The Scar 118
The Scar | |
author | China Mieville |
pages | 638 |
publisher | Del Rey |
rating | 9 |
reviewer | ajm |
ISBN | 0345444388 |
summary | genre-breaking steampunk fantasy - a must read |
I'll try not to reveal too much of the plot in this review. It doesn't spoil the book if you know what's going to happen next (I've read it a couple of times myself), but watching it all unfold through the language of China Mieville is far better than reading my bland precis here. I'll just say that it's gripping enough to make you want to keep reading, and to linger over the marvelous settings. It's also a more straightforward narrative than Perdido Street Station, so if you found the twists in that one a bit confusing don't let it put you off The Scar. To get my biases and preferences on the table, I'm normally a straightforward science fiction reader of the usual suspects, for instance William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, some David Webber, Peter Watts (you've got to read Starfish), Ken Macleod, and Richard Paul Russo.
Bas-Lag, the setting for The Scar, is a strange world. Physically it's not clear it's even spherical. Technologically, it's steampunk, with punch card-driven calculating engines, steam-powered heavy industry, and airships. Magic, referred to as thaumaturgy, works in this world, but the understanding of it is like late 19th Century physics. The scientists of Bas Lag know there is a physical underpinning to thaumaturgy, and they understand some of the particles and forces involved. It is manipulated by calculation and machines, not spells and wands, but some are more skilled in its use than others. The inhabitants themselves are of many different races. Some (the beetle headed kepri, the cactacae, and the remade) will be familiar if you've read Perdido Street Station. Others, for instance the ab-dead, the anophelii, and the grindylow, are new. None seems out of place in Bas Lag, and all have a part to play in the story. The richness of the setting, with all of its excellently described details, really brings Bas-Lag to life.
The story is told mostly from the point of view of Bellis Coldwine, a linguist fleeing New Crobuzon on the first vessel she can get passage on, a prison ship taking a cargo of remade prisoners to one of New Crobuzon's colonies. She and the other main characters in the book are interesting -- not just for their strangeness, but for how they adapt themselves to and deal with the situations they find themselves in. For instance, there's Uther Doul, born in the city of High Chromlech, where the reanimated high-caste dead rule over the living; Tanner Sack, remade in New Crobuzon's punishment factories with tentacles grafted to his chest; and the Lovers, the scarred rulers of the most powerful part of a very strange city.
As in Perdido Street Station, China Mieville uses language wonderfully, particularly descriptive language. All the small details have the perfect names, from pubs called "Unrealized Time" and "The Clock and Cockerel" (now isn't that an excellent name for a pub?), to ships called "Grand Easterly" (shades of Isambard Kingdom Brunel) and "Terpsichoria," to the Witchocracy, Hive of the Jet Sorrow. His descriptions of places and characters are just as good. In other reviews of his work, you'll see comparisons to Charles Dickens and Stephen King, and in fact just about every other descriptive writer you could name.
For me, the main theme of the book is scarring -- physical and emotional -- what it means and what its effects are. All of the main characters in the book, and even the land of Bas-Lag itself, have been scarred. For some, as a chirgeon says, "Scars are not injuries, Tanner Sack. A scan is a healing. After injury, a scar is what makes you whole." For others, like the Lovers, scars are a source of power while for the scabmettlers they are protection.
I'd highly recommend The Scar to just about anyone, apart from hard-core space opera fans perhaps. It's an enjoyable read, but it's also a good book in a larger sense. The first two thirds are perhaps superior to the last third but when it's all so good who am I to quibble? It has great descriptive passages combined with a interesting plot involving compelling characters, set in a fully realized world. The only problem is, how is China Mieville going to top it in his next book?
You can purchase The Scar from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
more reviews (Score:2, Informative)
Perdido was horrible. (Score:4, Interesting)
No way in heck I'm trying the sequel. I wish I could get my money back for the first.
Re:Perdido was horrible. (Score:1, Redundant)
What's the Similarian? (Score:1)
Re:What's the Similarian? (Score:2)
Damn, plenty of these people here think that the LOTR crap is Sci-Fi..
Wow...talk about wooooosh.... (Score:1)
Re:Perdido was horrible. (Score:1)
I read about half of Peridido. I also did not like it enough to finish it. Though some of the concepts were neat, the characters were totally unbelievable and I never empathized with any of them.
Re:Perdido was horrible. (Score:1, Redundant)
I think its an honest, well-reasoned opinion which is somewhat close to a real review.
I would mod it as "Interesting" because it has a different view point worthy of reading.
