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So when I was seeking permission to post the map on my blog, as well as emailing the publishing house who did the book it was in, I also emailed China's literary agent. Guess who got a forwarded copy and subsequently emailed me back  China Miéville posted:Dear (Hedrigall),
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May 19, 2014 13:57
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That rules
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May 20, 2014 06:40
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I just finished Kraken a few days ago and I enjoyed it, but it kind of fell apart at the end, almost as if Mieville was in a rush to finish the story. Anybody else feel this way? Billy just beats Grisamentum and Vardy in a way that didn't seem earned; it was very abrupt
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May 24, 2014 19:42
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Hedrigall posted:So when I was seeking permission to post the map on my blog, as well as emailing the publishing house who did the book it was in, I also emailed China's literary agent. That's pretty drat cool of the guy, imo. He seems like a legit okay person. Maybe I can get arsed to read Embassytown and The City &% The City one of these days.
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May 24, 2014 20:49
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What should I read after Bas-Lag? I've only read Embassytown (and really enjoyed it!).
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May 26, 2014 09:23
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MantisToboggan posted:I just finished Kraken a few days ago and I enjoyed it, but it kind of fell apart at the end, almost as if Mieville was in a rush to finish the story. Anybody else feel this way? Billy just beats Grisamentum and Vardy in a way that didn't seem earned; it was very abrupt I need to reread this. Thinking back now, Kraken and Railsea are the only Miéville books I've only read once. fookolt posted:What should I read after Bas-Lag? I've only read Embassytown (and really enjoyed it!). If you want something really different, try The City & The City. If you want another fantasy/adventure story, try Railsea (it's an adventure with a similar feel to The Scar but happier and on land).
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May 26, 2014 09:29
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Hedrigall posted:I need to reread this. Thinking back now, Kraken and Railsea are the only Miéville books I've only read once. I can always rely on you  I'm a bit of a completionist so I've got no doubts that I'll devour all of his other works; I just wanted a starting point and The City & The City looks perfect for it.
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May 26, 2014 09:51
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MantisToboggan posted:I just finished Kraken a few days ago and I enjoyed it, but it kind of fell apart at the end, almost as if Mieville was in a rush to finish the story. Anybody else feel this way? Billy just beats Grisamentum and Vardy in a way that didn't seem earned; it was very abrupt Yeah, I wasn't too impressed by the ending either. The Vardy bit didn't seem like it was a culmination of anything that was really building over the course of the book, and at least Grisamentum had some neat imagery going on during his confrontation. That's sort of my impression of the book as a whole--there's bunches of interesting and (usually) funny ideas on display, but they never seemed to gel in to something thematically significant, unlike most of his other books. I notice Kraken and King Rat, which seem to be the two least-well-regarded of his novels, are also the only two which aren't named for locations. Wonder if I should gauge my expectations for his next one based on that?
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May 26, 2014 16:28
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My thing with Kraken is that it just seemed like Mieville told the least interesting story of those hinted at in that universe. I loved all the ancillary and hinted at details in that London but the main plot was just very blah to me. I'd have much rather spent more time with the secondary characters.
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May 26, 2014 18:29
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Russia's new cover art for The Scar may be the coolest book cover for any Miéville work:
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May 29, 2014 15:51
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Hedrigall posted:Russia's new cover art for The Scar may be the coolest book cover for any Miéville work:
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May 29, 2014 15:55
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May 29, 2014 23:47
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Hedrigall posted:Russia's new cover art for The Scar may be the coolest book cover for any Miéville work: I have the Kindle version of The Scar but I'm totally gonna see if I can change the cover of it to that. That picture rules.
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Jun 2, 2014 04:20
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That's really reminiscent of Zdzislaw Beksinski's work, who seems to be a regular feature in the PYF creepy pictures thread, and often has elements of... I guess "discomforting citiness" in his paintings. Definitely an appropriate artist to borrow cues from:
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Jun 2, 2014 19:54
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BigSkillet posted:That's really reminiscent of Zdzislaw Beksinski's work, who seems to be a regular feature in the PYF creepy pictures thread, and often has elements of... I guess "discomforting citiness" in his paintings. Definitely an appropriate artist to borrow cues from: Sad trivia: Beksinski was stabbed to death in his Warsaw apartment at age 75 by the young son of his longtime caretaker. Apparently he had refused to loan the youth a few hundred zloty (about $100). This is about 15 years after his son killed himself.
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Jun 23, 2014 00:10
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NEW SHORT STORY http://www.tor.com/stories/2014/07/polynia
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Jul 1, 2014 14:47
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You beat me to it! I was just updating my blog before I came here!  edit: new collection finally confirmed for June 2015. FINALLY.
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Jul 1, 2014 14:53
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But I want it now 
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Jul 1, 2014 15:43
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China has another new short fiction piece up on his blog: http://chinamieville.net/post/90548155303/trailer-the-crawl It's a script for a movie trailer and it's super hosed up and I don't understand what's happening and
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Jul 3, 2014 02:25
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I hope the ridiculous wait means he's working on something big that'll be out soon after the short story collection. Hey, maybe that New Crobuzon RPG book announced four-ish years ago will finally get released to tide us over in the meantime! It is always coming.
