Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
Hedrigall
Mar 27, 2008

by vyelkin
This thread is to talk about China Miéville and his novels, whether you liked them (whoo, cool monsters!) or didn't (rar stupid politics!).

"Tolkien was in it for the languages. I'm in it for the monsters."

China Miéville (wikipedia) is a British bloke with an odd name (his parents chose it because it's Cockney slang for "mate"), who writes books which have been categorised in genres such as fantasy, sci-fi, steampunk, biopunk and "new weird". His books all carry a political undertone, which some might say is a bit blunt and unnecessary. Miéville is an outspoken socialist and has written many articles (as well as his PhD, which has been published) on socialism. Feel free to discuss the man's politics in this thread, but I'll dedicate the OP to his fiction.

Here are his fictional works:
- King Rat (1998)
- Perdido Street Station (2000)
- The Scar (2002)
- Iron Council (2004)
- Looking For Jake (2005) - a short story collection, mainly urban fantasy and horror
- Un Lun Dun (2007) - his first young adult novel
- The City & the City (2009)
- Kraken (2010) - "I can has squid back?"
- Embassytown (2011) - "A quirk of psyche and phonetics."
- Railsea (2012) - & young adult, & awesome
- Three Moments of an Explosion: Stories (2015) - 28 new short stories!
- This Census Taker (2016) - a standalone novella
- The Last Days of New Paris (2016) - alt-history weirdness



-----

THE BAS-LAG BOOKS

Miéville's main series of novels are the Bas-Lag novels, outlined below. Two of them are set in/around New Crobuzon (a city-state in the world of Bas-Lag), and the other is set on the open ocean, but the plot events heavily involve the city. The city is huge, dense, grimy, ugly, and under the rule of a fascist government. It is filled with all sorts of bizarre creatures:

- Khepri, a race whose sentient members are the females. They have heads shaped like scarab beetles, and are a race of accomplished artists. The males, however, are mindless beetles.
- Cactacae, a race of humanoid cacti with skin, muscle, bones and organs made of vegetable tissue instead of meat. They mostly live in New Crobuzon's Glasshouse.
- Garuda, birdmen from the desert who have bizarre laws and don't like people or cities much.
- And of course humans, who come in many flavours themselves. One notable kind are the Remade: criminals who have been punished for their crimes by having their bodies gruesomely modified and appended with strange animal- or machine-parts.

These are the main races in the books, but Miéville's imagination is endless and throughout the novels you'll meet multitudes of strange and unique creatures.

A lot of people like to label Miéville's world a steampunk world, but it's not so easy to categorise. It is a world which was once far more technologically advanced – but the modern residents simply have forgotten how to use a lot of the technology, so it all sits around rusting and falling apart. Bas-Lag has reverted to a somewhat Victorian-like era, with coal-powered industry, clockwork and so on.

In place of more advanced technology are a large range of magical skills (called "thaumaturgy") - these include:
- golemetry (making inanimate objects animate themselves, IE golems),
- elementarii (raising demons of the elements),
- watercraeft (one race, the Vodyanoi, can manipulate water),
and many weirder things that go beyond comprehension (see, for example, the grindylow's "puissance", Tesh's "haints", rockmilk drilled from the earth by oil rigs, Uther Doul's "possibility sword", etc).

One of the more frightening forces in Bas-Lag is Torque, which can be described as a cancer of reality. It is unpredictable and uncontrollable, and some of the most unsettling things alluded to in Miéville's world are the products of Torque.

I will now attempt to summarise the plots (with as few spoilers as possible) of the three Bas-Lag novels, in 100 words or less each:

PERDIDO STREET STATION (wikipedia link)
Eccentric New Crobuzon scientist Isaac, obsessed with crisis energy and curious beasties. He is commissioned to restore flight to a dewinged garuda, Yagharek. While studying every kind of animal which can fly, accidentally releases an exotic monster into the city: a nightmare-inducing, brain-sucking, prey-hypnotising, giant moth. Isaac, Yagharek and friends (bug-headed girlfriend Lin, shifty criminal Lemuel and lesbian seditionist-newspaper-editor Derkhan) aim to save the city while escaping the mob and the fascist military; they are helped out by a poetic, multidimensional spider god and a garbage-built, artificially intelligent hive-mind.

