This book did not start off well for me. I'm not a fan of fantasy novels with main characters who are not human (few authors can justify such extravagance). Perdido Street Station introduces Garuda ("bird-man") and Khepri (half woman/half insect) characters within the first few pages, and I nearly stopped reading, but I'm glad I persevered. Perdido Street Station is extremely well written. It has many strange elements, but nearly all of them serve the story. Mieville is a very descriptive writer, and though he uses the word "palimpsest" way too many times (and I think there must be a different meaning of the word in England, because the way he uses it doesn't match the definition in my dictionary), he grabbed my attention within 75 pages and hooked me. I think Perdido Street Station is a better novel than American Gods and probably should have won the Hugo this year.