[ravenus]

I can say that people who liked PSS will find an equally engrossing and immersive experience here. If I feel it to be a little less powerful in terms of emotional impact, it is only because I felt more attached to the lead characters in PSS and was therefore more deeply impacted by the fates that befell them. I also hold PSS dearer because it stuck more faithfully to the steampunk setting while The Scar gets a little more into 'magic' territory; nothing inherently wrong with that, it's just a personal preference. On the other hand, Mieville here displays a more “onward to the action” style of prose and we are less bogged down by verbose descriptions that jar the flow of the narrative. Characters like Tanner Sack and Johannes Tearfly are memorable as ordinary human beings rendered into heroes/villains by their unique circumstance, and the setting is so unique that, obvious spectacles like the massive sea battles, the expedition to the mosquito-people's village and capture of the gargantuan avanc aside, even descriptions of daily life on the Armada make for captivating reading.