I started reading Perdido Street Station by China Mieville earlier this week. It's been on my Vague List of Books to Read for a long time now. I don't even remember who recommended it to me.

Well, at first, I absolutely hated it. Something about Mieville's voice was really grating to me: simultaneously grandiose and crude in a way that didn't gel at all. I also really disliked the protagonist as he was portrayed in the first few chapters. Not to mention that a lot of the dialogue between characters seemed unrealistic.

But as I kept reading, something changed. Well, only one of the aforementioned things actually changed. I'm still not a big fan of Mieville's authorial voice, and the dialogue still seems off, but I at least grew to like the protagonist. But what really grabbed me about the book was Mieville's world building. There's obviously an insane amount of detail that went in to creating the world of Perdido Street Station, and I'm willing to bet that only about 10% of what Mieville came up with made it to the page. That's what's kept me turning the pages of this book; I want to keep learning about this world and all its amazing people, creatures, places, and societies.

Anyone had a similar experience, with this book or another?