Bas Lag: going backwards...

[Hedrigall]

This is an overall theme or premise I picked up about Bas Lag from Mieville's books. It's not a theme that's noticeable in any particular book, but only when you compare the books to each other. I believe that Bas Lag is progressing backwards, technologically and culturally.

For example, PSS mentions the city's weather-controlling machine a few times, which is a piece of technology that has fallen out of repair and use, and no-one knows how to operate it anymore. Another example would be the constructs, which were deliberately disused in favour of golem magic (which is technologically more arcane). This backwards progression is also a progression from technology towards thaumaturgy (magic). I theorise (this is only a theory, mind, with little to back it up) that New Crobuzon was once a very technologically advanced city, and as people got lazier, government control got tighter and thaumaturgy became more commonplace, the technology started being discarded and everything started to crumble (compare with Mid World in the Dark Tower series, for example).

I also believe this is reflected in Mieville's writing itself. Just compare PSS, which feels rather modern (albeit quaint) to Iron Council, which is written with more archaic or rustic language. Iron Council was my favourite of these two because of the way it was written. (The Scar was my overall favourite, but being set outside New Crobuzon it doesn't really factor into my argument)

I really hope Mieville explores this theme further in future Bas Lag books. I'm really hoping he'll do a bit of a historical novel set in Bas Lag, perhaps during the Pirate Wars. I also hope he'll just announce something, it's been ages since his last book :P

[andreyu]

To quote Wikipedia:

The citizens of New Crobuzon seem, by the 1700s, to merely be utilizing the inventions left to them by their ancestors. They apparently do not have the know-how necessary to repair the city's aeromorphic engine, for example, and widespread fear of artificially-intelligent machines prompts the New Crobuzon government to destroy its population of constructs between 1780 and 1805. New Crobuzon seems to be limping along in terms of scientific and technological achievement, having devolved significantly since its heyday hundreds of years prior. Occasionally, a new technology may be rediscovered, and it is suggested in Iron Council that the phonograph may be an example of this.

However:

The technology on Bas-Lag is wide and varied and evolves over the course of the books. In Perdido Street Station the primary piece of weaponry is the flintlock musket; by the time of Iron Council militia are armed with what appears to be percussion cap weaponry in the form of steam-powered machine guns and pepperpot revolvers.

Regarding a new book, I've seen an interview with Mieville on Youtube. He said he will definitely revisit Bas Lag after 3-4 other books (long time, i know ), and "throughout his whole life".