The world building in this steampunk-y/sci-fi/fantasy novel is really marvelous and unique. The people that populate this world are diverse and intriguing, as is the place they inhabit. The two main characters, Lin and Isaac (especially Lin), have some compelling quality about them that made me want to get to know each of them better. Unfortunately, 20 percent of the way into the novel, no extraordinarily clear or (up to that point, at least) absorbing plot had yet materialized. I just lost patience waiting for something to come along and pull me into the story. I felt like a tourist here, not like someone with a vested interest in what was going to happen (if anything ever was). At some point this morning I just decided that Perdido Street Station was a nice place to visit, but I didn't want to live there.