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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I went into this book completely blind based off a recommendation. It’s very much unlike anything I typically read and I took some time to envision the characters and the setting. However, I was wrapped up in the world. I found it interesting and unique. There are some parts that could even be described as horror. The remade, Motley, and the slake moths are straight out of nightmares.
This was just never going to be my cup of tea.
slow-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Might try again later. Just not getting into it
Random thoughts for a random book. I know he is the master of weird-fi but I never expected this much weirdness. My previous dabbling with Miéville is the novelette Tis the Season (which I will read again and review closer to Christmas) so I had an idea of what to expect.
The weirdness and the fact that it throws you in at the deep end from very early on is very reminiscent of Paulo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl. However, unlike that book, the writing style is very easy on the eye – much easier than you might have expected after reading the first couple of chapters.
However in an odd way and despite the easy style, because of the weirdness it is also a difficult book to fully absorb yourself into. The world is so incredibly weird and Miéville wants to give us all of the information about New Crobuzon in this one book. Personally, I prefer how Pratchett introduces us to Discworld – over time, telling us what we need to know when we need to know it. That’s not to say that it’s poorly constructed, because it isn’t. For me it is just a case of information overload in a carefully constructed and complex world and it’s over 800 pages of it. Immersion in a new world needs to feel organic – like building a friendship or dating; this feels quite forceful – a bit like somebody you met once but found them too intense and now they won’t leave you alone.
And you go through phases where he grabs and holds your attention for 100 pages or so and then other times when you’ll struggle with it.
So what is it actually about? Well, I’m still trying to figure that out.
Certainly, the story is about the mysterious stranger and the events surrounding his arrival, the invasion of the “dreamshit” transformed larvae, and the ragtag group in whose hands the very existence of the city hangs. But this story thread seems to take so long to get going that you’d be forgiven for thinking that the book isn’t about this at all. The city is the character and I feel at times that it is the story of New Crobuzon that is the primary focus here. If you are looking for a conventional book with a conventional storyline and the conventional conventions of fiction then look elsewhere. If you are looking for a Pratchett clone for the steampunk genre… then look elsewhere. This isn’t so much a novel as it is experimental prose. If that doesn’t appeal to you then you definitely need to look elsewhere.
I did enjoy this though, really I did, but I don’t think this style is for me. I would still give it 4/5 even though I have decided (unusually) that I do not want to read any more in the series. I will certainly be exploring more of the author’s work though and look forward to reading Un Lun Dun (which is on my Kindle) and as mentioned before, I have already read Tis The Season (which I will read again in December and post a review then).
I really appreciate what Miéville was doing – it just didn't speak to me in a big enough way that I simply must read the next one. I probably will though, but I’m not rushing out to get it.
See more book reviews at my blog
The weirdness and the fact that it throws you in at the deep end from very early on is very reminiscent of Paulo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl. However, unlike that book, the writing style is very easy on the eye – much easier than you might have expected after reading the first couple of chapters.
However in an odd way and despite the easy style, because of the weirdness it is also a difficult book to fully absorb yourself into. The world is so incredibly weird and Miéville wants to give us all of the information about New Crobuzon in this one book. Personally, I prefer how Pratchett introduces us to Discworld – over time, telling us what we need to know when we need to know it. That’s not to say that it’s poorly constructed, because it isn’t. For me it is just a case of information overload in a carefully constructed and complex world and it’s over 800 pages of it. Immersion in a new world needs to feel organic – like building a friendship or dating; this feels quite forceful – a bit like somebody you met once but found them too intense and now they won’t leave you alone.
And you go through phases where he grabs and holds your attention for 100 pages or so and then other times when you’ll struggle with it.
So what is it actually about? Well, I’m still trying to figure that out.
Certainly, the story is about the mysterious stranger and the events surrounding his arrival, the invasion of the “dreamshit” transformed larvae, and the ragtag group in whose hands the very existence of the city hangs. But this story thread seems to take so long to get going that you’d be forgiven for thinking that the book isn’t about this at all. The city is the character and I feel at times that it is the story of New Crobuzon that is the primary focus here. If you are looking for a conventional book with a conventional storyline and the conventional conventions of fiction then look elsewhere. If you are looking for a Pratchett clone for the steampunk genre… then look elsewhere. This isn’t so much a novel as it is experimental prose. If that doesn’t appeal to you then you definitely need to look elsewhere.
I did enjoy this though, really I did, but I don’t think this style is for me. I would still give it 4/5 even though I have decided (unusually) that I do not want to read any more in the series. I will certainly be exploring more of the author’s work though and look forward to reading Un Lun Dun (which is on my Kindle) and as mentioned before, I have already read Tis The Season (which I will read again in December and post a review then).
I really appreciate what Miéville was doing – it just didn't speak to me in a big enough way that I simply must read the next one. I probably will though, but I’m not rushing out to get it.
See more book reviews at my blog
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
As always, I really love China Mieville's world building in this. Really curious about the rest of the books set in this world.
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Oh my jabbers. How to... what to say... it was wonderful and disgusting from the Khepri spittle architecture to the Slake Moth brain tongueing for (delicious!) sentient mind slurpees. Yowza.
I’m on the fence on whether to give 5 stars, which is reserved for the, I-NEED-TO-OWN (and maybe snuggle) so I can read it again without a library queue. We’ll see if, over the next few days I dreamshit fiend for my own copy... That said, it was one helluva... helluvan oneiric ride, daydreams and nightmares, alike.
It’s Kafka meets Tolkien meets Orwell... it’s The Mist meets TNG (Borg eps) meets Fantastic Beasts... it’s SPECTACULAR!
I’m on the fence on whether to give 5 stars, which is reserved for the, I-NEED-TO-OWN (and maybe snuggle) so I can read it again without a library queue. We’ll see if, over the next few days I dreamshit fiend for my own copy... That said, it was one helluva... helluvan oneiric ride, daydreams and nightmares, alike.
It’s Kafka meets Tolkien meets Orwell... it’s The Mist meets TNG (Borg eps) meets Fantastic Beasts... it’s SPECTACULAR!