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I dont think it was mentioned but Dragon (the Dungeons and Dragons magazine) did a Bas-Lag special some years back, it is probably of most interest if you are interested in D&D, but it had some nice art and a talk with Miéville himself. Am i the only one who thinks that The Scar is his weakest Bad-Lag book? I just felt like the ending made the entire book invalid, it's still a great read but i enjoy the two other much more.
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May 20, 2009 11:18
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Just finished TC&TC, at first i was a little disappointed that there was no fantastic element, just because i have come to expect that from Miéville, but i was pretty happy with it at the end, interesting premise. Breach confused me though There just seemed to few members of Breach and their resources were too mundane, it didnt seem to me that the book explained how they were able to keep watch on everything, or how they could suddenly appear out of nowhere when someone breached.
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Jun 19, 2009 14:14
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I think i will check out some of those Jeff VanderMeer books, i really liked the New Weird & Steampunk anthologies he edited...
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Jan 8, 2010 20:42
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Mucktron posted:I'm not saying it's the perfect ending, but I see the logic that Mieville had when he wrote it. I am surprised when people say they dont like the ending but who else think The Scar is the best of the three books, to me the whole book is a downer. I like the book but the way it ends kinda makes everything you just read meaningless, and that has always been a pet peeve of mine.
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Jan 27, 2010 15:23
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I dont remember either character being particulary unlikable.
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Apr 14, 2010 09:51
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I was surprised it took this long for someone to mention Un Lun Dun, even though its mostly aimed at a younger crowd it was pretty good, although it read more like Gaiman than Miéville. Jeff VanderMeer's books were mentioned earlier in this thread, i really liked Veniss Underground, but i am about a third way through Shriek: An Afterword, and i have a hard time keeping an interest in it, does it get any "better, or should i just realise that it is not a book for me and give up? Oasx fucked around with this message at 08:16 on Jun 4, 2010 |
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Jun 4, 2010 08:13
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Agnostic watermelon posted:Also is their any offical artwork? I really want to see how much of a goon Issac is and what the different races look like I dont know how official it is, but there is the art that was in Dragon Magazine a few years back. http://njoo.deviantart.com/art/World-of-China-Mieville-48266205
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Jun 30, 2010 09:55
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About 100 pages into Kraken, liking it so far, but its written in a strange way, makes it a little hard to read.
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Jul 21, 2010 19:56
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I just finished Kraken, it does get easier to read once you get past the first part, and really it is mostly Goss and Subby that dont often make sense, which is the point i assume. I really liked it, but its probably the weakest China Miéville book i have read, it just doesnt seem to "flow" as well as his other books, and doesnt have same feel as with the Bas Lag novels that are impossible to put down once you start.
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Aug 11, 2010 07:33
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Embassytown sounds interesting, but i really want him to make more Bas-Lag books 
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Sep 1, 2010 07:28
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I think Doul is fine, although he is a big part of the reason why the its one of Chinas weakest books, the ending just ruins everything that took place in the book. But i think Bellis is much worse, last time i re-read it i found her very unlikeable
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Oct 27, 2010 16:43
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Bleedingcool.com has a recap of Chinas panel at C2E2 : http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/03/19/my-old-china-mieville-at-c2e2-by-greg-baldino/
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Mar 21, 2011 07:27
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Just finished Embassytown, loved it, it really felt like reading PSS for the first time. I really want to see a drawing of the Hosts as i have a hard time imagining what they look like. Only thing i didnt like was how selfish all the humans came off as, they made addicts of an entire race and their solution while waiting for help was to make them even more addicted and kill the ones waiting for a fix. Even during the end it feels like the Hosts were violated with how much their language changed.
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Jul 8, 2011 13:17
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Paragon8 posted:Here's a spoiler comment about Embassytown Interesting, i remember that part of the book but seem to have completely missed the meaning of it. I was wondering why she didnt show up for the rest of the book.
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Jul 8, 2011 13:19
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David : David was trying to do the right thing, Isaac had accidentally let lose a monster, and David thought that it was important to tell the authorities so they could deal with it.
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Jul 27, 2011 08:29
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After PSS I think Embassytown is probably his best work
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Aug 9, 2011 10:19
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onefish posted:2. Railsea is probably a young adult book, going by the price and pagecount. Don't worry! YA books can be really good and we're sort of in a YA golden age. Un Lun Dun was really fun, though it doesnt really compare to his 'adult' work
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Aug 18, 2011 16:18
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China was interviewed on the latest episode of Geeks guide to the galaxy : http://io9.com/5835396/china-mieville-unleashes-linguistic-apocalypse-in-episode-43-of-the-geeks-guide-to-the-galaxy
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Sep 3, 2011 08:14
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NobbytheSheep posted:Is it true that The City & The City is actually really unrepresentative of Mieville's work? Cos I read it a few months ago and loved it, but apparently his other stuff is a lot more fantasy-orientated. His other work is a lot more fantasy oriented and has a different style, but if you liked this one i would recommend you try some of his other work also, it is very untraditional fantasy
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Sep 11, 2011 18:28
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quote:We're sorry. Due to publishing rights restrictions, we are not authorized to sell this item in the country where you live. 
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Sep 27, 2011 15:24
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They look nothing like i imagined, but then again i am usually bad at stuff like that. I just started reading Looking for Jake, it is really good, a little surprised that Miéville is so good at writing short stories, most authors dont seem to be good at both long and short stories.
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Oct 27, 2011 15:35
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I didn't have a problem understanding Kraken, i just didnt like any of the characters or the story for that matter.
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Jan 20, 2012 16:32
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We could probably argue for ages which of his books are the best, but Kraken seems to be the only one where there is such a split opinion, i would even say that the majority dislike it from the impression i get. My opinion may change after i re-read it, but based on just reading it once i think Embassytown was one of his best novels, i would put it right below PSS.
