Take a photo of a barcode or cover
This is a strange novel because I really want to love it and tell people they'll love it, but I really didn't, and you probably won't either.
The worldbuilding is fascinating and brilliant and will probably keep you engaged and interested and reading far longer than you should. The novel itself is sort of a mix of Moby Dick, Treasure Island, and his own novel, The Scar. I'm going to break that down a bit.
The comparisons to Moby Dick are mostly because there's a quest to kill a giant creature. That really is the only comparison, and the only reason both should be thought of in the same sentence. Mieville exchanged seas for rails and whales for giant moles.
It's much more like Treasure Island, where a young, inexperienced kid gets drawn into a life of adventure and violence that he didn't really want.
And then the ending of this novel made me think of how The Scar ended, though it's less interesting here.
Really, this novel is just a mix of three interesting novels but the result is far less interesting than any of those novels. Sham, the main character, is interesting enough and his journey is interesting enough, but everything just feels very thin. Except for the worldbuilding. It's kind of like Mieville invented a world and tried to shove a story into it, and the result is not great.
The novel's not bad, mind. But it leaves me kind of indifferent. I think I would have loved it a lot had I read this twenty years ago, though. It's billed as young adult, but it's probably best for ages 10-13. Or maybe not, but I know I would've loved it had I read it then.
Anyrate, the novel does what it does and it does those things well enough.
Oddly, the meta stuff didn't bother me. Recently self-conscious or meta storytelling has really been bothering me when I encounter it, but it didn't bother me much here. It didn't add much either, but it wasn't a negative for me.
But, yes, the novel's okay but probably not worth your energy.
The worldbuilding is fascinating and brilliant and will probably keep you engaged and interested and reading far longer than you should. The novel itself is sort of a mix of Moby Dick, Treasure Island, and his own novel, The Scar. I'm going to break that down a bit.
The comparisons to Moby Dick are mostly because there's a quest to kill a giant creature. That really is the only comparison, and the only reason both should be thought of in the same sentence. Mieville exchanged seas for rails and whales for giant moles.
It's much more like Treasure Island, where a young, inexperienced kid gets drawn into a life of adventure and violence that he didn't really want.
And then the ending of this novel made me think of how The Scar ended, though it's less interesting here.
Really, this novel is just a mix of three interesting novels but the result is far less interesting than any of those novels. Sham, the main character, is interesting enough and his journey is interesting enough, but everything just feels very thin. Except for the worldbuilding. It's kind of like Mieville invented a world and tried to shove a story into it, and the result is not great.
The novel's not bad, mind. But it leaves me kind of indifferent. I think I would have loved it a lot had I read this twenty years ago, though. It's billed as young adult, but it's probably best for ages 10-13. Or maybe not, but I know I would've loved it had I read it then.
Anyrate, the novel does what it does and it does those things well enough.
Oddly, the meta stuff didn't bother me. Recently self-conscious or meta storytelling has really been bothering me when I encounter it, but it didn't bother me much here. It didn't add much either, but it wasn't a negative for me.
But, yes, the novel's okay but probably not worth your energy.