Thank you! Gosh, yes, I see the similarity - there's also, I think, some aphysical body horror from Miéville's other works that I can draw parallels to.
Rereading my comment now, "basic conceit" seems totally inaccurate, I took a bunch of leaps that didn't even register at the time. I'm glad I did though, because now I'm even more excited to get into his other stuff!