THE SCAR (wikipedia link)
Bellis Coldwine, fugitive linguist, escapes New Crobuzon on ship carrying prisoners, scientists and sundry. Ship is captured by pirates, passengers press-ganged into life aboard Armada, a floating city of boats. Bellis becomes aware of a plan by Armada's leaders to raise a leviathan sea monster, and to find the mythical Scar, a tear in the fabric of the universe where possibilities merge and ultimate power can be drawn. Complications include full-on war with New Crobuzon's mighty navy, attacks by the relentlessly violent grindylow, a detour to an island populated by horrific mosquito-women, and Armadan civil uprising.

IRON COUNCIL (wikipedia link)
Brutally oppressed railway workers hijack a train (and its rails) and break free of New Crobuzon's rule, disappearing into the desert. One of these revolutionists, Judah Low, a gifted golemist, returns to New Crobuzon to spread the message of the "Iron Council". Years later, war breaks out with Tesh (city of witches), and seditionist groups grow stealthily in New Crobuzon. One day Judah disappears to rejoin the train - his former (gay) lover Cutter goes in search of Judah and the Iron Council, he and his party travel across bizarre landscapes and fight many weird creatures. Meanwhile in the city, youngster Ori joins a militant rebel group whose mission is to assassinate the mayor and bring about revolution. Tesh begins to unleash its surreal attacks, the peasants revolt, and things go to hell.

(Okay the last one went longer than 100 words, but I don't give a gently caress)

The books are all stand-alone stories, so you can read them in any order, but it probably would help to read Perdido Street Station before Iron Council, because you really get a feel for New Crobuzon's layout in the former, while the latter doesn't really describe the city much at all.



-----

Here's the basics of his other books:

THE LONDON BOOKS

King Rat is a Gaiman-esque urban fantasy involving animal gods and drum n' bass music. It's basically a modern retelling of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. It's not his best book.

Looking For Jake is his first short story collection, leaning heavily towards horror with some other genres in the mix. Concludes with a novella called The Tain which is like 28 Days Later with vampires instead of zombies. All but a couple of the stories are set in London. There's also one short story set in Bas-Lag.

Un Lun Dun is his first book for young adults, and is about an alternate version of London where everything is wacky! China illustrated the book himself, and it's quite cool.

Kraken is about the magical underworld of cults and witches and what-have-you in London. It's kind of like a dark version of Terry Pratchett, or a grittier Neil Gaiman. An apocalyptic novel, but also very funny.

OTHER BOOKS

The City & the City is a murder mystery set in two very strange cities. To even describe what is strange about them would be to spoil the incredibly cool premise of the book. The setting is our world, modern day, somewhere in Eastern Europe; but there is a definite sci-fi slant to it. This is the novel that really gained the attention of the wider literary world and nabbed China a poo poo-ton of awards.

Embassytown is planetary science fiction, mashed up with colonial literature, lingual exploration and zombie apocalypse.

-----



Now, discuss away!

edit:

stupid ugly retard posted:

China meiville does it ok. One time a dude almost has sex witha retarded girl with a beetle for a head and another time he talk about how hard it is to gently caress a chick bolted to a steam engine

Hedrigall fucked around with this message at 13:32 on Nov 6, 2015

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Hedrigall
Mar 27, 2008

by vyelkin
:siren: LATEST NEWS :siren:

Two new books in 2016!

1 — This Census Taker (novella) - January 5th 2016 (US), February 25th 2016 (UK)

quote:

In a remote house on a hilltop, a lonely boy witnesses a profoundly traumatic event. He tries - and fails - to flee. Left alone with his increasingly deranged parent, he dreams of safety, of joining the other children in the town below, of escape.

When at last a stranger knocks at his door, the boy senses that his days of isolation might be over.

