Review - The Scar by China Mieville
Daniel Ban (Sharpe)
couldn't find Perdido Street Station at the local bookshops, I decided to
give The Scar a try. I am now very glad I did as this was definitely the
best novel with fantasy elements that I've read this year. Be warned, my
review is mostly a rave: I really enjoyed this book.
The Scar is set in Mieville's fantasy / steam-punk / pseudo-sci-fi world of
Bas Lag. Since I've not yet read Perdido Street Station this setting was
completely new to me and I found it intense, unique, and very very
atmospheric. The story begins with Bellis Coldwine, a linguist from the
London-esque steam-punk metropolis of New Cobruzon, leaving the city on a
steamer for the far colony of Nova Esperian (think Australia). However,
this is much more than a steam-fantasy novel. Bas-Lag is an amazing mixture
of fantasy and science-fiction tropes, with plentiful thaumaturgy, fierce
pirates, a variety of mutant and metamorphic quasi-human species (no prancy
elves in sight), and a hefty dollop of Victorian intrigue. Our fiercely
anti-social protaganist ends going on a very long journey which takes her to
essentially no where she wants to go. Along the way we meet a varied and
extremely colorful cast of characters, from a Remade (ie thaumaturgically
mutated) engineer, to a pair of twisted pirate Lovers, to an enigmatic
mercenary-champion with a very special kind of "magic" sword, to a mute
scholar who is a humanoid mosquito, and on and on. Along the way, Mieville
indulges in a large amount of world building, dumping exposition of history,
past cultures, new races, old races, alien invasions, magical empires, and
political manuevering seamlessly (most of the time anyway) into the plot.
The world he builds is a true fantasy world: although the laws of logic
work, he does not conform to our theories of cosmology: the world is flat
with a rim and a bottom but it also has a horizon. Blackpower firearms work
right alongside steam engines, vampires and powerful magic. Most of all,
the world feels alive: rich with detail & history, with each faction having
real motivations, goals and plans.
Along with the very cool world, Mieville dishes out an excellent story of
flawed and often needy characters. The title, "The Scar" is not just a
place in the book or the theme of the book's story about the world: it is
also a description of the character of most of the players. The story has a
number of surprises and ups and downs but never jarred me with illogical or
inconsistent events, and never bogged down into minute by minute play by
play. There are a number of dangerous journeys, amazing locales, exciting
combats, and several epic scenes that I can't really describe.
Perhaps best of all, I quite enjoyed Mieville's use of language. He is
particularly adept at names: Tanner Sack, Uther Doul, Silas Fennec, etc are
all perfect for their characters. Along with the names, he creates some
great scenes of these characters in action: my hero the anti-hero (or is
he?) Uther Doul with his might-blade (might as in possibility not as in
strength), Silas Fennec (aka Simon Fench) the uber-spy manuevering his human
chesspieces, and the inconsistently self-centered Bellis Coldwine who is
both used and a user at the same time. There are a number of scenes
impressed on my memory: the attack on the Terpsichoria, the voyage to the
island of the mosquito folk, the first conversation between Uther & the
Brucolac, Silas's plea for Bellis' help, Uther Doul's defensive stand, the
battle of the Fleet vs the Armada, and the ravings of the mad (nigh?)
Hedrigal with his apocalyptic tale. My two best memories of the book are
the moment when I realized what Silas was up to (along with his fate) and
the moment when I realized that Uther Doul was not behaving in a senseless
fashion, but in fact had a master plan.
There are, of course, many unanswered questions (such as how much Uther
really know about the events at the end - I am certain he knows more than
he's telling, and may in fact have known all along), but that's part of the
fun.
Bottom line: a unique, very enjoyable, highly recommended speculative
fiction novel. Contains a fair amount of violence, some sex and frequent
swearing (I'd probably give it a PG-13 rating, maybe a soft R). Now I'm off
to see if I can get my hands on Perdido Street Station.
Dan
John H
"Daniel Ban (Sharpe)" <dan...@pacbell.net> wrote in message
news:l_8l9.43$7W3.7...@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com...
> There are, of course, many unanswered questions (such as how much
Uther
> really know about the events at the end - I am certain he knows more
than
> he's telling, and may in fact have known all along), but that's part
of the
> fun.
He probably knows a lot more than he's letting on. I think Bellis said
something about it; he's a probability wizard. He pushes events around
him to shape the probability he wants. But like his Might-Blade, he
can't calculate, and plan things the way Simon does, he has to do it in
a chaotic, but focussed, manner.