Re:Perdido was horrible. (Score:2)
I personally found Perdido one of the better written books that I've ever read. However, for me, the pleasure is all in the manner of telling, not in the story. Yes, I am a form over substance guy when it comes to fiction. I thrive on the ambient details. Some of my favorite authors: Gene Wolfe, John Crowley, Peter Straub (only for Shadowlands and Ghost Story; I detested Floating Dragon), Thomas Wolfe, Philip Pullman, Mary Gentle, Sheri S. Tepper, Garth Nix, and Ray Bradbury.
My list of least
Re:Perdido was horrible. (Score:2)
Re:Perdido was horrible. (Score:1)
Re:Perdido was horrible. (Score:1)
I never found the prose to be clunky. Verbose, but maybe you had pro
Re:Perdido was horrible. (Score:1)
As for the extreme language you don't like, I'll repeat one more time: I hated the book. I thought it was grade F horrible. I don't say that to be contrarian. I say it because I believe it. Onc
Re:Perdido was horrible. (Score:1)
Well, I loved Perdido, better than The Scar, in my opinion. But I'm glad to hear your opinion kid zeus, I can agree with you entirely, on most of your points I am with you.
There was just something about PSS & The Scar that made me enjoy them entirely, not sure why, which in itself annoys me
Apparently the style is similar to that of Mervyn Peakes Gormenghast novels, but they are still sitting on that shelf
Re:Perdido was horrible. (Score:1)
Re:Perdido was horrible. (Score:3, Informative)
I read Scar first and was moderately disappointed by Perdido.
I also had trouble getting into Perdido and getting through it though I kept reading hoping to see some of Scar come through in his writing and it did but not until 2/3rds of the book was behind me.
Re:Perdido was horrible. (Score:1)
King Rat is not IMHO in the same league as The Scar or PSS but still worth a read.
I am not surprised that some posters couldn't get on with these novels though.
Mieville's style is really quite unusual and extreme.
In a way his writing reminds me of Jack Vance. The books are worth reading simply for the language and the bizarre plots, characters and ideas are a bonus.
Perdido was brilliant (Score:2)
Ha! I just read this!! (Score:5, Interesting)
One of the creepiest and most striking images from the book was Doul's description of his home city of High Chromlech, with its quiet streets full of shuffling high-caste dead, with their lips sewn together. Only a fine writer could pack so much imagination and imagery into a few short pages, and The Scar is full of this, It's part Dickensian (though less so than Perdido), part Lovecraftian, part Moorock, but transcends all those sources. The main character is a bit of a dud (the supporting characters are far more interesting), and the ending fizzles just a little, but the ride getting there justifies the trip. I really enjoyed it, and I highly recommend it to Slashdot!!
Re:Ha! I just read this!! (Score:2)
Mieville manages to do a mixture of genres an ideas without falling for the old cliches of "to find something new, just mix some of the old". Surprisingly enough, the author manages to surprise the reader with a few snippets of worlds not yet visited, of tales yet untold.
The ideas seem to have been trimmed down just for the sake of being too large to fit on the book and have crumbled
Re:Ha! I just read this!! (Score:1)
Re:Ha! I just read this!! (Score:2)
so that you may post comments about the book. otherwise, it may say 5 of 10 comments. 5 of which have been moded down troll or flamebait. the other five, focused on the day's SCO story,goatse,soviet russia, and welcoming our new overlord of the hour. (2 links to goatse.)
Re:Ha! I just read this!! (Score:1)
Re:Ha! I just read this!! (Score:1)
not a space opera? what a drag... (Score:1)
Damn..
well that pretty much counts me and all MY friends out...
$3.75 cheaper at amazon (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345444388
Amazon has this book for $3.75 cheaper than bn
Spend $11.75 more to get free shipping.
If you want to support my efforts to provide prompt Amazon pricing information, add ccats-20 to the end of the above URL. Thanks.
Re:$3.75 cheaper at amazon (Score:1)
The Scar on Half.com [ebay.com]
Thanks (Score:1)
Re:$3.75 cheaper at amazon (Score:2, Funny)
It's sad you don't know how to use the Internet effectively. Here's a quick tutorial, since you're obviously incapable of discovering this on your own.
1) Open your browser. That's the program you use to connect to the Internet. You'll probably see it as a big blue "e" on your screen.
2) Click the address bar. That's the big line near the top of the screen that has a funny looking line of text starting with "http" or s
Re:$3.75 cheaper at amazon (Score:1)
The horror, the horror! 7 steps instead of 1! Oh god, the horror!