But by what authority does this man keep the meticulous records he carries? What is the purpose behind his questions? Is he friend? Enemy? Or something else altogether?

Filled with beauty, terror, and strangeness, This Census-Taker is a poignant and riveting exploration of memory and identity.

2 — The Last Days of New Paris - date unknown, 2016

quote:

THE LAST DAYS OF NEW PARIS is an intense and gripping tale set in an alternative universe: June 1940 following Paris’ fall to the Germans, the villa of Air-Bel in Marsailles, is filled with Trotskyists, anti-fascists, exiled artists, and surrealists. One Air-Bel dissident decides the best way to fight the Nazis is to construct a surrealist bomb. When the bomb is accidentally detonated, surrealist Cataclysm sweeps Paris and transforms it according to a violent, weaponized dream logic.

-------------------------

Note for those reading from the start of the thread now:
This news section was originally about the announcement The City & the City, so the replies below are talking about that. It's like being in a time machine to the year 2008! Woooo~

Hedrigall fucked around with this message at 13:38 on Nov 6, 2015

Ballsworthy
Apr 30, 2008

yup
Aw poo poo, you just made my muthafuckin' day.

Wait, is that a US or a UK release date?

stray
Jun 28, 2005

"It's a jet pack, Michael. What could possibly go wrong?"
Oh, gently caress, yes. I loved the Bas-Lag novels and I'm really glad someone's started a thread on this.

I don't agree with Miéville's Marxist politics, but the man can write a hell of a story.

Hedrigall
Mar 27, 2008

by vyelkin

Ballsworthy posted:

Aw poo poo, you just made my muthafuckin' day.

Wait, is that a US or a UK release date?

Both, I think. More info here: http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780345497512


Here's something interesting: Edward Miller (pseudonym of artist Les Edwards) painted the cover for the first two Bas-Lag novels, but inexplicably the publisher used some generic stock photography for Iron Council's cover. Here's what Edward Miller's version would have looked like:



I hope they rerelease the book someday with this artwork.

Hedrigall fucked around with this message at 16:57 on Oct 27, 2008

onefish
Jan 15, 2004

Oh man, do I ever love Mieville and Bas-Lag. All three are among my favorite fantasy novels. Hey, if anyone ever finds out any info on The City & the City, be sure to come here and post about it, 'kay?

There unfortunately has not been much *new* to talk about with regard to Mieville in several years, so I have no particular content for this post. Just, yeah, I enjoy it.

Ballsworthy
Apr 30, 2008

yup
Anyone read Un Lun Dun? I haven't gotten to it yet, but I told my mom to read it; she's a childrens' librarian and hardly ever reads anything beyond YA these days. Anyway, she loved the poo poo out of it, and actually wants to read some of his adult novels, which is a pretty big deal for her.

Also, for Miéville fans that are hungry for some similar stuff, a good starting point is The New Weird, another excellent short story anthology compiled by Jeff and Anne VanderMeer. The recommended reading list at then end of the book is worth the purchase price alone. I'm currently reading Punktown by Jeffery Thomas, which I picked off that list, and I'm completely gay for it.

Hedrigall
Mar 27, 2008

by vyelkin

onefish posted:

Oh man, do I ever love Mieville and Bas-Lag. All three are among my favorite fantasy novels. Hey, if anyone ever finds out any info on The City & the City, be sure to come here and post about it, 'kay?

There unfortunately has not been much *new* to talk about with regard to Mieville in several years, so I have no particular content for this post. Just, yeah, I enjoy it.

No worries, I'll be updating the first reply to this post with all the new book news, for as long as this thread survives. Literally next to nothing is known right now, besides the title, publisher, page count (416) and release date.

If you're hankering for some recent Miéville stuff, he's done a couple of good interviews this year. Check them out here.

Hedrigall
Mar 27, 2008

by vyelkin

Ballsworthy posted:

Anyone read Un Lun Dun? I haven't gotten to it yet, but I told my mom to read it; she's a childrens' librarian and hardly ever reads anything beyond YA these days. Anyway, she loved the poo poo out of it, and actually wants to read some of his adult novels, which is a pretty big deal for her.

