The Grand Dark: A Novel

A bike messenger knows the streets and neighborhoods of Lower Proszawa better than anyone, including some of its darkest corners. But for Largo, some of those dark corners will change his life forever. When a promotion leads him to encounters with the secret police, an industrialist with grand ambitions, and members of an underground rebellion desperate to prevent a new war before it starts, Largo will have to make tough choices that threaten his way of life, his friends, the woman he loves, and the stability of the city itself.

The Grand Dark is set in an intriguing new world, unlike anything Kadrey has written before. The setting is almost relentlessly grim, characters indulging in drug use and debauchery just to get by, all living under the ever-present specter of war. Themes of oppression, choice, and coercion are rich soil for someone with Kadrey’s creativity and insight to work with, and it’s genuinely intriguing to see a rebellious spirit take on the actual concept of rebellion.

The novel feels almost China Mieville-esque in its tone and themes. You have a strange dark city, still reeling from a conflict the readers don’t understand, and on top of that, there is unsavory science, avant-garde theater, and genetically engineered creatures all around. The elements never entirely coalesce into a single whole, but the ingredients add loads of intrigue and mystery to a peculiar conspiracy narrative.