Reviews

Embassytown by China Miéville

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jackwbrant's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

peterkeep's review against another edition

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4.0

Very cool. Slow, but very cool.

The Language that Mieville invents in this is interesting. Enough to carry the story, really. Avice is a fine character, but she's not really the main character. Language is. The interactions between the Hosts, Ambassadors, and Embassytowners is a really cool dynamic, and the evolution throughout the book is interesting to read about and see. Sure, there's a story here with intrigue and action and stuff, but the story is really about how the Hosts communicate, and how that's different from us.

Lots of talk of linguistics, and similes, and metaphors, and falsehoods. This is the stuff that made it slow, but also it's the meat of the book.

amus34's review

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3.0

I wanted to love this, and the concepts behind the story are fantastic, but I didn't think it was particularly well-written. The plot was much too slow in most of it, interspersed with frenetic plot development.

soniagracelm's review

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5.0

Read the Full review at http://darkladyreviews.tumblr.com/

Embassytown is the best kind of science fiction. It makes you think. It is an intellectual book, with a fabulous world, a brilliant premise, and near-perfect execution. It’s the kind of book that defies description. You have to read it to understand it. I recommend it to people who love sci-fi, love language, and love stretching their minds to the limit. It’s a difficult book. It doesn’t go where you expect it to. It doesn’t go there in an easy way. I flatter myself that I have read a lot of sci-fi and can predict it pretty well, but I was completely thrown off track by China Mieville’s brilliant writing. Read this book. You won’t regret it.

morgob's review

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5.0

I loved everything about this book, most importantly the way it made me think about language. It was difficult to get into at first, but things really got moving once I hit Part 2. I appreciate language a lot more after reading this. Language is so important and a lot of people take it for granted. This was so amazingly unique, and the idea caught me by surprise from the very beginning. I can't thank my friend enough for letting me borrow and forcing me to read this book. It was definitely one of my favorites and a life-changer in more than one way.