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I mean. You have pretty constant references to him throughout. Not specific but it's hardly out of nowhere and they're designed to pique your interest. I was 12 and got it so...
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# ? May 30, 2015 02:24 |
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# ? May 14, 2024 15:48 |
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The Weaver appearing in IC was pretty neat-o.
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# ? May 30, 2015 11:40 |
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thehomemaster posted:The Weaver appearing in IC was pretty neat-o. The Weaver showing up in IC is one of the few times I've gone "oh poo poo" out loud while reading a book.
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# ? May 30, 2015 11:52 |
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This Census Taker jacket copy: For readers of George Saunders, Kelly Link, and Karen Russell, This Census Taker is the poignant and uncanny new novella from award-winning and bestselling author China Miéville. After witnessing a profoundly traumatic event, a boy is left alone in a remote house on a hilltop with his increasingly deranged parent. When a stranger knocks on his door, the boy senses that his days of isolation are over—but by what authority does this man keep the meticulous records he carries? Is he the boy’s friend? His enemy? Or something altogether other?
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# ? Jun 4, 2015 01:28 |
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Not until January 2016 :-/
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# ? Jun 4, 2015 15:23 |
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Reveilled posted:I've been plugging away at Perdido Street Station on and off for a few years now I freaking loved Perdido Street Station when I first read it, but if it's taken you few years to try to read a book then perhaps you should just accept that it
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# ? Jun 6, 2015 02:02 |
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Just be prepared to forfeit major internet street cred.
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# ? Jun 6, 2015 02:21 |
If you like the ideas but not the execution, maybe you could give The Scar a try instead. Much better written.
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# ? Jun 6, 2015 09:55 |
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The Scar is an outstanding book. I wish he would expand upon the far flung regions hinted at in it. I would love to read more about the Grindylows culture, High Cromlech, and the Ghosthead Empire.
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# ? Jun 8, 2015 01:18 |
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But that's like asking for more backstory in Mad Max: Fury Road. The reason it works is because it's not handed to you. Less is more.
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# ? Jun 8, 2015 03:06 |
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JockstrapManthrust posted:The Scar is an outstanding book. I wish he would expand upon the far flung regions hinted at in it. I would love to read more about the Grindylows culture, High Cromlech, and the Ghosthead Empire. He should just kickstarter a High Cromlech book so I can be happy.
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# ? Jun 8, 2015 04:38 |
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Benson Cunningham posted:He should just kickstarter a High Cromlech book so I can be happy. Why would he crowd fund it? It's not like he would have any trouble getting it published traditionally. He could walk in to any fantasy publishing house and say "I want to write another sequel to perdido street station" and walk out with a bag of cash.
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# ? Jun 8, 2015 05:23 |
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andrew smash posted:Why would he crowd fund it? It's not like he would have any trouble getting it published traditionally. He could walk in to any fantasy publishing house and say "I want to write another sequel to perdido street station" and walk out with a bag of cash. Because we're the vox populi and he loving loves that poo poo.
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# ? Jun 8, 2015 05:40 |
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Cover art for the limited edition Three Moments of an Explosion, from Subterranean Press: drat. Some of the best cover art I've ever seen. Reminds me of Stanley Donwood's work for Radiohead. edit: OH poo poo it's Dave McKean!!
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# ? Jun 10, 2015 14:38 |
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lol, that should have been the cover on the normal release, jesus christ.
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# ? Jun 10, 2015 15:58 |
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Christ, that looks incredible. So much more evocative than the bland-as-hell twilight cover we got.
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# ? Jun 10, 2015 17:24 |
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I like the dark covers, assuming we are talking about the ones with a common look among all his books.
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# ? Jun 10, 2015 17:36 |
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Oasx posted:I like the dark covers, assuming we are talking about the ones with a common look among all his books. Oh, the UK covers are great: It's the US cover which is a loving abortion of graphic design:
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# ? Jun 10, 2015 23:27 |
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Hedrigall posted:Cover art for the limited edition Three Moments of an Explosion, from Subterranean Press: Goddamn.
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# ? Jun 10, 2015 23:30 |
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IT'S SOLD OUT ALREADY?!?! When was it on sale?
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# ? Jun 11, 2015 01:06 |
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thehomemaster posted:IT'S SOLD OUT ALREADY?!?! It went on preorder like a month ago, but without cover art.
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# ? Jun 11, 2015 04:58 |
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I don't even get it. U.S. artists aren't innately this awful. You have to coax it out of them. This poo poo is intentional.
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# ? Jun 11, 2015 06:28 |
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The cover downplays any fantastical elements. The jacket blurb compares him to other authors who are made a big deal of for "transcending genre." It looks like the publisher is trying to give him a push towards the mainstream.
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# ? Jun 12, 2015 06:15 |
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Who publishes that in the States? I'm going to I mean don't judge and all, but even plain white would have been better.
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# ? Jun 12, 2015 06:24 |
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Benson Cunningham posted:I don't even get it. U.S. artists aren't innately this awful. You have to coax it out of them. This poo poo is intentional. From across the pond I think US marketing executives think you guys can't muster interest in anything that doesn't look like a bad photoshop job.