Hmm, in fact I didn't even see this particular duality until now -- the
different ways Simon and Uther have of controlling events.
Altered Ego
couple chapters and put it aside. I tried it again several weeks
later and once I got past where I had been before could barely put it
down. Quite frankly, having read PSS first puts a lot of shadings on
The Scar. Will be interested to see your comments on reading them in
reverse order.
FWIW, I am not a fantasy fan at all. But Mieville's writing is
tremendous and got me hooked.
not putOn Sat, 28 Sep 2002 03:03:45 GMT, "Daniel Ban \(Sharpe\)"
Edwin Young
> The world he builds is a true fantasy world: although the laws of logic
> work, he does not conform to our theories of cosmology: the world is flat
> with a rim and a bottom but it also has a horizon.
What made you think this? I got the impression that Bas-Lag was round...
Daniel Ban (Sharpe)
"Edwin Young" <ed...@bathysphere.org> wrote in message
news:upbjqhl...@corp.supernews.com...
In discussing the Scar, he specifically mentions it extending "two thousand
miles from the rim of the world" as if the rim were a physical constant. He
also mentions the bottom of the world in several places: the Scar, the deep
pits where the Avancs breach, etc. And he mentions horizons several time
during navigation etc. I am not precisely sure how Bas Lag is set up but it
appears to operate to its own fantastical cosmology rather than standard
geology.
Dan
David Cowie
>9 lines of new text above
>
> not putOn Sat, 28 Sep 2002 03:03:45 GMT, "Daniel Ban \(Sharpe\)"
> <dan...@pacbell.net> wrote:
>
>>71 lines of quoted text
PLEASE learn how to snip the previous posting when you're replying.
It is also normal to put your reply BELOW the original post.
--
David Cowie david_cowie at lineone dot net
So high, so low, so many things to know.
Daniel Ban (Sharpe)
"David Cowie" <david_co...@lineone.net> wrote in message
news:pan.2002.09.28....@lineone.net...
FYI, I (Daniel Ban) wrote the original 71 line post and another poster using
the nickname Altered Ego quoted me (below his response). So, when advising
people on Netiquette, please get the attributions correct.
Thank you,
Dan
Altered Ego
reread what I already read), I post that way. If you're new to the
post, you can feel free to read the original. If not, you already now
what's been said.
You need to chill or are you the Soup Nazi of this newsgroup?
On Sat, 28 Sep 2002 20:17:49 +0000, "David Cowie"
<david_co...@lineone.net>, having failed to take sufficient
medication that day, piously expounded:
Bill Snyder
<sdf...@NOSPAMsio.midco.net> wrote:
>As I prefer replies before the original post (so I don't have to
>reread what I already read), I post that way. If you're new to the
>post, you can feel free to read the original. If not, you already now
>what's been said.
>
>You need to chill or are you the Soup Nazi of this newsgroup?
No, nor is he unique in wanting posts to be reasonably formatted and
snipped of extraneous material, as I expect you'll be told less and
less politely by more and more people as time goes on.
--
Bill Snyder [This space unintentionally left blank.]
David Bilek
>
>"David Cowie" <david_co...@lineone.net> wrote in message
>news:pan.2002.09.28....@lineone.net...
>> On Sat, 28 Sep 2002 14:59:34 +0000, Altered Ego wrote:
>>
>> >9 lines of new text above
>> >
>> > not putOn Sat, 28 Sep 2002 03:03:45 GMT, "Daniel Ban \(Sharpe\)"
>> > <dan...@pacbell.net> wrote:
>> >
>> >>71 lines of quoted text
>>
>> PLEASE learn how to snip the previous posting when you're replying.
>> It is also normal to put your reply BELOW the original post.
>>
>> --
>> David Cowie david_cowie at lineone dot net
>
>FYI, I (Daniel Ban) wrote the original 71 line post and another poster using
>the nickname Altered Ego quoted me (below his response). So, when advising
>people on Netiquette, please get the attributions correct.
>
>Thank you,
>
His attributions were correct.
-David
Ryan Klippenstine
<dan...@pacbell.net> wrote:
>
>"Edwin Young" <ed...@bathysphere.org> wrote in message
>news:upbjqhl...@corp.supernews.com...
>> "Daniel Ban (Sharpe)":
>> > The world he builds is a true fantasy world: although the laws of logic
>> > work, he does not conform to our theories of cosmology: the world is
>flat
>> > with a rim and a bottom but it also has a horizon.
>>
>> What made you think this? I got the impression that Bas-Lag was round...
