Embassytown

[J-WO]

Looks like Mieville's gone and done a Space Opera.

I believe the word is Squeeee!

[GOLLUM]

It will be interesting to see how China handles this particular sub genre.

[digs]

Awesome! I like that he keeps trying new things.

[J-WO]

I hope it brings space opera to the attention of the more 'highbrow' section of his following.

[Vertigo]

Well based on my recent completion of my first Mieville book and the fact that I loved it and I love SF, I think I shall certainly be taking a look at this one!

[gully_foyle]

Well, it's been released, apparently, but I haven't seen it anywhere in Aus (well, not in the few bookshops I've been haunting in Canberra and Brisbane). Maybe I'll find a copy in the U.S. Anyone read it? Is it as good as the hyperbole?

[Ian Whates]

I was at the book's launch, last week, where Embassytown was introduced by the publishers as 'China's first SF book,' which amused me considerably given how many times China has won the Arthur C Clarke Award (awarded to the best SF book published in the UK in a particular year).

Had a chat with China and he admitted that Ian Watson's The Embedding was a big influence on some aspects of the book. Needless to say this made Ian's night (he was also attending).

I'm greatly looking forward to reading this one.

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by gully_foyle

Well, it's been released, apparently, but I haven't seen it anywhere in Aus (well, not in the few bookshops I've been haunting in Canberra and Brisbane). Maybe I'll find a copy in the U.S. Anyone read it? Is it as good as the hyperbole?

Several copies, paperback and hardback that I have seen floating around Melbourne. I got my copy last weekend but yet to read it...

[gully_foyle]

So I found it, and I bought it, and I read it, and I thought it was pretty good actually. Much better than Kraken, but not as good as City and the City. I suspect he does one good book, one contractual obligation, etc.

Anyway, I'm glad he had a go at SF. At times it was very Reynolds as he set up his new universe, then it sort of went a bit Banks with all the intrigues going on, but it was 100% Mieville when it came to the chase and the resolution (and the unnecessarily long tying up of loose ends).

I would recommend all chronites who at least have a bit of a thing for China give this one a go.

[witchfynder]

Darn.
Should have bought Embassytown. Kraken is becoming a slog.

[Magnus85]

Just finished Embassytown.

I've just read his The City & The City and Kraken before, and on this his inventiveness and original flavour blooms maybe even more. A lot more "political depth" to this one than his crazy row Kraken, so it's more akin to The City & The City. Despite the extremely slow opening - didn't get hooked until page 150, really - it's a good book with a nice touch on intergalactic politics and the "clash" of man and aliens and communication. And drugs.

Not as good as TC&TC, and not as fun as Kraken, but somewhere between those two. The first half was too slow for me though, and the protagonist is quite boring and blank. But once the concept hooked me midway, I was immersed. Ha!

[Ursa major]

I understand that Mr Miéville will be one of the guests on Radio Four's Start the Week programme next Monday (the 4th of July): 45 minutes of live discussion after the 0900 news, an 30-minute, edited version of which is broadcast at 21:30.

Blurb:

Science fiction author China Mieville, whose latest planetary creation explores the links between language and thought, talks to Andrew Marr about what it means to have no concept of living. Writer AN Wilson explores medieval Florence as he paints a picture of the life of Dante, and Jo Shapcott argues for the transformative nature of poetry.

[Stephen Palmer]

Originally Posted by Magnus85

... and the protagonist is quite boring and blank. But once the concept hooked me midway, I was immersed. Ha!

I thought the protagonist of Kraken was boring and blank too. I hope this style of characterisation isn't going to continue...

[Magnus85]

For me, there were more interesting characters than the protagonist in both Kraken and Embassytown. It might've been deliberate by China, but Avice (the I-person) in Embassytown seems to have no emotional diversity or energy whatsoever. I still felt the impact of the situations throughout the book, though, but that wasn't through the protagonist, unfortunately. If she'd been more attached emotionally to the story, then I would as well, I reckon, and then we would be talking about an absolutely brilliant book...

[Patrick Mahon]

I must admit that I found Embassytown pretty hard to get into initially, for exactly the reasons that others have raised. However, having (finally) finished it, I thought it was interesting and (mostly) enjoyable. Not as much fun as Kraken, and not as mind-bending as The City and the City, but a good read nonetheless.