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Jul 4, 2014 15:11
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edit ignore this
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Jul 7, 2014 03:40
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BigSkillet posted:Hey, maybe that New Crobuzon RPG book announced four-ish years ago will finally get released to tide us over in the meantime! Such an RPG would be pretty weird though, since while Bas-Lag as a fantasy setting is full of adventure hooks, very few of the book characters fit into traditional fantasy archetypes - the books are always about people far out of their depth. Even Uther Doul is explicitly done with adventuring and just wants to retire as a bodyguard.
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Jul 14, 2014 04:24
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BigSkillet posted:Hey, maybe that New Crobuzon RPG book announced four-ish years ago will finally get released to tide us over in the meantime! Unlike Ian Thorpe, it's never coming out.
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Jul 14, 2014 06:26
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bewilderment posted:Such an RPG would be pretty weird though, since while Bas-Lag as a fantasy setting is full of adventure hooks, very few of the book characters fit into traditional fantasy archetypes - the books are always about people far out of their depth. Even Uther Doul is explicitly done with adventuring and just wants to retire as a bodyguard. I don't know, it sounds pretty great to me. I'm sick of traditional fantasy archetypes, in fiction and roleplay. What you have to do first and foremost is not get attached to a single character, like in D&D, but look at it more like Call of Cthulhu. That way you can lead your character towards doom/ennui/etc. as is most natural and fitting to the character/plot. Also, since when do retired adventurers never have any adventures? Goddamn I want this stupid rulebook so I can play cactus people gangwars.
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Jul 14, 2014 10:10
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I want the RPG book just for all the world-building details that are basically straight from China Miéville's notes. I don't even give a crap about playing the game itself.
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Jul 14, 2014 10:44
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bewilderment posted:Such an RPG would be pretty weird though, since while Bas-Lag as a fantasy setting is full of adventure hooks, very few of the book characters fit into traditional fantasy archetypes - the books are always about people far out of their depth. Even Uther Doul is explicitly done with adventuring and just wants to retire as a bodyguard. There are literally D&D characters in perdido street station that get hired on as muscle. They explicitly say they only care about gold and experience and when one of them dies another's first reaction is to ask if anyone picked up his cool gun.
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Jul 14, 2014 23:35
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andrew smash posted:There are literally D&D characters in perdido street station that get hired on as muscle. They explicitly say they only care about gold and experience and when one of them dies another's first reaction is to ask if anyone picked up his cool gun. And the other commits thaumaturgic suicide since it was his male lover. Also, count me in among the people buying RPGs solely for the world building. Hello WH40k. 
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Aug 5, 2014 15:28
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Hedrigall posted:China has another new short fiction piece up on his blog: http://chinamieville.net/post/90548155303/trailer-the-crawl this is loving badass. china is a genius.
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Aug 16, 2014 10:46
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I just finished the first Bas-Lag novel, Perdido Street Station, and what a punch in the gut that book is. Real enjoyable read though, and on one level I appreciate the manic, bewildering frenzy that his world is. It's really impossible to get a hang on geography, location, or even the species of beings that inhabit the world. Whenever you feel like you get a handle on what's going on he throws in some new species, like the weird rear end Handlingers, and throws you off balance. Looking forward to dipping into the Scar and the Iron Council a lot. Lin though. gently caress. I enjoyed her and Isaac's relationship as a maybe-too-on-the-nose allegory for interracial romance, but it was written in a believable and sympathetic way. And her story was just getting interesting before she's written out of the book and is tortured and maimed in the most horrific ways. Ugh. And its all Isaac's fault. loving, drat. I felt like the way he handled Yag's crime was appropriate. It's shocking, traumatizing, and something he can never quite atone for. And that's the way it needs to end, you may not agree with their justice system (in China's vision of what a primitive communist society looks like, which was fascinating itself) but even if Yag has redeemed himself as much as he can, you can't undue the pain and punishment, which is symbolized in his ability to fly taken away. Tough poo poo all around. There's so many little nods to leftist politics that I appreciated as well. The seditionist paper reads like every boring Socialist Worker article, and Derkhan and Isaac are both lovable swipes at the type of radicals you'll run into at universities or in the streets. Mike N Eich fucked around with this message at 20:42 on Aug 17, 2014 |
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Aug 17, 2014 20:39
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Mike N Eich posted:There's so many little nods to leftist politics that I appreciated as well. The seditionist paper reads like every boring Socialist Worker article, and Derkhan and Isaac are both lovable swipes at the type of radicals you'll run into at universities or in the streets. If you like nods to leftist politics then keep reading.
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Aug 18, 2014 02:07
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Eh, I didn't like Yag's ending since it seemed so out of the blue and ridiculously vindictive on the whole Garudan culture. But then again, it wasn't just his ending, but also Isaac's and it was a good way on China's part to remind the reader that New Crobuzon isn't a nice town with happy endings.