Yeah, it's great. Rather Gaiman-esque, but China has stated Neil Gaiman as a friend and influence for Un Lun Dun. The book is funny and completely chock-full of China's insane creature ideas. Of course there's an underlying political message, but it's toned down much more than in the Bas-Lag novels. Overall the book is a whole heap of fun, and very refreshing, because it messes around with a lot of the tired clichés of fantasy.

Terrifying Effigies
Oct 22, 2008

Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

I loved all three of the Bas-Lag books, but the sheer crushing depression throughout them means I can only read them once in a great while. Although at least they tend to end with a *bit* of an upbeat note and hope for the future.

I was reading Hal Duncan's Vellum recently and it reminded me a lot of Mieville's style, particularly the descriptions of Reynard wandering the deserted multiverse. I was pretty sick at the time so I wasn't able to keep track of some of the non-linear storylines though, I'll have to reread it before moving to Ink.

Hedrigall
Mar 27, 2008

by vyelkin

Terrifying Effigies posted:

I was reading Hal Duncan's Vellum recently and it reminded me a lot of Mieville's style, particularly the descriptions of Reynard wandering the deserted multiverse. I was pretty sick at the time so I wasn't able to keep track of some of the non-linear storylines though, I'll have to reread it before moving to Ink.

I started Vellum but couldn't get more than about 40 pages into it. The modern-day sections were good, but I got lost in the "fantasy" sections with the more archaic writing style. I guess one day I'll take a crack at it again.

A book that has been hugely praised, and apparently is similar to Miéville's work, is The Etched City by Australian author KJ Bishop. I've heard it's like a mix between Bas-Lag and the Dark Tower series, with its "weird western" setting and odd creatures. I'm gonna read it after my exams.

Hedrigall fucked around with this message at 04:25 on Oct 28, 2008

Eejit
Mar 6, 2007

Swiss Army Cockatoo
Cacatua multitoolii

But you forgot some of the other awesome races:

The grindylow, a really weird, almost godlike-powerful race from the north. Can't say too much about them without ruining The Scar.

Also, how about the Anophelii, the mosquito people. I thought that they were a really awesome invention since it just comes straight out of left-field. The coolest part about them is how the male half of the race is incredibly brilliant, but the female part of the race is all animal and violent, barely sentient.

The Scar was really a great book and much better than Perdido. Perdido was interesting, but not as captivating. I guess that I felt that in the case of Perdido, the book tended too overtly towards a thought experiment and so it felt more like you were reading one of Mieville's papers on speculative fiction wherein he loosely tied the presentation of his ideas together with narrative. Not that it wasn't still cool, but it didn't make for as engaging of a read as The Scar.

I am pretty enthused about reading Iron Council, but my reading list has grown so long I probably won't get to it for another year.

Ballsworthy
Apr 30, 2008

yup

Eejit posted:

Also, how about the Anophelii, the mosquito people. I thought that they were a really awesome invention since it just comes straight out of left-field. The coolest part about them is how the male half of the race is incredibly brilliant, but the female part of the race is all animal and violent, barely sentient.

I looooved the Anophelii. They were so tragic. The she just wanted to talk scene was heartwrenching.

"How many did you kill?" "One." "That is not so bad." Jesus christ...

Eejit
Mar 6, 2007

Swiss Army Cockatoo
Cacatua multitoolii

Ballsworthy posted:

I looooved the Anophelii. They were so tragic. The she just wanted to talk scene was heartwrenching.

"How many did you kill?" "One." "That is not so bad." Jesus christ...

Yeah, the whole trip to the island was pretty incredible. Actually my favorite scene was the description in the book that the guys on Armada acquire describing how the one Anophelii scientist goes out into the ocean, finds a sinkhole, and then channels a huge, magically powered electrical storm to summon a shadow of the avanc. The writing in that scene was just so dramatic that it should probably make the epic quote thread going on right now.

