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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I really liked the beginning. I was completely on board for a geo-political mindf*ck. I love the play on international borders being imagined/psychologically contrived. I was hoping for a better finish. The reveal was a let-down, as was the look into Breach. I was wanting more but also ready for the book to end.
Wow. Incredibly overrated author. Flat characters, plodding storyline,and page after page of dull descriptions of the "fantastic" cities made this a huge disappointment. The cities are supposed occupy the same space and time, though why or how is not explained. The cop characters exist in bad dialogue only, thus there is no inner mind, no illumination, and no depth to draw you in.
Save your time and skip this one!
Save your time and skip this one!
What was the point? What does it mean? What does it all mean???? The mysteries that were resolved weren't the ones I was interested in, so I'm left in uncomfortable limbo. Eternally unresolved. Is that intentional, part of the greater metaphor made real, the way the questions and concerns (borders, power, nations) exist only in our minds and only have power because we imagine them to... I'm even more certain than after Embassytown that I don't like Mieville, but also that I'm going to read more by him anyway. WHAT DOES IT MEAN??
China Miéville does a spectacular job of worldbuilding and creates a very intricate setting using the fascinating premise of two cities in the same place geographically, but separated through psychological borders. While I thought the pacing was at places both too slow and too rushed, and Tyador Borlú, the main character, was perhaps a bit too archetypical, none of these elements were so egregious as to diminish my enjoyment of the story. This book is fun, with a likeable cast of characters, a great combination of tension and action, and an air of noirish mystery that looms over the story until the very end.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A good and tense crime story paired Mievilles endless spring of ideas and tightly packed worldbuilding, that never loses itself and expertly keeps the tenstion the whole time, while takeing you along on the investigation.
It's a perfectly good, intelligent investigation story that never hold their reader for stupid but I would loved to read so much more about the cities and their machinations itself.
It's a perfectly good, intelligent investigation story that never hold their reader for stupid but I would loved to read so much more about the cities and their machinations itself.