Has anyone read this yet? It's not been released in Australia yet, but I read the first part via a sample from Amazon. I'm pretty sure it's out in the rest of the world, and due here any day.

Mieville likes to adpot genres for his books - I'm not sure where this one fits in, exactly. The subject matter - squid gods - sounds overtly Lovecraftian, which is not a big shock, given Mieville's fondness for that stuff.

I've heard so much good stuff about him/her (which is it?), but never read anything. Where should I start?

They're all a bit different. Perdido Street Station is the obvious first step, but I prefer The Scar, which probably reads okay on its own, despite being a sequel of sorts.

There's a collection of his short stories called Looking For Jake which has some great stuff in it. Though, there's at least one story that would lose its impact if you hadn't read Perdido Street Station.

Posted by splumer I've heard so much good stuff about him/her (which is it?), but never read anything. Where should I start?

its a him.

im reading King Rat right now, his earliest. just about finished. liked it. was just on IO9, hes got a tag over there.

http://io9.com/tag/chinamieville/

I picked up a copy of Kraken. I just spent sixteen hours on a plane, and I'd left the book in my checked-in bag...