[Brys]

China Mieville's a guy. Apparently he's called China because his parents went through a book of cockney rhyming slang, and liked the look of China, which means "mate". As I said before, I think Mieville's endings are pretty good - they might seem anti-climactic, but I think that's the whole point. He's doing something new. If there were just big battles, deus ex machinas and happy endings to end his novels, they wouldn't be as good. The ending of Iron Council fills you with utter despair (which I prefer immensely to your average epic fantasy, all evil defeated, everyone lives happily ever after ending).