>
>In discussing the Scar, he specifically mentions it extending "two thousand
>miles from the rim of the world" as if the rim were a physical constant. He
>also mentions the bottom of the world in several places: the Scar, the deep
>pits where the Avancs breach, etc.
A little more conclusively, in a discussion of the seasons in various
parts of Bas-Lag, it's mentioned that summer in the north was winter
in the south, and vice versa, but that "dawn was dawn, everywhere in
the world" (or words to that effect). Also, Doul talked about the
founders of the Ghosthead Empire travelling past worlds that were
"rocky globes" as opposed to the "infinite plateau" of Bas-Lag.
Actually, the description given of the Ghosthead homeland sounded an
awful lot like the eastern rim of a very, very large discworld, with
its sun in a tight orbit.
>And he mentions horizons several time
>during navigation etc. I am not precisely sure how Bas Lag is set up but it
>appears to operate to its own fantastical cosmology rather than standard
>geology.
There's certainly something odd about it. The only thing I can think
of is that Bas-Lag is somewhat hemispherical. Either that, or it just
never occured to Mieville that a discworld wouldn't have a horizon.
Craig Richardson
<sdf...@NOSPAMsio.midco.net> wrote:
>On Sat, 28 Sep 2002 20:17:49 +0000, "David Cowie"
><david_co...@lineone.net>, having failed to take sufficient
>medication that day, piously expounded:
>
>>On Sat, 28 Sep 2002 14:59:34 +0000, Altered Ego wrote:
>>
>>>9 lines of new text above
>>>
>>> not putOn Sat, 28 Sep 2002 03:03:45 GMT, "Daniel Ban \(Sharpe\)"
>>> <dan...@pacbell.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>>71 lines of quoted text
>>
>>PLEASE learn how to snip the previous posting when you're replying.
>>It is also normal to put your reply BELOW the original post.
>
>As I prefer replies before the original post (so I don't have to
>reread what I already read), I post that way. If you're new to the
>post, you can feel free to read the original. If not, you already now
>what's been said.
It doesn't matter what you prefer. Seriously. Write to the standards
other people prefer, and they'll be more willing to listen to you. In
this group, as most, common netiquette has not been overruled in the
charter, so "normal" quoting is expected, and top-posting is frowned
upon. Even published authors who were more familiar with a
top-posting environment are not exempt from this rule, and the authors
in question have, in fact, adjusted. So there's no reason you can't,
too - that is, if you care if anyone reads what you post.
>You need to chill or are you the Soup Nazi of this newsgroup?
Neither, actually. He's doing you a favor. In a number of places,
top posting gets you instantly into a number of killfiles, many of
which belong to the most interesting posters in those places.
--Craig
--
Managing the Devil Rays is something like competing on "Iron Chef",
and having Chairman Kaga reveal a huge ziggurat of lint.
Gary Huckabay, Baseball Prospectus Online, August 21, 2002
Andrew Plotkin
Or light curves down slightly, due to the influence of gravity.
Does the book talk about stuff being *over/below* the horizon, or is
it just a horizon in the sense of an infinite-distance circle you can
look at? (I don't remember either.)
--Z
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*
* Make your vote count. Get your vote counted.
Daniel Ban (Sharpe)
"Ryan Klippenstine" <ry...@westman.wave.ca> wrote in message
news:3d96448b....@news.westman.wave.ca...
> Actually, the description given of the Ghosthead homeland sounded an
> awful lot like the eastern rim of a very, very large discworld, with
> its sun in a tight orbit.
You know, despite reading a fair amount of sci-fi I don't what a discworld
is. I understand a ringworld and a Dyson Sphere, but how is a disworld set
up? I realize its gotta be disc shaped but I don't understand how it
interacts with the sun, etc. Can you describe it, or tell me where I can
look this up? Thanks.
My general sense of Bas Lag was a half-sphere, although I suppose it could a
be flat disc with some magical effect causing a horizon. Mieville did write
that the horizons were different in the Empty Sea (although I suppose that
could just mean a different arc of curvature at that point on the
half-sphere).
Dan
Matt Austern
> You know, despite reading a fair amount of sci-fi I don't what a discworld
> is. I understand a ringworld and a Dyson Sphere, but how is a disworld set
> up? I realize its gotta be disc shaped but I don't understand how it
> interacts with the sun, etc.
In whatever way is funniest.
Ryan Klippenstine
<dan...@pacbell.net> wrote:
>
>"Ryan Klippenstine" <ry...@westman.wave.ca> wrote in message
>news:3d96448b....@news.westman.wave.ca...
