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The Scar is incredible, one of the most vividly otherworldly books I've ever read. It'll make you afraid of the ocean. I can't put in sufficient words my love for it. My username is from it. It's my favourite fantasy novel of all time. Etc etc
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Jun 1, 2016 03:53
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I don't think The Scar is even close to being in the same league as Perdido Street Station, but it is still really good.
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Jun 1, 2016 04:19
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The Scar feels a lot tamer. More beatiful than disturbing if you know what I mean. Still my favorite book of his.
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Jun 1, 2016 09:30
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Khizan posted:Yes. The Scar is probably his best book in the Bas-Lag world. nah The best Bas-Lag books, in order: - the quiet home life portion of Perdido Street Station, taken in a vacuum - Iron Council - The Scar - the rest of PSS
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Jun 2, 2016 00:14
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Anything featuring a Weaver.
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Jun 2, 2016 14:19
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I'm also of the opinion that The Scar is his best bas-lag. After rereading PSS, the most unbelievable thing to me is the 30+ page scene about running cables through the city. Editor please.
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Jun 2, 2016 16:13
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Iron council is the best bas lag book.
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Jun 2, 2016 18:10
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seriously give me a whole book about shopping, reading the newspaper, and eating dinner in a magical corporatist dystopia i want this so bad
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Jun 2, 2016 18:17
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andrew smash posted:Iron council is the best bas lag book. The only people who say this are commie scum. (I agree btw)
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Jun 2, 2016 21:00
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Sci-fi/fantasy books in general that painstakingly talk about what quotidian life is like for its inhabitants are fantastic and, I feel, incredibly difficult to write. What I would give for the Studs Terkel of the SF/fantasy world (although I think Diana Wynne Jones did a lot in this domain).
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Jun 2, 2016 23:39
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the_homemaster posted:The only people who say this are commie scum. I'm not even a communist but that book really grew on me and now I think it's the best one. Actually, it's probably the best contemporary fantasy novel.
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Jun 3, 2016 00:03
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Oh yeah I agree, and it has the very best Mievillian ending. You can judge a person on whether or not they dig China's endings.
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Jun 4, 2016 02:46
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andrew smash posted:Iron council is the best bas lag book.  Also, I think I'd rate The Scar higher on the list if (BIG SPOILERS) Uther Doul wasn't behind everything and also a perfect manipulator that came out of the rushed climax scot-free. That left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth but I still really enjoyed the story.
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Jun 4, 2016 04:43
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Vanderdeath posted:
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Jun 4, 2016 05:00
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More like Uther DULL
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Jun 4, 2016 05:16
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Brucolac for loving life.
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Jun 4, 2016 06:06
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the_homemaster posted:More like Uther DULL Admittedly I think that was the point of uther, everything he did was so free of tension he was like a rolling anticlimax. It couldn't have been anything but intentional in an otherwise very well crafted novel. It was just boring as poo poo
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Jun 4, 2016 06:13
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andrew smash posted:Iron council is the best bas lag book. This this the right opinion.
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Jun 4, 2016 20:46
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Patrick Spens posted:This this the right opinion. Everyone who says it does so with so much conviction that I feel like I must be wrong. I like the scar best. Then pss. I didn't particularly enjoy iron council.
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Jun 4, 2016 21:47
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Dirty Frank posted:Everyone who says it does so with so much conviction that I feel like I must be wrong. I like the scar best. Then pss. I didn't particularly enjoy iron council. Not too long ago, I used to be like you. Then I reread IC.
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Jun 4, 2016 21:57
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andrew smash posted:Iron council is the best bas lag book. It definitely is
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Jun 5, 2016 13:17
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Iron Council is super good. Second best Mieville book after The Scar for me. That middle flashback section alone is among the best stories he's ever written.
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Jun 5, 2016 13:19
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Taste is a funny thing. The Scar seems pretty clearly the most rated Mieville book out there except maybe PSS, but it's probably my least favourite of his books. Protagonist is just so boring and unlikeable, and the ending is such an anticlimax imo. Iron Council gets my vote for best Bas-Lag as well.
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Jun 11, 2016 18:25
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If The Scar is an anti climax, Iron Council is coitus interruptus
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Jun 11, 2016 23:51
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And the biggest reveal in PSS comes after the climax. It's all fantastic!
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Jun 12, 2016 01:56
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I don't know about enjoyed at the time, but Iron Council is the Bas-Lag book I most want to read again.
