Ararat is vast, unknowable, unmappable, home to many living gods who make their presence felt. Arjun comes from his far-distant home, seeking the Voice, the god that abandoned his people. He arrives as the Bird sweeps through the great city, trans­form­ing it by its passage, only to be captured in the warship Thunderer. A boy, Jack, also captures part of the Bird’s power as he flees the workhouse.

Gilman has created a city rem­i­nis­cent of China Miéville’s New Crubuzon, a vast baroque tapestry of neigh­bor­hoods, ruled by heavy-handed oligarchs squabbling to enlarge their fiefdoms. Miéville is a better writer, but this is a fine debut novel from Felix Gilman.