Dark, gritty and utterly staggering, Mieville combines a talent for tight, fast-paced storytelling with a truly phenomenal imagination. Set in the sprawling city of Bas-Lag, the story features cactus-people, beetle-headed women, nightmarish steam-powered man-machine hybrids, and some of the most chilling monsters ever to stalk the pages of fantasy fiction. A must for all steampunk fans and lovers of the dark, the gothic and the bizarre.

A warm and gentle book that somehow kept me reading until the small hours of the morning. Fairly light on plot, but Rhodes manages to create a comfortable atmosphere that lulls you before he skillfully whips the rug out from beneath your feet with his surprise ending. A perfect companion for a rainy afternoon or two.

Banks's first Culture novel and still one of my all-time favourite SF novels. The heady mix of ultra-technology, sarcastic Artificial Intelligences and pacy action had me hooked from the start and has kept me coming back for more.