I guess this book's genre is horror. Or urban fantasy. In modern-day London, some normal folks are drawn into conflicts between wizards, armageddons, and objects of worship. So there's a secret London underneath the muggle one. I found this irritating in Mieville's earlier novel Un Lun Dun, and it's somewhat irritating here, too. But there are more worthwhile things in this novel; they halfway save it. A sort of guardian spirit that manifests in taxidermy and preservative jars. An ancient Egyptian ushabti who has lived his way through to modern times and is now a labor organizer. Morse code messages sent through the power grid. A strange fire that erases part of the city from the future and the past.
You could do worse.