>
>> Actually, the description given of the Ghosthead homeland sounded an
>> awful lot like the eastern rim of a very, very large discworld, with
>> its sun in a tight orbit.
>
>You know, despite reading a fair amount of sci-fi I don't what a discworld
>is. I understand a ringworld and a Dyson Sphere, but how is a disworld set
>up? I realize its gotta be disc shaped but I don't understand how it
>interacts with the sun, etc. Can you describe it, or tell me where I can
>look this up? Thanks.
I'm not really referring to any canonical Discworld; in fact, the
nearest thing I've encountered in sci-fi, the Alderson Disc, is set up
quite a bit differently than what I'm imagining.
What I meant was: take a flat plate, say 30 AUs across. The sun (I'm
assuming it's similar to our own) travels around it, in an orbit which
is perpendicular to the plane of the plate, and which has a radius
only slightly larger than that of the plate. Then there's a spot on
the rim that gets cooked as the sun passes by, but due to the size of
the plate, that same point will be freezing when the sun reaches the
opposite point in its orbit. Furthermore, the sun appears to shrink
and move more slowly the farther away it gets. Hence, if you're on the
eastern rim (that is, the area near where the sun rises) you get a
brief period of hellish heat, followed by a slow cooling throughout
the day, as the sun fades into a star.
Of course, the plate doesn't actually need to be that big, if the sun
was less bright. You could also have a smaller plate whose sun orbits
off-center. Possibly Bas-Lag and the Ghosthead world share a sun, with
the former near the center and the latter off to one side? Doul did
refer to them as coming from "the universe's eastern rim," so it's in
the right direction, at least.
>My general sense of Bas Lag was a half-sphere, although I suppose it could a
>be flat disc with some magical effect causing a horizon.
The problem with that is that it contradicts the statement that dawn
occurs simultaneously everywhere on Bas-Lag (it's right at the
beginning of Chapter 14, if you want to look it up). If the world was
a half-sphere, the sun would be rising on the west rim while it was
setting on the east.
>Mieville did write
>that the horizons were different in the Empty Sea (although I suppose that
>could just mean a different arc of curvature at that point on the
>half-sphere).
That occurred to me after I sent my last post. Note that Hedrigall
claimed that the horizon got closer the nearer he came to the Scar.
Anna Feruglio Dal Dan
> As I prefer replies before the original post (so I don't have to
> reread what I already read), I post that way. If you're new to the
> post, you can feel free to read the original. If not, you already now
> what's been said.
>
> You need to chill or are you the Soup Nazi of this newsgroup?
He's a guy who condescended to tell you politely instead of just
stopping to read what you write, as lots of us here "prefer" to do with
top-posters.
--
Anna Feruglio Dal Dan
homepage: http://www.fantascienza.net/sfpeople/elethiomel
English blog: http://annafdd.blogspot.com/
Blog in italiano: http://fulminiesaette.blogspot.com
how...@brazee.net
On 28-Sep-2002, "David Cowie" <david_co...@lineone.net> wrote:
> PLEASE learn how to snip the previous posting when you're replying.
> It is also normal to put your reply BELOW the original post.
However, if there is a reason to include a quote longer than what we can see
on a page (I'm not saying this was the case here) - it is inconsiderate to
put your reply below the original post. Make it easy for the reader to see
your quote without paging down. There is a place for top posting (and for
middle posting).
Don't use rules blindly - think about what your post looks like and consider
the reader. Consideration isn't too hard, but it is much too rare.
bluejack
> >As I prefer replies before the original post (so I don't have to
> >reread what I already read), I post that way. If you're new to the
> >post, you can feel free to read the original. If not, you already now
> >what's been said.
>
> snipped of extraneous material, as I expect you'll be told less and
> less politely by more and more people as time goes on.
And the reason that top posting is bad is that it leads to
situations where each person writes a new sentence on top
and you have an ever increasing body of baggage below. It
wastes bandwidth and server space. Although these things
used to be more important on usenet than they are today,
it is still considered inconsiderate at best, and a sign
of general ignorance. Inline and bottom posting enforces
better practices.
So the original poster could perhaps be top posting with
discpline and the best of intentions, but it is still an
unacceptable practice, which he should refrain from engaging
in on newsgroups.
-bluejack
Steve Coltrin
> On 28-Sep-2002, "David Cowie" <david_co...@lineone.net> wrote:
>
> > PLEASE learn how to snip the previous posting when you're replying.
> > It is also normal to put your reply BELOW the original post.
