<![CDATA[The Scar]]>

false <![CDATA[The Scar]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170692699m/68497.jpg 68497 14 In the third book in an astounding, genre-breaking run, China Miéville expands the horizon beyond the boundaries of New Crobuzon, setting sail on the high seas of his ever-growing world of Bas Lag. The Scar begins with Miéville's frantic heroine, Bellis Coldwine, fleeing her beloved New Crobuzon in the peripheral wake of events relayed in Perdidio Street Station. But her voyage to the colony of Nova Esperium is cut short when she is shanghaied and stranded on Armada, a legendary floating pirate city. Bellis becomes the reader's unbelieving eyes as she reluctantly learns to live on the gargantuan flotilla of stolen ships populated by a rabble of pirates, mercenaries, and press-ganged refugees. Meanwhile, Armada and Bellis's future is skippered by the "Lovers," an enigmatic couple whose mirror-image scarring belies the twisted depth of their passion. To give up any more of Miéville's masterful plot here would only ruin the voyage through dangerous straits, political uprisings, watery nightmares, mutinous revenge, monstrous power plays, and grand aspirations. Miéville's skill in articulating brilliantly macabre and involving descriptions is paralleled only by his ability to set up world-moving plot twists that continually blow away the reader's expectations. Man-made mutations, amphibious aliens, transdimensional beings, human mosquitoes, and even vampires are merely neighbors, coworkers, friends, and enemies coexisting in the dizzying tapestry of diversity that is Armada. The Scar proves Miéville has the muscle and talent to become a defining force as he effortlessly transcends the usual clichés of the genre. --Jeremy Pugh 731674 2002 The Scar total:1823|5:739|4:737|3:274|2:60|1:13| 1823 7598 2562 220 5 8 false false Wed Jun 04 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun May 25 05:26:21 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 05 17:00:38 -0700 2008 The Scar. Not because I was bored, or because the story was particularly impenetrable, but simply because I did not want the book to be over.

I did finish it, however. And for a good ten minutes after the last s...more...]]> 5 3 false false Tue Mar 25 15:21:12 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 31 21:44:40 -0700 2009 The Scar last night because I needed a dose of Mieville's prose, and was blown away, as I always am, by Mieville's description of place. This time he is describing Bas-Lag's oceans. He captures flavours and temperatures and underwater sounds and the danger inherent in the waters that hav...more...]]> 4 3 false false Wed May 30 08:30:37 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 13 04:37:36 -0700 2007 Juddering.

These are not words that I am using to describe China Mieville's writing, but words that China Mieville uses to describe, well, everything. The most irritating part of his otherwise excellent Perdido Street Station is still very much in pla...more...]]> 4 2 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun May 13 15:03:47 -0700 2007 Sun May 13 15:03:51 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Mar 31 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Dec 11 13:04:43 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 11 13:05:36 -0800 2008
"The Scar" is set in the same universe as "Perdido Street Station", but is not a sequel. It follows a very strange journey of a woman named Bellis, as she flees New Crobuzon by boat in th...more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Jul 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 08 07:16:28 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 30 12:53:48 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Mon Mar 26 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jan 31 06:43:05 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 09 06:08:41 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Oct 25 08:30:44 -0700 2007 Thu Dec 13 16:52:31 -0800 2007
Mieville has overcome most of PSS's weaknesses here. This plot is far more tight and controlled. Don't misunde...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Nov 19 11:32:23 -0800 2007 Thu Jan 24 12:00:50 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 18 17:13:22 -0700 2009 Mon May 18 17:22:43 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue May 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed May 06 09:27:44 -0700 2009 Wed May 06 10:08:01 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Aug 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 02 18:22:10 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 18:45:02 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 1 false true Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 02 14:30:46 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 10 10:15:50 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Nov 20 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 12 11:02:43 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 20 19:31:54 -0800 2009 The Scar's heroine, Bellis Coldwine, is a translator on the merchant vessel Terpsichoria. When the ship is overtaken by pirates, Bellis is brought to Armada, a floating city made up of stolen ships. The pirates of Armada capture new ships to grow the city, introduce new laborers to its workforce, ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Feb 09 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 31 06:28:47 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 09 13:15:00 -0800 2009 Perdido Street Station, but geographically the story is set many thousands of miles from Crobuzon, the main city of China Miéville's world of Bas Lag. Following the adventures/misadventures of a cast of characters who all are leaving...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jan 02 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Dec 22 06:57:12 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 02 18:34:03 -0800 2009 The Scar may be Mieville's best Bas-Lag novel. It's more focused than Perdido Street Station and more polished than Iron Council.

The only thing holding Mieville back is his prose, which is all too often rambling or grating. It's too easy to identify Mieville's favorite vocabulary ('aghas...more...]]> 4 0 false true Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Nov 02 20:22:29 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 12 10:23:57 -0800 2009
That doesn't change the fact that The Scar was a lot longer than it needed ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jul 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 06 08:53:19 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 20 07:12:27 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Apr 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 01 10:53:24 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 15 13:43:12 -0700 2009
Things that prevent me from reading fantasy novels:
1. Lack of imagination. If not to envision new and original worlds, what is the genre for? Why, then, do w...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 30 22:26:14 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 03 20:56:53 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=68497