I really am that lazy, too...
Don't forget to go to your public library (Score:5, Insightful)
Remember folks, we wouldn't all be geeks if there wasn't a public library around. Support your public library. Support library levies. The more money they make, the better materials and services they can have.
Re:Don't forget to go to your public library (Score:2, Funny)
I make a point of always returning my books late.
KFG
Not Amazing (Score:2, Interesting)
Then again I bought this (hardback) for 4 quid in a bargain bookship to held prop up a bowing bookshelf, so I didn't mind!
Re:Not Amazing (Score:1)
China Mieville is one of SF's new wonders (Score:5, Interesting)
The only thing that cheers me up is seeing that every now and then another amazing writer hits the scene. China Mieville is one of those, IMHO.
His stuff is just about the most original I've seen in the last 10yrs, at least. I can't even put it in a genre. The reviewer mentions steampunk, but that's not complete... there are so many elements and
It's not for everyone. One poster mentioned he couldn't read the book, and set it down after 100pp.
I actually think that might be a common reaction. There are a lot of folks who seem unable to read stuff that's written in a original style, (i.e. not blandified for mass readership)
Reminds me of a friend that I loaned Samuel Delaney's Dhalgren to. He gave it back a few days later, and said he coldn't make it past the first 10pp or so, because it was messing with his head too much.
Of course, that guy (my friend) had a tendency to have bad trips, so it may not entirely have been Delaney's awesome writing.
Re:China Mieville is one of SF's new wonders (Score:2, Interesting)
Not being able to read 'truly original work' isn't the problem here. The problem I found that Mieville was far more interested in proving how 'utterly charming' his world was than crafting a good story. I don't need (or even prefer) traditional narratives. What I need and prefer is good prose instead of the amateurish stuff I found in Perdido. As well as characters who's acti
Re:China Mieville is one of SF's new wonders (Score:1)
As is ay above I like PSS and The Scar, and respect your dislike. And I absolutely lurve Gun With Occasional Music, wonderful little book. Maybe both sides of the debate should read it.
Well, that was about as pointless as my last comment, but I felt I needed to say it.
Re:China Mieville is one of SF's new wonders (Score:1)
Iain M. Banks (Score:1)
Re:Iain M. Banks (Score:1)
If you like Consider Phlebas a lot, I'd recommend the first book by a fairly new author. It's called Altered Carbon, by Richard K. Morgan. Great hard-boiled style. In fact it's the book I picked up when I put Perdido down, and it washed the taste right out.
Richard Morgan (Score:1)
We seem to have similar tastes; I finished reading _Altered Carbon_ a week ago and loved it.
Have you read Morgan's other book set in the same universe, _Broken Angels_?
I hear different, in a good way, and *even better*!
Re:Richard Morgan (Score:1)
But another one you may really like is Jonathon Lethem's first, 'Gun, With Occasional Music.' Very similar in certain ways (gritty future, hard-boiled styled detective story). Not as exciting, but even more cr
Re:Richard Morgan (Score:1)
Re:Iain M. Banks (Score:1)
As for "Perdido Street Station", I found the world to be wonderfully realized, but the unrelenting nastiness pretty much wore me down, the same problem I had with Peter F. Hamilton's "Night's Dawn" trilogy. And this considering Iain Banks is not averse to pretty strong imagery himself.
I snortled your chir-blek! (Score:4, Interesting)
Sorry, I'm not attacking the book, since I haven't read Perdido, nor any work by this author, but if the review is an indication, this falls into the category of sci-fi author who feels the need to throw strange terminology out there to make it feel "different". In my experience, this is what happens when an author can't make the story compelling enough on its own merits - I mean, every sci-fi or science fantasy work has strange, inexplicable elements. And, sure, some of them will have odd and unusual names. But it should be done where it's important to the plot, the storytelling and the characters, not just because it sounds cooler to call it a "sneebleblex" than a "car". And generally nonstandard words that at least convey an image to the target audience are substantially better than random combinations of non-standard phonemes.
Anyway, this isn't intended to be a flame against this author, just a general gripe I have with a type of sci-fi. I'm going to go back to snortling my chir-blek now.
Re:I snortled your chir-blek! (Score:2)
Re:I snortled your chir-blek! (Score:5, Interesting)
this falls into the category of sci-fi author who feels the need to throw strange terminology out there to make it feel "different".
