Werthead Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 China Mieville, master of the New Weird, one of literary SFF's most respected voices who hasn't released a novel in twelve years, is finally coming back to fiction...with a tie-in to a Keanu Reeves comic property? Huh. Normally "Author X Working With Famous Person Y" wouldn't interest me at all, but these two would be an interesting collaboration. The book is called The Book of Elsewhere and it is a tie-in with Reeves' 12-issue BRZRKR comic book from 2021. Larry of the Lawn and Jerol 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IlyaP Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 3 hours ago, Werthead said: China Mieville, master of the New Weird, one of literary SFF's most respected voices who hasn't released a novel in twelve years, is finally coming back to fiction...with a tie-in to a Keanu Reeves comic property? Huh. Normally "Author X Working With Famous Person Y" wouldn't interest me at all, but these two would be an interesting collaboration. The book is called The Book of Elsewhere and it is a tie-in with Reeves' 12-issue BRZRKR comic book from 2021. This is, I confess, not a headline I expected. Also, didn't China leave fiction due to weird background scandals or some issue with his publisher? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry of the Lawn Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 Sweet. I'm gonna have unrealistic expectations and hope this is Mieville getting back in the churning out-a-bunch-of-great-fiction saddle. The Scar, Iron Council, and Embassytown are all in my looping audiobook rotation for when I'm at work. I've heard lots of unsubstantiated rumors about his silence last few years, but not going to speculate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IlyaP Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 58 minutes ago, Larry of the Lawn said: I've heard lots of unsubstantiated rumors about his silence last few years, but not going to speculate. My bestie and I are of the opinion that he just wanted to explore other stuff - politics, history, etc., after 15 or so years of working across the fiction domain, ie he wanted a break from writing fiction. Larry of the Lawn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted January 11 Author Share Posted January 11 18 hours ago, IlyaP said: This is, I confess, not a headline I expected. Also, didn't China leave fiction due to weird background scandals or some issue with his publisher? I don't believe so. I believe a former partner of his was very unhappy with how the relationship unfolded and ended and was rather public about that, and people braced themselves for a ton of additional reports, but they never materialised. I think it was written off as a bad breakup, partially in the public sphere. IlyaP 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveSumm Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 Out of interest, where does Perdido Street Station rank amongst Mieville fans? I’m halfway through it now and it’s the first I’ve read by him, I’m kinda conflicted. I am really impressed with certain aspects, but there really is an enormous amount of pausing to describe the city. Basically anytime anyone goes anywhere, we get about five pages of them soaking up the sights before they get where they’re going. I may change my mind as the plot did suddenly turn up (on page 400), but I’m not sure I’m invested enough to read any more of Bas Lag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted January 11 Author Share Posted January 11 Perdido Street Station is a magnificent feat of worldbuilding with some decent characters and bugger-all plot. It's more of a mood piece than anything. The second Bas-Lag novel, The Scar, is a vastly better book. DaveSumm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveSumm Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 1 hour ago, Werthead said: Perdido Street Station is a magnificent feat of worldbuilding with some decent characters and bugger-all plot. It's more of a mood piece than anything. The second Bas-Lag novel, The Scar, is a vastly better book. Ooo OK that might have tipped the scales then, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IlyaP Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 4 hours ago, DaveSumm said: Out of interest, where does Perdido Street Station rank amongst Mieville fans? I’m halfway through it now and it’s the first I’ve read by him, I’m kinda conflicted. I am really impressed with certain aspects, but there really is an enormous amount of pausing to describe the city. Basically anytime anyone goes anywhere, we get about five pages of them soaking up the sights before they get where they’re going. I may change my mind as the plot did suddenly turn up (on page 400), but I’m not sure I’m invested enough to read any more of Bas Lag. PSS is a vibe. Scar is awesome. Iron Council is heckin' rad. With Mieville, you go there first and foremost for the slamdunk prose. Plots are almost secondary with him sometimes. Durckad 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 Gods the worldbuilding in PSS is incredible. My favorite is still The City and the City, though UnLunDun is absurdly close to it. williamjm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry of the Lawn Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 Perdido is my least favorite Bas-Lag book. I think overall Mieville best to worst* would go 1.The Scar 2. Iron Council, Embassytown 3. The two short story volumes 4.Perdido, The City and the City 7 hours ago, DaveSumm said: Out of interest, where does Perdido Street Station rank amongst Mieville fans? Last days of New Paris Kraken Railsea This Census Taker Haven't read King Rat or Un-Lun-Dun *His worst is still pretty great! Embassytown is an awesome meditation on the nature and beginnings of language. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durckad Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 9 hours ago, DaveSumm said: Out of interest, where does Perdido Street Station rank amongst Mieville fans? I’m halfway through it now and it’s the first I’ve read by him, I’m kinda conflicted. I am really impressed with certain aspects, but there really is an enormous amount of pausing to describe the city. Basically anytime anyone goes anywhere, we get about five pages of them soaking up the sights before they get where they’re going. I may change my mind as the plot did suddenly turn up (on page 400), but I’m not sure I’m invested enough to read any more of Bas Lag. I absolutely love PSS, but "mood piece" is a perfect way to describe it. I do love the plot but it is very secondary to the setting and the setting, the city of New Crobuzon, is the most important character in the novel. If you are not vibing with it after 400 or so pages, maybe drop the book and at least try The Scar instead. The Scar has a much more focused plot and characters, a setting that is different but just as interesting, and while it does take place after PSS, there's very little that happens in The Scar that won't make sense if you haven't finished PSS. If The Scar doesn't work for you, well, I doubt Iron Council will change your feelings on Mieville. Isis 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IlyaP Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 1 hour ago, Durckad said: I absolutely love PSS, but "mood piece" is a perfect way to describe it. I do love the plot but it is very secondary to the setting and the setting, the city of New Crobuzon, is the most important character in the novel. If you are not vibing with it after 400 or so pages, maybe drop the book and at least try The Scar instead. The Scar has a much more focused plot and characters, a setting that is different but just as interesting, and while it does take place after PSS, there's very little that happens in The Scar that won't make sense if you haven't finished PSS. If The Scar doesn't work for you, well, I doubt Iron Council will change your feelings on Mieville. Basically, if you're a George Eliot or Thackeray or Dickens fan, you'll be right at home with PSS. Also, I *strongly* encourage everyone to have Acker Bilk's glorious cover of Perdido Street Blues on in the background at least once whilst reading Perdido Street Station. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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