>
> However, if there is a reason to include a quote longer than what we can see
> on a page (I'm not saying this was the case here) - it is inconsiderate to
> put your reply below the original post.
Not exactly. It's inconsiderate to quote a long post without editing
out extraneous material.
> There is a place for top posting
No, there isn't, unless you mean 'in killfiles'.
--
Steve Coltrin spco...@omcl.org
I like the idea of Jack Valenti being sodomized by a
methamphetamine-crazed rhinoceros. And I vote. - Adam Thornton
Andrea Leistra
Altered Ego <sdf...@NOSPAMsio.midco.net> wrote:
>As I prefer replies before the original post (so I don't have to
>reread what I already read), I post that way. If you're new to the
>post, you can feel free to read the original. If not, you already now
>what's been said.
Not everyone recieves posts to Usenet in the same order; it is still
not uncommon for someone to recieve the reply before the original.
That's a secondary reason, though; the more obvious and important one
is one of simple, basic, common sense. Usenet is a conversation;
the interleaved-reply format that is standard reflects that.
You can, of course, choose to reply on top, or quote everything
and reply below, or write your reply backwards and in Pig Latin
for all I care. If, however, you want people to *read* what you
write, following the standard and sensible format would be a
good start.
--
Andrea Leistra
J.B. Moreno
> "David Cowie"
>
> >PLEASE learn how to snip the previous posting when you're replying.
> >It is also normal to put your reply BELOW the original post.
>
> As I prefer replies before the original post (so I don't have to
> reread what I already read), I post that way. If you're new to the
> post, you can feel free to read the original. If not, you already now
> what's been said.
Unless you read your own messages and no one else's, what *you* prefer
to read has absolutely no relevance, it's how *others* want to read your
post -- you either post in a way they approve of, or they stop reading
what you write. If they are nice, decent, netizens, they will first
offer a polite warning, if that doesn't work they plonk you.
Here's an example: The convention on this group is to bottom post or to
interleave, I respectfully suggest that you do likewise.
> You need to chill or are you the Soup Nazi of this newsgroup?
Nope, *I'm* the Soup Nazi of this group.
--
JBM
"Your depression will be added to my own" -- Marvin of Borg
how...@brazee.net
On 1-Oct-2002, pl...@newsreaders.com (J.B. Moreno) wrote:
> Unless you read your own messages and no one else's, what *you* prefer
> to read has absolutely no relevance, it's how *others* want to read your
> post -- you either post in a way they approve of, or they stop reading
> what you write. If they are nice, decent, netizens, they will first
> offer a polite warning, if that doesn't work they plonk you.
>
> Here's an example: The convention on this group is to bottom post or to
> interleave, I respectfully suggest that you do likewise.
I don't care what the convention is (conventions change after reasons for
them change) - if I want my message to be read, I will put myself in my
reader's shoes and make it easy for them. If there is reason for a quote
that fills a page, bottom posting will NOT be read.
I would rather be considerate and get plonked by soup nazis than to be rude
and follow someone's obsolete ghost rule.
Craig Richardson
>
>On 1-Oct-2002, pl...@newsreaders.com (J.B. Moreno) wrote:
>
>> Unless you read your own messages and no one else's, what *you* prefer
>> to read has absolutely no relevance, it's how *others* want to read your
>> post -- you either post in a way they approve of, or they stop reading
>> what you write. If they are nice, decent, netizens, they will first
>> offer a polite warning, if that doesn't work they plonk you.
>>
>> Here's an example: The convention on this group is to bottom post or to
>> interleave, I respectfully suggest that you do likewise.
>
>I don't care what the convention is (conventions change after reasons for
>them change) - if I want my message to be read, I will put myself in my
>reader's shoes and make it easy for them. If there is reason for a quote
>that fills a page, bottom posting will NOT be read.
In the (vanishingly rare) case where you do need to quote multiple
pages before the first new text, you can put a _note_ at the top that
the reader should proceed directly to the bottom to read your stuff.
There are no truly new situations.
>I would rather be considerate and get plonked by soup nazis than to be rude
>and follow someone's obsolete ghost rule.
Here we disagree. I don't think top-posting can ever be considerate.
You disagree. If that makes me a Nazi - so be it. No one has ever
had a fantasy of being tied up and sexually ravished by a top-poster.
J.B. Moreno
> On 1-Oct-2002, pl...@newsreaders.com (J.B. Moreno) wrote:
>
-snip group convention is to bottom post-
> I don't care what the convention is (conventions change after reasons for
> them change) - if I want my message to be read, I will put myself in my
> reader's shoes and make it easy for them. If there is reason for a quote
> that fills a page, bottom posting will NOT be read.
