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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
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!
Miéville’s a wonderful writer, as he well knows. I appreciated the time, the characters, the world, the politics, the constructions, the ethnography he’s written of the city. The story is quite hopeless - most of what he builds for us to appreciate is torn away with some twist, and it’s quite dismal by the end. Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I recommend the read.
Honestly just so-so world building. Descriptions were rich but you actually have no idea what the material conditions of this world are. There’s rich and poor but who got rich off what? Relies on the reader to interpret the world through our own. Also started many plots that felt useless in the end as a way to incorporate leftist politics. The voyodonoi are striking….the city will be crippled without the docks, why? What goods does the city get at the docks it can’t make? What impact did the strike have on the story?
Not very interesting character work either. I felt uncomfortable reading about Lin through Isaac’s perspective and didn’t like her character arc. We also lose all of Derkhan’s POVs at a certain point and so there’s not much character development for her. And as for Yag….cant say that felt like the moment we were building too. And felt especially out of left field after the central conflict of the story was resolved.
Also…kind of brutal descriptions of cactus people?
Not very interesting character work either. I felt uncomfortable reading about Lin through Isaac’s perspective and didn’t like her character arc. We also lose all of Derkhan’s POVs at a certain point and so there’s not much character development for her. And as for Yag….cant say that felt like the moment we were building too. And felt especially out of left field after the central conflict of the story was resolved.
Also…kind of brutal descriptions of cactus people?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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:
Yes
This started off incredibly strong, and then fell off a cliff in the second half. The pacing was godawful, female characters non-existent, and gods really you HAD to pull the rug out from under Yag as a character in the last 10 pages? Then try to also immediately redeem him after you revealed him as a fucking rapist??
The best part of this book is The Weaver. I love them so much.
The best part of this book is The Weaver. I love them so much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Racial slurs, Rape
Minor: Pedophilia
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The book starts off pretty slow, but definitely picks up!
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I have such mixed feelings about this book that I'm going to have to resort to a list of pros and cons.
Pros
Pros
- I found the world-building fascinating
- I like his writing style
- Lots of intersting ideas and concepts
- Very strong start to the book, both in regards to narrative and characterization
- I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was excellent
- I enjoyed learning about the different cultures in the book
Cons
- Too many narrative threads, many of which had unsatisfying resolutions or could have been skipped entirely
- Pacing became atrocious about halfway through, especially during the action scenes
- Should have been about 25% shorter
- I liked the ending but it felt disconnected from the rest of the book
I really wish that this had been an encyclopedia or a collection of short stories, because the main appeal of this book was the setting, not the characters or the plot.
Still giving it a 4 because it was still good.
It wasn't what I was expecting and I don't love the world building. I know other will love it though!