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# ? Jun 12, 2015 13:05 |
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I once saw some of the US covers of Terry Pratchett books and pretty much projectile vomited everywhere. The original Josh Kirby covers are a bit love/hate, but at least they are distinctive. Plus there are a bunch of re-release/collector edition covers in the UK that are extremely classy. Feast your eyes on these beauties:
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# ? Jun 12, 2015 14:19 |
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Peel posted:From across the pond I think US marketing executives think you guys can't muster interest in anything that doesn't look like a bad photoshop job. The depressing state of literature in the U.S. can only be attributed to the inability to cover browse at the rapidly diminishing number of physical book stores without quietly vomiting into your own mouth.
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# ? Jun 12, 2015 16:28 |
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It came early
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# ? Jul 13, 2015 08:10 |
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So excite! Do you get a review copy?
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# ? Jul 13, 2015 09:57 |
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Hedrigall posted:This Census Taker jacket copy: Hmm...sounds very Roald Dahl esque.
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# ? Jul 15, 2015 04:12 |
Roald Dahl or Stephen King, depending on the tone. Miéville actually does pretty drat good King-style horror, see: Säcken.
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# ? Jul 15, 2015 12:48 |
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anilEhilated posted:Roald Dahl or Stephen King, depending on the tone. Miéville actually does pretty drat good King-style horror, see: Säcken. I will when I get to it. I'm reading Three Moments slowly, savouringly (and also because I'm writing story-by-story thoughts for a blog post). drat, some of these stories are good. drat, some of these other stories are frustrating. (edit: I'm doing the story-by-story thing in three blog posts, and the first is up here, with non-spoiler descriptions of the first 10 stories and my thoughts on each one) Hedrigall fucked around with this message at 14:51 on Jul 15, 2015 |
# ? Jul 15, 2015 13:33 |
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Reveilled posted:I've been plugging away at Perdido Street Station on and off for a few years now, on the basis that I was strongly recommended to read it before Iron Council, Which was the book by Mieville I was most interested in. But every time I try I lose interest because it feels like extremely slow going, with what feels like the vast majority of the text of the novel being spent talking about the setting rather than actually advancing the plot. I've considered skipping it anyway and going to Iron Council, but to some extent reading Perdido Street Station has made me reluctant on the basis that I'm not sure these books are really for me. I just finished Iron Council a month ago, and it's been a year since I read PSS or The Scar. I put it off because reviews said it was inferior to the other two (those reviewers were wrong). Honestly, you don't need to have read PSS to enjoy Iron Council. Yes, there are references to some happenings in PSS that are enjoyable if you've read it, but they're not key to understanding or enjoying Iron Council. Vague references to the sleepless nights when the moths were on the loose, jack-half-a-prayer's fate & Yagharek's last-minute heroism, the destruction of the Construct Council.. And obviously the setting and factions are more fleshed out if you've read PSS. But I say go ahead and read it. That said you'll still get long expository passages describing the setting, but it's a little more reigned in than PSS I think. Kraken's the only book I've read of his where he doesn't spend gobs of time on the setting, iirc, since it's basically modern London on the surface. Wizchine fucked around with this message at 01:41 on Jul 16, 2015 |
# ? Jul 16, 2015 00:36 |
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anilEhilated posted:Roald Dahl or Stephen King, depending on the tone. Miéville actually does pretty drat good King-style horror, see: Säcken. Aaand I just read Säcken. Jesus motherfuck of a christ
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# ? Jul 16, 2015 00:40 |
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Goddamn I want this now.
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# ? Jul 16, 2015 07:46 |
Hedrigall posted:Aaand I just read Säcken. It's like he started hating endings. edit: I know he hates good endings, but a lot of the stories feel really unfinished to me. edit 2: I think the videogame New Death deal is that people have devolved, lost their individuality to the point of becoming throwaway sprite enemies from a video game - the last bits where he talks about evolution to further achievements actually gives it some hope for change, but that's just how I interpret it. anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 09:57 on Jul 16, 2015 |
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# ? Jul 16, 2015 09:42 |
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anilEhilated posted:Yeah, it's probably my favorite story out of that book so far, especially given Miéville's annoying newfound tendency to leave the end of a story up to the reader's imagination. Maybe he's turning into Gene Wolfe.
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# ? Jul 16, 2015 17:31 |
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Is Perdito Street Station the best jumping in point for Miéville? I found it on my bookshelf (must have bought it many years ago) and have never read it.
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# ? Jul 18, 2015 19:39 |
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It's the opening novel for the Bas-Lag series and a good jumping off point for my money, but it depends whether Bas-Lag (dark, grim, really quite disturbing fantasy) is what you're after.
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# ? Jul 18, 2015 21:45 |
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# ? May 14, 2024 15:48 |
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Mordiceius posted:Is Perdito Street Station the best jumping in point for Miéville? I found it on my bookshelf (must have bought it many years ago) and have never read it. Yes.
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# ? Jul 18, 2015 22:24 |