That depends upon a number of factors, not least who is posting and what
software the reader is using -- if you like to read what someone says
you'll cut them a bit more slack, and if your newsreader either reduces
or even completely hides the annoyance caused by over quoting it'll
bother you even less.
Regardless, conventions are sorta like the size of your personal space
-- even if you think it's right it can still irritate the hell out of
the other person, so be careful (says the guy who normally ignores the
convention in baen's bar to top post).
> I would rather be considerate and get plonked by soup nazis than to be rude
> and follow someone's obsolete ghost rule.
This assumes that the "ghost rule" is in fact obsolete and not still
relevant -- which is not true. It also assumes that your reader will
take it as being "rude", and if it *really* needs a page of quoted
material, it's unlikely that they'll think it's rude.
Daniel Ban (Sharpe)
"Craig Richardson" <crichar...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:6mnkpuk58rfaprejl...@4ax.com...
<long snip of posts three-deep about Netiquette>
Um, anyone feel like discussing The Scar or my review thereof? I think the
lesson in Netiquette has been well taught but in the process we've
completely ignored the original content of the post. Typical, I know, but
disapointing.
No one agrees / disagrees / has some comment? Or I am a day late and a
dollar short with my review?
Dan
Helgi Briem
>I don't care what the convention is (conventions change after reasons for
>them change) - if I want my message to be read, I will put myself in my
>reader's shoes and make it easy for them. If there is reason for a quote
>that fills a page, bottom posting will NOT be read.
>
>I would rather be considerate and get plonked by soup nazis than to be rude
>and follow someone's obsolete ghost rule.
*plonk*
--
Regards, Helgi Briem
helgi AT decode DOT is
A: Top posting
Q: What is the most irritating thing on Usenet?
- "Gordon" on apihna
Doug Muir
> Um, anyone feel like discussing The Scar or my review thereof?
Sure. [Minor spoilers follow.]
I thought _The Scar_ was very-good-to-excellent. Possibly half a
notch above _Perdido Street Station_, which slumped a bit in spots.
Mieville managed to surprise me at several points. Finch fooled me
just as well as he did the hapless protagonist; I didn't quite believe
in the grindylow invasion, but I didn't realize how effective his
treachery would be. And Uther Doul's final turnaround was a trap very
neatly sprung on both protagonist and reader. Surprising a reader
like this is quite hard, and I was very impressed.
The infodumps were also handled very well -- Doul's lecture on the
Ghosthead, for instance, tells us as much about Doul as about the
mysterious-vanished-conquerors-who'll-be-key-to-the-plot. Conversely,
the mysterious bits were left nicely mysterious. We still don't know
the true shape of Bas Lag, nor what the Ghosthead really were, nor how
Doul got his sword and his fighting skills. Or even what the
delightfully named monsters in the haunted section of town really are.
And, as others have pointed out, there's a lot of underlying structure
that's not obvious at first glance; the Doul-Finch duality, the
multiple riffs on the concepts of love-healing-scarring.
And the set pieces are impressive. The mosquito-island, the final
scene of destruction, yadda yadda.
There are weak bits. The protagonist is a bit too much of a passively
manipulated pawn; Doul is just a bit too omnicompetent. A few things,
like the death of the avanc and the survival of the Brucolac, fell too
neatly into place -- one had the distinct sense of "everything going
back to the way it was originally, world without end amen." And now
and then one could hear the sound of the author's personal axes
getting ground. So the whole dispute ended up being about -- horrors
-- trade; the soulless forces of wicked greed destroying individual
lives and honor as they seek to etc. etc. etc. Also, is the
government of New Crobuzon ever anything but utterly corrupt,
oppressive and treacherous?
And the magic-tech doesn't seem to have been worked out very
rigorously. If you stare at it a bit, you get the feeling that
Mieville thought, "It would be cool to have lots of balloons --
handwave, handwave, there are balloons." This is much more forgivable
in fantasy than SF, of course, and the handwaving is fairly adroit.
Still, you don't want to stare at either the technology or the
sociology too hard. (Floating pirate city? Really?)
But these are quibbles. A good read, highly recommended.
Doug M.
Andrea Leistra
Doug Muir <sigi...@yahoo.com> wrote:
Non-spoiler review: This is good. Better than _Perdido Street
Station_, and with less of the gross slimy bits (though I was tempted,
at times, to count uses of the word "drool".) The plot's a lot less
straightforward, and the title is thematic as much as it is a reference
to a particular geographical feature and plot element. Every major
character in the book is scarred, literally and figuratively, by the end.