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Apr 11, 2012 16:01
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Since we are already talking about all his books, it is a bit of a shame that Un Lun Dun never gets much attention, sure it is written for a younger audience, but it still has everything you love about Mieville. Anyone who likes Neil Gaimans writing will love it.
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Apr 14, 2012 13:50
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Umph posted:Is railsea young adult? If so, was his his last ya novel any good? Yes. Un Lun Dun is pretty good if you don't mind YA.
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Apr 29, 2012 05:05
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Noricae posted:Also, he's done with Bas Lag? I haven't heard anything definitive; he's just writing what he's inspired to. I am 100% sure we will see more Bas Lag books, but he is in no hurry and is just going to write what he wants. Also I think the first issue of his Dial H for Hero comic should be out this week.
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May 2, 2012 05:56
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fookolt posted:Hah, I just finished Iron Council and I also really liked the ending! What have you read so far?
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May 8, 2012 08:20
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I say Embassytown aswell, it is close to the Bas Lag books in tone and setting.
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May 8, 2012 11:34
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Dean of Swing posted:Loved Embassytown. Just finished PSS. drat that was a cold ending. Do the other Bas-lag books end with the plot beating the poo poo out of everyone, cause if so I don't know if I can read them. They kinda do, Iron Council is a little better in that regard, The Scar much worse, though others may disagree.
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Jun 15, 2012 07:59
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Hedrigall posted:I disagree! The Scar has the happiest ending of the three Bas-Lag books. Still bittersweet, but nowhere near the slap-and-spit in the face that PSS is, or the hopeless ennui of Iron Council's ending. I have mentioned it before, but the ending to The Scar is one of the reasons it is my least favourite Bas-Lag book, i like it better each time i re-read it, but it is still hard to shake the feeling that everything that happened in the book was pointless. In general i really hate 'This is what really happened' endings, and i thought that everything to do with Silas Fennec & Uther Doul being fake (or however you phrase it) just took a lot of enjoyment out of the book for me. On the other hand Perdido Street Station was pretty much the good guys winning, definitely pretty bleak as all of Mievilles books are, but still overall a happy ending. Though the fact that it is by far my favourite book, probably means i don't mind things like what happens to Yagharek.
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Jun 15, 2012 13:07
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Kraken is a very divise book so it is not the best to compare to his other work. In general Mieville is best at world building, his books normally have good plots but his characters are often the weakest part. I think in this case it is because Kraken is really weak when it comes to the plot, which is why many fans don't like it.
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Jul 2, 2012 19:19
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Just finished Railsea, my expectations were a bit lowered since it was announced as YA. But i loved it, its up there with Perdido Street Station and Embassytown as my favourite Mieville books, a few questions though : 1.The rails lay on soil right? They how come some of the bigger predators didn't just crush the rails or come up beneath them? I get that the Angels repair tracks, but none of the gigantic Moldywarpes we hear about in the books ever seem to try and do something when being hunted. 2. Did they ever explain how the trains driven by animals work with all the predators in the ground? Is it simply a combination of tough animals pulling the train (rhinos were mentioned) and it being in a climate without the really big predators? 3. The burrowing train the scavenger has (can't remember the characters name) does it ride on rails that go into the ground or does it just bury itself? And how does it avoid all the dangers underground?
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Jul 11, 2012 19:40
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Junkenstein posted:They were the kinds of questions I'd briefly wonder about as well, but then I decided it was not worth picking holes in such a great concept, just accept it and enjoy the ride. Not knowing is not going to make me like the book any less, it was more of a question as to whther i had missed an explanation in the book or if other people had some theories. I have no doubt that Mieville would have good answers if asked.
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Jul 11, 2012 20:18
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Hard Clumping posted:and aren't handlingers meant to be lanky-looking corpses? (i always imagined them as the corpse-aliens from Dark City) The Handlingers are just the hands so the hosts are bound to look different
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Aug 4, 2012 18:14
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I really like this Khepri drawing : http://fav.me/d1kjmyp
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Aug 4, 2012 18:16
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If authors can do one book a year without the quality going down then that is good, and i am delighted to hear of science fiction and fantasy authors getting such good deals, since i always seem to hear that there is almost no money to be made in writing books. But another exactly is someone like Steph Swainston (who also writes in the weird fiction category) who decided to take a break from writing a year ago because she felt that the pressure to do one book a year was making the books worse. But Embassytown and Railsea are some of China's best work, so i would be more than happy if the quality stays the same. While i like the Czech covers, i actually like the new covers more that have the same look
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Aug 16, 2012 12:36
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Darksaber posted:I'm new to this thread but I wanted to ask a few things. I haven't finished the last Bas-Lag book yet but has he said any more about any more books in that world or the world of Kraken? He has said that he will probably go back to the Bas-Lag books at some point, but is in no rush to do so. Don't think I have ever heard him mention the world of Kraken, given how divisive the book is, he has probably never even been asked.
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Oct 3, 2012 07:43
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For anyone who likes Mieville, I can recommend the New Weird anthology that VanderMeer did, it is really good. I tried reading shriek but couldn't really get into it, but I liked Veniss Underground even though it was pretty bleak.
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May 17, 2013 11:13
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boxen posted:I bought "The City & The City" at the same time as PSS, is that one any better or am I just better off leaving that on the shelf? It is different, so i wouldn't be afraid try it. Most fans consider PSS his best book, and Kraken his worst, so it is hard to know whether you will like it.
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Jul 23, 2013 09:53
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I would rate them : PSS Embassytown Railsea Iron Council The Scar The City and the City Un Lun Dun <Others> Kraken
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Aug 8, 2013 07:07
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