Gah, I just can't get over how two-sided the race is, yet how they still operate and live together. They are definitely in some sort of society with eachother, but they are also two very different sides to the proverbial coin.

Ballsworthy
Apr 30, 2008

yup

Eejit posted:

Gah, I just can't get over how two-sided the race is, yet how they still operate and live together. They are definitely in some sort of society with eachother, but they are also two very different sides to the proverbial coin.

It's the understanding of the males that got me. They have full knowledge of the reason they're kept so isolated, and they accept it and try to go on with their lives.

On the topic of bloodsuckers, how about his vampires? In contrast to pretty much everything ever written on the subject, his vampires are nothing more than junkies (except for in Armada); shunned, detested, given the occasional handout out of pity. Lurking in New Crobuzon, terrified of discovery, or living in hovels in High Cromlech. In fact, High Cromlech as a whole is ridiculously intriguing. Ruled by elderly zombies with their mouths stitched shut, some live humans kept around for various tasks that the undead are unfit for, and the vamps in the gutter. Liveman Doul and Deadman Brucolac . . . just typing that makes me shiver.

VVVVV Oh hell yeah, I'd forgotten about them. Really innovative, with the differences between sinistrals and dextriers.

Ballsworthy fucked around with this message at 21:28 on Oct 28, 2008

Terrifying Effigies
Oct 22, 2008

Problems look mighty small from 150 miles up.

The hanglingers were another great race, and he used them pretty effectively in both Perdido Street Station and Iron Council. They seemed much more like "classical" vampires than the actual vampires in the world (superstrength, evil intellect, flight, hiding in plain sight), while including elements from Heinlein's Puppetmasters and demonic possession. Yet despite all their powers he still managed to keep them vulnerable, such as during the slake-moth hunt in PSS and their attack on the revolutionaries in Iron Council.

duckspeakeasy
Jan 31, 2005

Backwards & Forwards... God does all things simultaneously
I think the scar is probably my fave by China. I really enjoy his writing and stories, and his politics I am able to ignore- its not thrown in your face.

Does anyone know if he is specifically not writing more Bas-Lag books, or has it just not happened yet?

Ballsworthy
Apr 30, 2008

yup

duckspeakeasy posted:

Does anyone know if he is specifically not writing more Bas-Lag books, or has it just not happened yet?

He's so tight-lipped about that sort of thing, we'll find out for certain that he's stopping Bas-Lag when he dies and not one second before.

Hedrigall
Mar 27, 2008

by vyelkin

Ballsworthy posted:

He's so tight-lipped about that sort of thing, we'll find out for certain that he's stopping Bas-Lag when he dies and not one second before.

It's not quite so bad as that. He said he'd definitely return to Bas-Lag, he was just going to take a break for a few books. First we got Un Lun Dun, now The City & the City, and possibly in the near future we'll get Kraken, if it exists. He'll return to Bas-Lag eventually.


Eejit posted:

The Scar was really a great book and much better than Perdido. Perdido was interesting, but not as captivating. I guess that I felt that in the case of Perdido, the book tended too overtly towards a thought experiment and so it felt more like you were reading one of Mieville's papers on speculative fiction wherein he loosely tied the presentation of his ideas together with narrative. Not that it wasn't still cool, but it didn't make for as engaging of a read as The Scar.

I am pretty enthused about reading Iron Council, but my reading list has grown so long I probably won't get to it for another year.

PSS is my least favourite of the Bas-Lag novels. Whenever I read The Scar, it becomes my favourite, and whenever I read Iron Council, it becomes my favourite instead. Possibly because I find the ocean/arid-wilderness much more interesting settings than a city.

Eejit posted:

Also, how about the Anophelii, the mosquito people. I thought that they were a really awesome invention since it just comes straight out of left-field. The coolest part about them is how the male half of the race is incredibly brilliant, but the female part of the race is all animal and violent, barely sentient.

My favourite thing about the Anophelii is all the little things we don't know about them. For example, we know they're kept prisoner on the island because of a time in history when they enslaved the world ("Malarial queendom"), but as for what exactly happened we don't really know.

