Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Scar (New Crobuzon #2)

by China Miéville (Goodreads Author)

4.14 of 5 stars 4.14 · rating details · 11,583 ratings · 770 reviews

Aboard a vast seafaring vessel, a band of prisoners and slaves, their bodies remade into grotesque biological oddities, is being transported to the fledgling colony of New Crobuzon. But the journey is not theirs alone. They are joined by a handful of travelers, each with a reason for fleeing the city. Among them is Bellis Coldwine, a renowned linguist whose services as an...more

Paperback, 578 pages

Published June 29th 2004 by Del Rey (first published January 1st 2002)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Best Fantasy Books of the 21st Century

46th out of 1,013 books — 3,204 voters

Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books

266th out of 2,946 books — 12,411 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Apr 23, 2012 Nataliya rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Nataliya by: Catie

Shelves: hugo-nebula, 2012-reads, favorites, awesome-kickass-heroines, mieville-is-awesome, catie-knows-best, locus-winner, location-is-the-true-protagonist

Say goodbye to the festering filth of New Crobuzon! Welcome to a floating pirate city chock-full of mysteries, lies, betrayals, photophobic haemophages, and merciless manipulation.

Now, where do I apply for its citizenship???

A pirate city is every child's dream. Including, apparently, my own inner child, desperately in need of inner babysitter.

Before I say anything else in my review, I want to confess - I absolutely, wholeheartedly loved Armada. I loved its tolerance, its camaraderie, its stubb...more
Say goodbye to the festering filth of New Crobuzon! Welcome to a floating pirate city chock-full of mysteries, lies, betrayals, photophobic haemophages, and merciless manipulation.

Now, where do I apply for its citizenship???

A pirate city is every child's dream. Including, apparently, my own inner child, desperately in need of inner babysitter.

Before I say anything else in my review, I want to confess - I absolutely, wholeheartedly loved Armada. I loved its tolerance, its camaraderie, its stubbornness, its unbelievable spirit and tenacity. I loved the harmony, the creation of a whole out of so many varying bits, pieces, cultures, races, nations. I loved the respect for knowledge. I loved the concept of creating a habitable place in the midst of unwelcoming ocean. Basically, I embraced it with the same fierce loyalty that Tanner Sack did, and it pained me to see it threatened.
**************************************************

“A scar is not an injury, Tanner Sack. A scar is a healing. After an injury, a scar is what makes you whole.”

The titular Scar has many meanings, multilayered just like Miéville's prose and storytelling. We see the literal ones - on the faces of the Lovers and on the backs of Tanner and Bellis. We hear about the mythical one, a splitting wound in the fabric of reality. Scars become the symbols of fight, survival, love, unity, pain, remembrance, and healing. They can be seen in many ways, in the light of many endless possibilities.

"Scars are memory. Like sutures. They stitch the past to me."

**********************************************
Miéville's imagination remains truly amazing and boundless. I don't think there is anything that this man cannot conjure out of the depths of his prodigious mind. He takes the existing concepts - cities, piracy, monstrous sea creatures - and turns them onto their heads, brings along new and unexpected angles, creates unbelievable depths, and in the process reveals so much about human nature that it is almost unsettling.

His grasp of language continues to astonish me. He plays with his astounding trademark dictionary-heavy vocabulary, spinning magical tales with SAT-style words, not talking down to the reader, not simplifying for the sake of reaching the masses, but taking the beauty of the language and running with it to create the unexpected and alluring musical prose that at times almost borders on poetry. As I said before, Miéville was likely born clutching a dictionary, and should be required reading in the SAT prep courses.

Flotsam. Puissance. Susurrus. Pusillanimous. Assiduous. Thank you for my ever expanding vocabulary, Mr. Miéville.
******************************************

THE STORY ITSELF: Don't be fooled by the designation of "New Crobuzon #2" for The Scar. The huge poisonous filthy city is a constant presence weighing on the minds of our ex-Crobuzoner characters, but we are spared its suffocating bulk and do not meet any of the familiar characters from Perdido Street Station.

Our link to New Crobuzon is Bellis Coldwine, a reserved and disillusioned linguist sailing away in the self-imposed exile to New Crobuzon colonies. On her ship, below decks, destined to be a slave, is Tanner Sack, a Remade - a victim of the cruel body-altering Crobuzonian system of punishment. Bellis is an exile hoping to return someday; Tanner is little more than worthless cargo. No wonder they react in polarly opposite ways when their ship is taken over by pirates and they find themselves new "press-ganged" citizens of a floating pirate city, a huge melting pot, which, like the Hotel California, "you can never leave".

"That, after all, was what Armada was - a colony of the lost, the renegade, the absent-without-leave, the defeated."

For Tanner and other Remade it's a paradise to which you cannot help but be fiercely loyal. For Bellis, it's a place that dared to take her choice away from her, and she's not happy.

"And if it comes to weighing up your desire to return against the desires, for example, of the several hundred "Terpsichoria" Remade who are now allowed to live as something more than animals, then I'm afraid I find your need less than pressing."

Suddenly the newcomers find themselves drawn into an ambitious conspiracy that can bring greatness to Armada - that is, unless it brings its destruction first. And, as one can expect, when existing powers in search of even more power collide with the lives of regular people, it can bring little but brokenness, pain, and despair.

Miéville expands on the horror shown in Perdido Street Station - the terrible punishment that the Remade have to endure. For their crimes they are marked for life, horrifically modified, and permanently reduced to the miserable existence of 'freaks', nightmarish slaves. left with nothing, no chances, no possibilities. That's why I instantly loved Armada - for dispensing away with the cruelty, for accepting them and admitting what New Crobuzon denies - that they are who they are, with rights and possibilities, with chance for love and respect.

“She was Remade she was (Remade scum), he knew it, he saw it, and still he felt incessantly what was inside him, and he felt a great scab of habit and prejudice split from him, part from his skin where his homeland had inscribed him deep. [...]There was a caustic pain as he peeled off a clot of old life and exposed himself open and unsure to her, to new air. [...] His feelings welled out and bled together (their festering ceased) and they began to resolve, to heal in a new form, to scar.”

***********************************
Characterization remains Miéville's strong point. With just few words and sentences he creates memorable and vivid characters that feel alive and real, ready to step out of the page.

"Everything has changed. I cannot be used anymore. Those days are over. I know too much. What I do now, I do for me."

Our main viewpoint character Bellis Coldwine is amazingly written. She is an unusual female character - middle-aged, chain-smoking, cold and cynical, stubborn and strong-willed, in full control of her emotions, with walls of reserve surrounding her - and she is not waiting for anyone to take these walls down. She is smart and resilient; she is a survivor. Beautifully written, she is fully realized, relatable without being always likable, making you root for her while being angry at her at the same time - a lifelike love-hate relationship, ultimately culminating in understanding and respect. Likewise, the rest of the characters - