|
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 |
#
¿
Oct 29, 2008 17:27
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 10:04 |
|
|
Aussie Crawl posted:I'd love to know what the gently caress is wrong with American Publishers, why do they always choose the blandest possible image for your book covers. I mean look what they did to Terry Pratchetts books for so many years. Guess the American reading public is just a bunch of boring-rear end motherfuckers (speaking as an American reader, of course). Am I the only one who likes the US TC&TC cover? I just started reading it finally this afternoon and given the setting, it's actually a pretty nice understated cover - the reversed "The City" is a nice touch and I like the photo of the city at the bottom - it hints at the Eastern Europe location. The US cover of PSS has a similar feel that I like with the outspread wing and the shot of a grimy street at night. It's not a typical "fantasy" cover, is probably why I like it. The Scar is kinda bland but again, the understated look is nice. Somebody mentioned VanderMeer earlier - now his stuff always has great weird covers to go with the subject matter: His most recent book Finch:  His previous book Shriek: An Afterword:  The original cover for City and Saints and Madmen with an actual story written in fine type on the cover. Can't find a good picture that shows the cover up close but you get the idea:  His short story collection Secret Life:  Veniss Underground:  Click here for the full 420x668 image. Anyway, TC&TC is definitely a different book for Mieville so far, but I'm digging it. Glad he did something other than another Bas-Lag book. Funny how he and VanderMeer both did the detective fiction route with their most recent releases. Encryptic fucked around with this message at 05:30 on Dec 29, 2009 |
|
#
¿
Dec 29, 2009 05:22
|
|
|
Iron Council was good but not my favorite. Probably better he took a break from it instead of milking the poo poo out of the Bas-Lag world.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 29, 2009 06:13
|
|
|
RoboCicero posted:I would absolutely recommend Shriek: An Afterword. If you want to learn everything about Ambergris and Vandermeer's neat blend of fungus-punk I'd suggest moving on to Cities of Saints and Madman, and then onto Finch. Yeah, "Shriek" is probably the best place to start with his Ambergris books since its a straight novel. "City" is really good but it's a pastiche of styles between the various parts - a couple novellas, a history of Ambergris with snarky commentary in the footnotes, among other things. Veniss Underground is also really good to start with. It's a different setting from Ambergris, however. I agree as far as Finch goes - Shriek (my favorite book so far) was fantastic because even Duncan didn't understand what the gray caps were up to, and the underground was described in just enough detail to be interesting but still totally alien - especially the description of the Machine. Finch was still really good though if not my favorite of his work so far. Maybe I should start a VanderMeer thread since we apparently have a decent amount of people ITT who've read VanderMeer. If anyone likes Mieville, they'll probably dig VanderMeer as well. He's one of the most imaginative and talented writers working today, for my money. Encryptic fucked around with this message at 22:54 on Dec 29, 2009 |
|
#
¿
Dec 29, 2009 20:16
|
|
|
zacpol posted:I could kiss you for this. I read the amazon page for that book a while ago and wanted to order it, but I didn't and soon forgot the name entirely. So stumbling on your post was the best thing to happen to me today. Cool - glad I was of some help. Enjoy the book. 
|
|
#
¿
Jan 13, 2010 03:31
|
|
|
zacpol posted:So I picked up The City of Saints and Madmen yesterday, and started reading it today on my plane ride. The first story was bad to the point of skipping ahead to the second after 30 pages. I thought I had made a mistake, but the second story, in which the historian recounts the founding of Ambergris, is both interesting and funny. I even stopped after the first few sections to read the glossary of terms, which as a whole was even better (my favorites being the entry on The Occupation, the letter from Maximillian Sharp, and the Hoegbotton's burial ritual). I liked "Dradin, In Love", dammit. It's definitely a weird story though. "Early History" is fantastic, of course. The sarcastic commentary in the footnotes definitely makes it. If you liked that, Shriek: An Afterword is even better. It takes the form of an "afterword" to the "Early History of Ambergris" written by the author's sister, with "footnotes" interjected by the author. Really good - my favorite of his stuff so far. It's well-written, funny at points but sad and above all, weird. You should dig it, hopefully.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 14, 2010 05:27
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 10:04 |
|
|
Turpitude posted:I wonder if they drink Vodyanoi and cactus sap? The cactacae were safe from the anophelii women, so I don't imagine the vampires would have any use for them.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 26, 2010 21:21
|
|