I love that about China Miéville. He mentions so many intriguing little notes about Bas-Lag's history and geography then jumps right back to the story, leaving us wondering. Examples: the pirate wars, that city with the casino parliament, the "limb-farms" in the grindylow's city, and so on.

I can't wait until he writes an encyclopedia of Bas-Lag. (He's mentioned that in the past)

Ballsworthy
Apr 30, 2008

yup

Hedrigall posted:

PSS is my least favourite of the Bas-Lag novels. Whenever I read The Scar, it becomes my favourite, and whenever I read Iron Council, it becomes my favourite instead. Possibly because I find the ocean/arid-wilderness much more interesting settings than a city.

But he does the gritty urban setting so well. Everything he does is unmistakeably urban, from King Rat's London to New Crobuzon and Armada to the various dark cities of his shorts. I'm going to go ahead and call The Scar my favorite, but I like them all for pretty different reasons. PSS for the aforementioned gritty urban setting and bitchin' horror elements, The Scar for, well, everything, and IC for the Western, gunslinger-style elements.

Things I don't like about the books:

IC: A little disjointed and a little heavy-handed with the social commentary (but just a little, and I half-rear end agree with a lot of it anyway).
Scar: Speaking of heavy-handedness, here's another major plot point involving some sort of scar.
PSS: Nothing. I'm sure there's something, but I can't think of anything off the top of my head.

VVV That's a good point about Lin's story, but bleak endings are A-OK with me. The last few pages did feel like a let-down for me on the first read, now that you mention it, but really just right at the very end.

Ballsworthy fucked around with this message at 05:20 on Oct 29, 2008

Hedrigall
Mar 27, 2008

by vyelkin

Ballsworthy posted:

Things I don't like about the books:

IC: A little disjointed and a little heavy-handed with the social commentary (but just a little, and I half-rear end agree with a lot of it anyway).
Scar: Speaking of heavy-handedness, here's another major plot point involving some sort of scar.
PSS: Nothing. I'm sure there's something, but I can't think of anything off the top of my head.

For Iron Council, the first time I read the book the Anamnesis section brought me to a grinding halt, and it took me maybe a month to get back into the book. Plus, my brother told me they were going to the Cacotopic Stain, so I was sorta skimming sections to get to that quicker. I think that would be my only complaint about IC: the "Stain" chapter is far too short, and a bit of a let down after the build up about it in PSS.

But I reread IC this year, took my time, and loved every bit of it. There is so much depth, the entire book is just sublime. It's hard to think of my favourite part of the book, there are too many: Cutter's initial journey to find Judah, the elementarii battle, the scenes with Weather Wrightby (an awesome villain, even though he only appears in two scenes), the scene with Toro and Ori in the Mayor's mansion, and so on. Judah's back story is an amazing novella that could have been published on its own - it alone has so many amazing moments, from the track-side revolt, to his time as a servant for that rich gambling guy, and his stint as a golem battler at New Crobuzon University.

(An aside: did anyone think that, when the militia who had followed the Iron Council across Bas-Lag, through the Stain and all, finally caught up to the train, the leader of their unit would be that university student whom Judah initially starts the golem-battling business, and who eventually goes to make golems for the New Crobuzon parliament? 'Cause I did.)


PSS, for me, is the most flawed book. There's the lack of a satisfying ending (sure, they defeat the slake moths but Lin is left a vegetable, Yag is abandoned without flight, Isaac and Derkhan become fugitives, it's all so bleak) - and while you could say the other two books also end bleakly, the endings in those still feel appropriate and satisfying, to me at least. There's also the clumsiness of describing crisis energy, which is basically China throwing a whole bunch of scientific-sounding sentences at us. And, Lin's plot doesn't really go anywhere except her ending up a drooling idiot. She really only serves the story by giving Isaac something else to worry about, on top of the slake moths, the militia, and so on. If they made a movie of PSS, I think her subplot would have to go.