Not at all. The "strange terminology" is used mainly to refer to alien species. The rest of the language is ornate, but based on English and Latin derivations for the most part. The milieu of Perdido Street Station is so odd and wonderful that the author could refer to the various races by numbers and still the city of New Crobuzon would dazzle readers.
I was a bit disappointed by The Scar, mainly because it didn't give me the same Shock Of The New that PSS did[1], but it's a far better work than most of the stuff in bookstores.
[1] I experienced the same let-down when I read Gibson's Count Zero, because Neuromancer was a hard act to follow. When I re-read his cyberspace triology, however, I realized that the other two books were every bit as good as the first.
Re:I snortled your chir-blek! (Score:2)
Give the books a try. If you approach with an open mind I think you'll
Re:I snortled your chir-blek! (Score:2, Insightful)
Unfortunately, I found I didn't care enough for the more human characters to give a damn what happened, so in the end I t
I really liked Perdido Street Station (Score:2)
I'd ordered it, and then read some of the Amazon.com reader-reviews, and wondered if I'd made a mistake. I didn't - was an amazing book.
Set where? (Score:2)
Is that where all the LPBs come from?
pathetic (Score:1, Funny)
Anyone who got past this nonsense has my bemused respect. No wonder nobody reads sci-fi. Yagharek indeed.
Re:pathetic (Score:2, Funny)
Re:pathetic (Score:2, Offtopic)
Let's see, in honor of your .sig and handle...
"The setting isn't the Shire, and the story of Gandalf The White, Frodo Baggins and Samwise is not continued in The Simarilion. Balrog indeed."
(-:
Son of Faramir? (Score:2, Offtopic)
Right, then.
But his post explains they .sig; I guess he didn't read LOTR, either.
Others in genre? (Score:1)
And for those have to get a joke in: what is the name of this subgenre?
Re:Others in genre? (Score:1)
I haven't read any of Noon's work, but I've read all the Banks I can get my hand on (don't forget the 'non-M' books, published under the name 'Iain Banks'; they're not inevitably SF as the 'M' books are, but they're also rich and surprising). Also, I'd suggest Michael Swanwick and Tim Powers. Both write similarly convoluted and packed novels.
And of course you've read Vernor Vinge's 'A Fire Upon the Deep' and 'A Deepness in the Sky', right? Those are also pretty heavy, wi
My review (Score:3, Insightful)
This is something as unusual as a fantasy book that I enjoyed reading. Except for Tolkien I postively loath fantasy - all that Eddings and Shananananana crap - which seems mostly to be stupid D&D induced masturbatory escapism recorded and published for God knows what reason. Interestingly, I read something by Mieville describing how much he hates Tolkien - I love it, especially The Silmarillion, but I can see why disliking Tolkien is probably a necessity for producing good fantasy.
This isn't about kings and dwarves and dragons, but rather set in a fantasy world with technological level fixed in early industrial, rather than medieval, times. Mieville uses this as a basis for a fastasy in the true sense of the word - not just picking off Tolkien and folk stories, but imagining a completely different world what I've read anywhere else. He has fun doing it, and so does the reader.
Still, there are things about the book that don't work out completely. Some things about it aren't really credible (most of the book is set in a floating city made up tethered ships - at times you are left wondering why one of the characters doesn't just light a match and say goodbye to the whole place. There is a reason fireships were feared in maritime combat when most hulls were wooden). The main character achieves very little, which is fine but ultimately she is completely forgetable, which is unforgivable. And while I don't mind that the book doesn't come to a text-book conclusion one is left wondering by the end of the six hundred pages why one didn't just stop reading two hundred pages earlier. It doesn't help that Mieville writes out the most compelling characters much earlier.
Re:My review (Score:2)
This isn't about kings and dwarves and dragons, but rather set in a fantasy world with technological level fixed in early industrial, rather than medieval, times.
Isn't this rather like criticizing science fiction by dismissin
The city was the main character (you idiot) (Score:2, Interesting)
i, for one, immensely enjoyed his longish descriptions of new crobuzon and the myriad species that lived there. comparisons to dickens in this regard would not be unjustified.
to classify perdido, or the scar as SF is really the heart of the problem though. mieville himself
Re:The city was the main character (you idiot) (Score:1)
Less visceral than Perdido Street Station (Score:1)
The Scar has much of the same ornate yet gritty texture as PSS, and the prose is equally well-crafted, but I didn't have a strong emotional response to it. I found the bad
Perhaps better in a different medium (Score:1)
Pictures in the mind.... (Score:2)
The characters in The Scar were somewhat thinner, but I wouldn't say that of Perdido. Even the Slake Moths had character there.