Perdido Street Station and its sister novel (not a sequel) The Scar offer a finely grained and wildly imaginative glimpse of the world of Bas Lag, wherein humans coexist with a vast and bizarre array of "alien" species - insectoid Khepri, waterloving Voyadnoi, vegetable Cactii, flying garuda, dimension shifting spiders, grotequely manufactured Remade, to name a few. Both novels offer beautifully descriptive language that transports the reader into this bizarre and minutely detailed world. As in the LOTR saga, great swaths of history and context are glimpsed only in passing, a sometimes frustrating technique that does have the effect of adding depth to the reader's appreciation of New Crobuzon and the broader world that the author has created. Some details return later as plot points, other disappear, but overall one is left with the feeling that future books will benefit from the broad foundation created here. Strongly recommended with its sister book.