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Jun 12, 2016 15:40
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Jeza posted:Taste is a funny thing. The Scar seems pretty clearly the most rated Mieville book out there except maybe PSS, but it's probably my least favourite of his books. Protagonist is just so boring and unlikeable, and the ending is such an anticlimax imo. Iron Council gets my vote for best Bas-Lag as well. Especially boring - and maybe that's why I just didn't care what happened to her; I wanted to know more about Brucolac, the Twins and Uther Doul. I don't remember if I didn't skip a couple of pages because she was moping around on the ship city, while the Remade guy was giving himself tentacles. I found Iron Council most boring, after plethora of characters and weird adventures of PSS and The Scar it was just... meh. I don't actually remember anything of it, besides the monk of aspects, elemental summoning and it all happening in wild west or something. Surprisingly (to me), I've found The City & The City boring as well, but I've gotten into that after Iron Council, so I expected it to be fantasy. In the middle of the book I've started to not look at it through the prism of Bas Lag, but a standalone, non-fantasy book and it just clicked. Still there were some boring bits (a couple of pages when they were hiding in the safe house (?)), but besides that I've found it really enjoyable, satisfying and... novel, I guess? The ending of PSS was just heartbreaking, seeing that everything could have easily ended differently. The reveal after the ending didn't really phase me that much because I didn't care for the Big Bird anyhow. canis minor fucked around with this message at 16:43 on Jun 12, 2016 |
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Jun 12, 2016 16:07
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Hedrigall posted:So here's that long-ish blog post I've been working on. It's a disjointed kinda argument in which I ask the question, Is This-Census Taker set in Bas-Lag? I thought this was really well written and even-handed. And also gave lots of cool stuff to think about! 
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Jun 12, 2016 23:23
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Captain Hotbutt posted:I thought this was really well written and even-handed. And also gave lots of cool stuff to think about! Aw thanks  I'd love to see someone ask China about it at a book talk.
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Jun 12, 2016 23:29
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Ccs posted:Whaat, China Mieville is a professional-level illustrator as well? How multi-talented is this guy?! Don't rightly know, myself, but if experience is to be my guide, some gentle goon can probably answer this for you, OP. Cheers.
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Jun 13, 2016 00:40
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canis minor posted:Especially boring - and maybe that's why I just didn't care what happened to her; I wanted to know more about Brucolac, the Twins and Uther Doul. I don't remember if I didn't skip a couple of pages because she was moping around on the ship city, while the Remade guy was giving himself tentacles. That is actually one of the best things about The Scar, we get to see everything from the outside. Seeing the POV for various characters would take away the mystery that surrounds them and make the whole thing generic. Cause we would get Uther Doul the generic genius swordsman, the generic crazy Twins and the generic vampire which would all fit in rear end typical RPG characters.
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Jun 13, 2016 06:41
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Where was all this IC (P) love earlier? You are all correct, though. Even if all 3 novels have excellent and imaginative portions. Which has me thinking it's been like 6 years since I read it, so it's almost due for a re read...
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Jun 24, 2016 08:00
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Beige posted:Anything featuring a Weaver.
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Jun 25, 2016 09:10
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So Miéville's new book is out on Tuesday if you're in the US, but not until February if you're stuck in the UK like me. What are the least ruinous ways for me to acquire it legally, thread?
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Aug 7, 2016 23:38
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Pay me to buy and ship it? I mean my copy's already pre-ordered and all set, but I could swing by a bookstore I guess.
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Aug 7, 2016 23:55
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vegetables posted:So Miéville's new book is out on Tuesday if you're in the US, but not until February if you're stuck in the UK like me. What are the least ruinous ways for me to acquire it legally, thread? Bookdepository.com has free shipping worldwide. So do many other book websites. Why is this a hard question?
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Aug 8, 2016 00:00
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Hedrigall posted:Bookdepository.com has free shipping worldwide. So do many other book websites. Why is this a hard question? I did not know this!
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Aug 8, 2016 16:36
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Hedrigall posted:Bookdepository.com has free shipping worldwide. They also send nice emails
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Aug 8, 2016 18:06
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I don't know how it is in the UK, but here in Denmark it would be quite expensive in taxes and fines if an order from the US got caught in customs. There must be local shops that import American books.
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Aug 8, 2016 20:49
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My copy just arrived  Can't wait to start it tonight. Shouldn't take long, at only 171 pages (not including an afterword) with large text and illustrations. Now that Mieville has a ton of short stories and a couple of novellas out of his system I hope he goes back to writing 500+ page monsters.
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Aug 10, 2016 03:32
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