The Best in Weird Fiction

If you're anything like me you get annoyed easily when books are released that just seem like echoes of Tolkien. As soon as the movie version of The Lord of the Rings was released every man and his dog jumped onto that wagon to pick the money off the trees as they passed. The problem is they are all starting to get a little similar and I for one wouldn't mind getting something different. I've read a hell of a lot of books and I'm starting to get bored of Orcs and Trolls and Goblins. I want something different. I read between 50 and 60 books a year and I don't doubt many of you do the same.A while back I was browsing through different books when I came across a book called King Rat. I picked it up and read the back. It was different and unlike any book I've read before. I'd never heard of the author. China Mieville. A young writer. The book was great and completely different than any book out there. It wasn't a really long book but held you to the page. Needless to say after finishing that I went straight out to buy another book by China. Perdido Street Station was an absolute bible and one of the best books I have ever read. It is a fantasy book but unlike any fantasy book I've ever read. The city of New Crobuzon is a fantastic invention with weird characters. And I mean that as it reads. The characters are weird but somehow in this setting it works. You can almost smell the pollution.China Mieville himself has described his work as weird fiction and doesn't hide the fact that he likes to be different. He has said in interviews that there are too many books featuring orcs and goblins. The market is saturated with them.The fiction market I think is due a change and will shift on its own. Tolkien opened the floodgates but sooner or later the waters will recede and another character will lift its head.Why not the werewolf? Not impossible with the upcoming release of The Wolfman. Look forward to it.If you haven't read China Mieville then you're missing out. dr seuss cat in hat history