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Aug 18, 2014 02:33
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amuayse posted:Eh, I didn't like Yag's ending since it seemed so out of the blue and ridiculously vindictive on the whole Garudan culture. By comparison not really, they took away his ability to fly, if he had been human the New Crobuzon authorities would at the very least take away his ability to walk (imprisonment) or more likely remade him and sentenced him to life in slavery. The point was that it wasn't up to Isaac to forgive Yag and reverse a sentence for a terrible crime committed against someone else just because Yag had become his friend in the meanwhile. If he had simply seen a paper stating why Yag had been convicted he probably could have rationalized it away but to have the victim there pleading with him in person not to allow Yag to simply escape the punishment for what he had done really drove it home, especially after what happened to Lin. MeLKoR fucked around with this message at 12:47 on Aug 18, 2014 |
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Aug 18, 2014 12:41
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The thing I liked about Yag's whole arc is that he was, and remains a very bad garuda. However, he is a pretty good dissident human. Being too abstract, and choice thieving fits in just fine in NC.
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Aug 18, 2014 12:47
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Slo-Tek posted:The thing I liked about Yag's whole arc is that he was, and remains a very bad garuda. However, he is a pretty good dissident human. Being too abstract, and choice thieving fits in just fine in NC. Yeah, that's why I loved the ending. Yag, facing the realization that he would never again be able to be a true garuda embraced the alternative and became just another "human" freak in a city full of monstrosities and redirected his energy into doing something good for the oppressed. When he lost the last possibility to recover what was taken from him he finally began working on the expiation for what he had done. MeLKoR fucked around with this message at 12:55 on Aug 18, 2014 |
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Aug 18, 2014 12:51
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http://www.fact.co.uk/news-articles/2014/06/new-death-spotlight-on-china-mi%C3%A9ville.aspx I went to see this a while back, there was a short story handout written by China to go with it that I'll have to see if he/his publishers put up online. As an aside, King Rat and Kraken are very, very much written by someone who knows London. Up there with Neverwhere. Has anyone else recommended reading Finch by Jeff VanDeMeer if you like Bas-Lag? *and aren't creeped out by mushrooms.
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Aug 18, 2014 13:53
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Spuckuk posted:http://www.fact.co.uk/news-articles/2014/06/new-death-spotlight-on-china-mi%C3%A9ville.aspx Awesome, was the story one of the ones I've listed here, or a new one?
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Aug 18, 2014 14:10
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Hedrigall posted:Awesome, was the story one of the ones I've listed here, or a new one? New, but I suppose it's more like a short series like the trailer script above. I'll hunt about for it, called 'New Death'
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Aug 18, 2014 14:40
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Spuckuk posted:Has anyone else recommended reading Finch by Jeff VanDeMeer if you like Bas-Lag? I read Shriek and then Finch after seeing a recommendation for Shriek here. VanderMeer's books are less fantasy than Mieville's, but the genre is similar, and he takes the same approach to the weird poo poo in his books that Mieville does. He paints a very rough sketch and lets you fill in the rest. If you liked that in Mieville, Shriek and Finch are great and that's what kept me reading in both of them. I would recommend starting with Shriek and moving to Finch after. Shriek is set in the same city and does a lot of world building that gives Finch a little extra grounding, but it's not strictly necessary to understand Finch and it can be a bit slow at times. Even if mushrooms don't creep you out before reading them, they will afterwards. Just a little bit.
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Aug 18, 2014 17:41
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MeLKoR posted:By comparison not really, they took away his ability to fly, if he had been human the New Crobuzon authorities would at the very least take away his ability to walk (imprisonment) or more likely remade him and sentenced him to life in slavery. I kinda felt that the exposition Garuda seemed awfully terse and not very convincing considering what happens next. Yes, the crime was horrible but Yag saved Isaac's life multiple times and saved Lin from being completely gone, not to mention the whole journey Yag had to make beforehand so it just seemed rather weird that all got undone with a 1 minute conversation on Isaac's doorstep.
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Aug 18, 2014 17:49
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amuayse posted:I kinda felt that the exposition Garuda seemed awfully terse and not very convincing considering what happens next. Yes, the crime was horrible but Yag saved Isaac's life multiple times and saved Lin from being completely gone, not to mention the whole journey Yag had to make beforehand so it just seemed rather weird that all got undone with a 1 minute conversation on Isaac's doorstep. That was the point I think, none of that matters because Yag hurt a real person, no abstraction  , and Isaac does not have the right to forgive crimes that weren't committed against him regardless of how much good Yag did to him personally.You're rooting for Yag the whole time, they go through so much together. At first glance my visceral reaction was "poo poo, this dude saved his live and the live of his girlfriend gently caress it". But where does it leave the victim? Wouldn't Isaac be further victimizing her if he healed Yag and she saw him just walk away from punishment? Apart from her alien-ness and the weird way in which she expresses what he did to her she is still a living person making a case for not freeing her rapist from "jail" just because he was a totally cool guy to Isaac. The argument could be made that he earned his forgiveness but he didn't earn it from her.
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Aug 18, 2014 19:56
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