Spoilers. Big juicy ones.
>So the whole dispute ended up being about -- horrors
>-- trade; the soulless forces of wicked greed destroying individual
>lives and honor as they seek to etc. etc. etc. Also, is the
>government of New Crobuzon ever anything but utterly corrupt,
>oppressive and treacherous?
That's the canal through the grindylow homeland you're referring to? That
may have been driving New Crobuzon and Fennec, but it wasn't "the whole
dispute"; the Lovers are *not* motivated by simple mercantile greed in
their quest for the Scar (indeed, had they been, I doubt the mutiny would
have happened; the Armadans don't have much of a problem with greed.)
There's more than a little of a _Moby Dick_ resonance in the doomed quest;
the obsessed leaders, out for something that isn't monetary gain, and even
the "and only I escaped alone to tell thee" tale of Hedrigall. I still
haven't decided if I think he was telling the truth or if he was the
original Hedrigall after all.
Speaking of references, did you catch the name of the Crobuzoner flagship?
Sneaky.
>And the magic-tech doesn't seem to have been worked out very
>rigorously. If you stare at it a bit, you get the feeling that
>Mieville thought, "It would be cool to have lots of balloons --
>handwave, handwave, there are balloons." This is much more forgivable
>in fantasy than SF, of course, and the handwaving is fairly adroit.
There's some decent technology in Bas-Lag; the infrastructure is
more obvious in _Perdido Street Station_ than here, but this isn't
as low-tech of a world as it may have appeared.
--
Andrea Leistra
Ryan Klippenstine
>"Daniel Ban \(Sharpe\)" <dan...@pacbell.net> wrote
>
>> Um, anyone feel like discussing The Scar or my review thereof?
>
>Sure. [Minor spoilers follow.]
Rather less minor spoilers added.
>I thought _The Scar_ was very-good-to-excellent. Possibly half a
>notch above _Perdido Street Station_, which slumped a bit in spots.
I found it much better than _PSS_, in a number of ways.
>Mieville managed to surprise me at several points. Finch fooled me
>just as well as he did the hapless protagonist; I didn't quite believe
>in the grindylow invasion, but I didn't realize how effective his
>treachery would be.
Bah. He didn't get out of Armada, did he? That's one thing that's
still bothering me; why in the name of god would someone who is
supposedly so smart do something so deeply stupid as arrange for the
rescue force to pick him up on the Grand Easterly? What, he couldn't
find anyplace _more_ heavily defended?
>And Uther Doul's final turnaround was a trap very
>neatly sprung on both protagonist and reader. Surprising a reader
>like this is quite hard, and I was very impressed.
I certainly was surprised, but mainly because it made no sense
whatsoever.
I spent most of the book thinking that Doul was maneuvering the Lovers
into taking him to the Scar so he could recharge his sword. But no, it
turns out that he agreed with the Brucolac the whole time; it was just
that he had some sort of bizarre subservience fetish that wouldn't let
him so much as express doubts, in private, to his oldest friend.
Except he didn't, really. While he was protesting his support of the
Lover's plan, while he was actually allowing his friend to be tortured
for opposing it, he was pulling strings to ensure that it never
happened. So if he was against the Scar expedition, and was willing to
work against his employers, why not collaborate with the the Brucolac,
instead of beating the shit out of him and stringing him up to die in
the sun?
>And the set pieces are impressive. The mosquito-island, the final
>scene of destruction, yadda yadda.
I really liked the Anophelii; they were far scarier than the
slake-moths ever were.
>There are weak bits. The protagonist is a bit too much of a passively
>manipulated pawn; Doul is just a bit too omnicompetent.
His overwhelming badmotherfuckerhood was a little cloying. What, it's
not enough he has a Magic Sword of Ass-Kicking +17, he's also got to
be the best fighter in the universe without it?
>A few things,
>like the death of the avanc and the survival of the Brucolac, fell too
>neatly into place -- one had the distinct sense of "everything going
>back to the way it was originally, world without end amen."
Especially how the avanc conveniently waited until the city was out of
the Hidden Ocean before dying. That was very... convenient.
> And now
>and then one could hear the sound of the author's personal axes
>getting ground. So the whole dispute ended up being about -- horrors
>-- trade; the soulless forces of wicked greed destroying individual
>lives and honor as they seek to etc. etc. etc.
Err. I really didn't see that at all.