On another topic: You know, even for all the creepy bug sex and gross monsters and all that, the thing that squicks me out the most when I read PSS is when Vermishank is eating the soup. He's just dunking bread in the bowl and sucking on the bread, over and over. :barf:

Hedrigall fucked around with this message at 02:07 on Oct 29, 2008

Encryptic
May 3, 2007

Hedrigall posted:

A book that has been hugely praised, and apparently is similar to Miéville's work, is The Etched City by Australian author KJ Bishop. I've heard it's like a mix between Bas-Lag and the Dark Tower series, with its "weird western" setting and odd creatures. I'm gonna read it after my exams.

I've got a copy - it's a great book but it doesn't bear a huge similarity to Mieville's stuff aside from the "surreal city" setting - it reads more like Jeff VanderMeer's Ambergris books (which are loving awesome) as well as M. John Harrison's Viriconium stories. The first 50 pages or so are Western-themed (I can't find the interview now, but Bishop said it was inspired by Blood Meridian and old spaghetti westerns, IIRC - and said she hadn't even read PSS until after she had written "City"), then the rest of the story takes place in the city of Ashamoil, which is high up on some plateau with a tropical climate, IIRC.

Encryptic fucked around with this message at 22:56 on Oct 29, 2008

Take the plunge! Okay!
Feb 24, 2007



It looks like this thread is turning into a PYF Bas-Lag novel, so I'll have to chip in and say I prefer The Scar. The writing is really powerful in that one. I loved all the passages in which sea, waves, currents, ships and other maritime topics were described in great detail. Most of the times I can't stand descriptions in literature.

I also love the post-apocalyptic mood of Bas-Lag evoked by evident technological decline, or lack of historical records for events as important as the Khepri exodus.

Some of these days I'm even going to reread IC for the first time. I hope I'll find the ideological aspect more palatable. It's not that I have something against Marxism. It's just that I find some of the political issues explored in IC somehow too close to our reality and they ruin my immersion.

Ballsworthy
Apr 30, 2008

yup

mcustic posted:

It's just that I find some of the political issues explored in IC somehow too close to our reality...

This is what makes it good scifi, IMO. It's supposed to hold a funhouse mirror up to our world.

Chenghiz
Feb 14, 2007

WHITE WHALE
HOLY GRAIL
Mieville creates a pretty awesome setting, but PSS was not very well written, all told. It was encouraging to see the significant improvement with The Scar, and though I haven't read it I hear Iron Council shows improvement too.

Hedrigall
Mar 27, 2008

by vyelkin

Chenghiz posted:

Mieville creates a pretty awesome setting, but PSS was not very well written, all told. It was encouraging to see the significant improvement with The Scar, and though I haven't read it I hear Iron Council shows improvement too.

Iron Council is exceptionally well written, but Miéville does change the writing style deliberately, to make it more sparse, and uses more archaic words. Some people didn't like that. Apparently he was influenced by Cormac McCarthy's style. (However the sections of the book set in New Crobuzon are slightly more conventionally written)

Hedrigall
Mar 27, 2008

by vyelkin
:siren: New book info! :siren:

Are you bitches and hos ready for a blurb?

When the body of a murdered woman is found in the extraordinary, decaying city of Bes el, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks like a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlu of the Extreme Crime Squad. But as he probes, the evidence begins to point to conspiracies far stranger, and more deadly, than anything he could have imagined. Soon his work puts him and those he cares for in danger. Borlu must travel to the only metropolis on Earth as strange as his own, across a border like no other. With shades of Kafka and Philip K. Dick, Raymond Chandler and 1984 , "The City & The City" is a murder mystery taken to dazzling metaphysical and artistic heights.

Take the plunge! Okay!
Feb 24, 2007



Hedrigall posted:


When the body of a murdered woman is found in the extraordinary, decaying city of Bes el, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks like a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlu of the Extreme Crime Squad. But as he probes, the evidence begins to point to conspiracies far stranger, and more deadly, than anything he could have imagined. Soon his work puts him and those he cares for in danger. Borlu must travel to the only metropolis on Earth as strange as his own, across a border like no other. With shades of Kafka and Philip K. Dick, Raymond Chandler and 1984 , "The City & The City" is a murder mystery taken to dazzling metaphysical and artistic heights.

