

As far as the Perdido Street Station is concerned it is not a face paced, action book, although there is plenty of action. That might be a third turn off for an average fantasy reader. On the other hand, he created such a rich world and strange one at that, it is simply breathtaking.

Here's some artwork of New Crobuzon world, to get you hooked in.
http://www.justinoaksford.com/2011/1...t-station.html

Hope you end up liking it and reading it.
Oh and if you haven't read him so far, here's what wiki says about his literally influences:

Miéville has listed M. John Harrison, Michael de Larrabeiti, Michael Moorcock, Thomas M. Disch, Charles Williams, Tim Powers, and J. G. Ballard as literary "heroes"; he has also frequently discussed as influences H. P. Lovecraft, Mervyn Peake, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Gene Wolfe. He has said that he would like his novels "to be read for [his imagined city] New Crobuzon as Iain Sinclair does for London."

So if you have read at least some of these authors you at least can guess what kind of style he prefers.