From the author of Perdido Street Station，another colossal fantasy of incredible diversity and spellbinding imagination，which was acclaimed in The Times Literary Supplement as: An astonishing novel，guaranteed to astound and enthral the most jaded palate...exhilarating，sometimes very moving，occasionally shocking，always humane and thought-provoking．

A human cargo bound for servitude in exile...A pirate city hauled across the oceans...A hidden miracle about be revealed...This is the story of a prisoner's journey．The search for the island of a forgotten people，for the most astonishing beast in the seas，and ultimately for a fabled place-a massive wound in reality，a source of unthinkable power and danger．