:psyduck: That blurb is exceptionally badly written.

Hedrigall
Mar 27, 2008

by vyelkin

mcustic posted:

:psyduck: That blurb is exceptionally badly written.

Blame Amazon.co.uk V:shobon:V

Ballsworthy
Apr 30, 2008

yup

mcustic posted:

:psyduck: That blurb is exceptionally badly written.

It still kinda gave me a hardon. Pretty excited.

withak
Jan 15, 2003


Fun Shoe
IIRC from a mailing list post, amazon made a page for Kraken based on a rumor. China himself said he doesn't have any plans to write a book called that, and doesn't know what gave amazon the idea that he did.

Hedrigall
Mar 27, 2008

by vyelkin
For fans of badly written blurbs, here's a slightly more detailed blurb for the new book:

blurbaroonie posted:

China Miéville's new novel is an existential thriller set in a city unlike any other, real or imagined.

It begins with a body. A murdered woman is dumped in a housing project in Beszel, a city perhaps in Eastern Europe. The case is assigned to Tyador Borlu of the Extreme Crime Squad. As he finds out facts about the victim's identity, where she came from, and the dangerous research in which she was involved - Borlu realises that this is no ordinary case and his investigations must take him to the other city, the one quite different from his own, a place called Ul Quomo.

Partnered with Ul Quoman detective Qussim Dhatt, Borlu finds himself enmeshed in a sordid underworld of terrorist factions. But it is the nature of the murdered woman's research that is most troubling. As the two detectives follow the victim's footsteps, they begin to suspect a deadly truth that, if uncovered, could cost them more than their lives.

Seriously, that's loving painful to read, but the story sounds fantastic. I'm counting the days until May...

Hedrigall fucked around with this message at 11:17 on Nov 18, 2008

Substar
Jan 21, 2001

Goddamn, these books sound great. At least judging by the OP, not that terrible cover synopsis. I think I'll pick one up!

Turpitude
Oct 13, 2004

Love love love

be an organ donor
Soiled Meat
I just finished King Rat and I can't recommend it enough. It's a light, fun, fast read with all of Mieville's trademark weirdness and a lot of unforgettable characters. I would say it makes a perfect starting point for anyone who wants to get into Mieville.

Mrs. Badcrumble
Sep 21, 2002

Hedrigall posted:

For fans of badly written blurbs, here's a slightly more detailed blurb for the new book:


Seriously, that's loving painful to read, but the story sounds fantastic. I'm counting the days until May...

Sounds great, I hope it won't be another several years until his next book after this one is published.

Hedrigall
Mar 27, 2008

by vyelkin

Mrs. Badcrumble posted:

Sounds great, I hope it won't be another several years until his next book after this one is published.

I'm hoping he's secretly had another Bas-Lag book in the works and he'll announce it soon after this book is out.

Hedrigall
Mar 27, 2008

by vyelkin
New cover art, courtesy of Amazon.co.uk!

Mrs. Badcrumble
Sep 21, 2002

Hedrigall posted:

New cover art, courtesy of Amazon.co.uk!



I like it! Seriously though he had better have like five books lined up for the next three years after this.

Pious Pete
Sep 8, 2006

Ladies like that, right?
Is "Looking For Jake" worthwhile? I've enjoyed Perdido, The Scar, and Iron Council so far.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Ballsworthy
Apr 30, 2008

yup

Pious Pete posted:

Is "Looking For Jake" worthwhile? I've enjoyed Perdido, The Scar, and Iron Council so far.

poo poo yeah. I mean, if you like horror stories, because that's what most of the book consists of, but yeah, they're awesome. A ghost story set in IKEA, for poo poo's sake. My favorite's probably the one with the old man and the window.

On the other hand, I think the graphic novel was a waste of space. I didn't understand it, and couldn't make myself care enough to try.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply