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katabasis 's review for:
The City & the City
by China Miéville
first half of this was pretty slow, more of an exercise in worldbuilding -- not a negative by any means, I really enjoy reading books with such intricately crafted environments and don't mind slower-paced stories when it's in service of exploring an interesting concept, and mieville really knew what he was doing.
second half was full throttle crime novel and I enjoyed that part too. and the whole time there's bureaucratic absurdities to contend with. even the supernatural forces are bureaucrats and you do have to laugh at the wry irony of it all. because of course nobody's really following any of the rules, especially the people enforcing them.
I thought the payoff was satisfying too, and meaningful in terms of the true nature of The Culprit. this book is good at getting its messages (about borders, about capitalism, about the academia, about repression, about the reasons for conspiracizing, about nationalism)
across without being preachy. the ending is bleak but realistic.
overall a slay
second half was full throttle crime novel and I enjoyed that part too. and the whole time there's bureaucratic absurdities to contend with. even the supernatural forces are bureaucrats and you do have to laugh at the wry irony of it all. because of course nobody's really following any of the rules, especially the people enforcing them.
I thought the payoff was satisfying too, and meaningful in terms of the true nature of The Culprit. this book is good at getting its messages (about borders, about capitalism, about the academia, about repression, about the reasons for conspiracizing, about nationalism)
across without being preachy. the ending is bleak but realistic.
overall a slay