>Also, is the
>government of New Crobuzon ever anything but utterly corrupt,
>oppressive and treacherous?
Actually, I didn't think the canal plans sounded terribly evil, though
I got the impression that Mieville wanted us to think they were.
>But these are quibbles. A good read, highly recommended.
On the whole, I agree.
Daniel Ban (Sharpe)
"Doug Muir" <sigi...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:7aa778f0.02100...@posting.google.com...
> "Daniel Ban \(Sharpe\)" <dan...@pacbell.net> wrote
>
> > Um, anyone feel like discussing The Scar or my review thereof?
>
> Sure. [Minor spoilers follow.]
>
> I thought _The Scar_ was very-good-to-excellent. Possibly half a
> notch above _Perdido Street Station_, which slumped a bit in spots.
>
> Mieville managed to surprise me at several points. Finch fooled me
> just as well as he did the hapless protagonist; I didn't quite believe
> in the grindylow invasion, but I didn't realize how effective his
> treachery would be. And Uther Doul's final turnaround was a trap very
> neatly sprung on both protagonist and reader. Surprising a reader
> like this is quite hard, and I was very impressed.
Agreed. Pretty much every thing about Uther Doul was excellent, but the
final maneuverings were just *beautiful* - again leaving the impression that
Uther knew more along than he showed.
> the mysterious bits were left nicely mysterious. We still don't know
> the true shape of Bas Lag, nor what the Ghosthead really were, nor how
> Doul got his sword and his fighting skills. Or even what the
> delightfully named monsters in the haunted section of town really are.
Yes, I am avidly awaiting a sequel, or other works in Bas Lag. Some things
we'll never know (like the monsters in the haunted section) but others just
cry out for follow up, like the further (or past) adventures of Uther Doul.
> There are weak bits. The protagonist is a bit too much of a passively
> manipulated pawn;
Hmm, I felt that in her anti-social passive/aggressive way Bellis was at
least as much of a user as she was used. I don't think that's Uther's use
of Bellis was as clear cut as you might think. Sure the final maneuver was
classically performed, but I think a long stretch, like the trip to the
Mosquito Island, show Bellis controlling her situation. Look at how Bellis
came out compared to everyone else who was on the Terpischoria. Of all the
people on that ill fated ship she seems to have done best overall, with the
possible exception of Tanner Sack.
> back to the way it was originally, world without end amen." And now
> and then one could hear the sound of the author's personal axes
> getting ground. So the whole dispute ended up being about -- horrors
> -- trade; the soulless forces of wicked greed destroying individual
> lives and honor as they seek to etc. etc. etc. Also, is the
> government of New Crobuzon ever anything but utterly corrupt,
> oppressive and treacherous?
Hmm, I felt that the primary theme of the Lover's quest was not Greed but
the old "absolute power corrupts absolutely" (or in this case the lust for
absolute power corrupts absolutely).
What I like overall was the mixture of standard fantasy elements (the hero
with the magic sword, leaders twisted by power, etc) with sci-fi, steampunk
and other elements like the texture of the characters, technology, the
mutated races, and the interesting and detailed world that Mieville created.
I haven't been able to find Perdido Street Station locally, so it looks like
I'll have to hit Amazon.
For anyone who's read it, how is King Rat? I've heard thats the weakest of
his published works.
Dan
David Goldfarb
Andrea Leistra <alei...@ptah.u.arizona.edu> wrote:
>Speaking of references, did you catch the name of the Crobuzoner flagship?
>Sneaky.
No, I have to say I didn't. Explain, please?
--
David Goldfarb <*>|"Poor dominoes. Your pretty empire took so long
gold...@ocf.berkeley.edu | to build. Now, with a snap of history's fingers...
| down it goes."
gold...@csua.berkeley.edu | -- Alan Moore, _V for Vendetta_
Andrea Leistra
David Goldfarb <gold...@OCF.Berkeley.EDU> wrote:
>In article <anfa0m$f6d$1...@oasis.ccit.arizona.edu>,
>Andrea Leistra <alei...@ptah.u.arizona.edu> wrote:
>>Speaking of references, did you catch the name of the Crobuzoner flagship?
>>Sneaky.
>
>No, I have to say I didn't. Explain, please?
_Morning Walker_.
Which is suspiciously close to _Dawn Treader_. (The ship that went to the
edge of the world in _Voyage of the Dawn Treader_, one of the Narnia
books).
--
Andrea Leistra
Richard Shewmaker
Nice one, Andrea. Thank you! Great observation. I love this stuff!