Storyline: 4/5 
 Characters: 2/5 
 Writing Style: 2/5 
 World: 3/5 
 I've completed the New Crobuzon circuit! And I've decided that I'm not a fan. 
 After three books, I can better articulate what I do and don't like about Mieville. Iron Council continues with the shotgun approach to world-building: fire a thousand pellets in the direction you want, and you're sure to hit what you're aiming for. No matter that hundreds of pellets will miss. There's no way to be sure of even which pellets will hit. But you will strike the target. This wild and raucous style of storytelling simply doesn't resonate with me. There are so many creatures, histories, characters, and technologies that could have been monumentally improved if only care had been taken in development and tidying up. But that just doesn't seem to be the lawless, wild west style of Mieville. 
 If anyone is curious about Bas-Lag but doesn't want to invest in the 1700-plus pages written on the world, I highly recommend reading the anamnesis between chapters thirteen and fourteen. It was not worth reading the three books just to get it, but it is the best section of any of the three books. Qurabin and his ilk, by the way, just might be the neatest idea of the whole series. Overall I enjoyed the Scar the most, then the Iron Council, and least of all Perdido Street Station. 
 I'm willing to give Mieville another try, but I'm content never to visit Bas-Lag again.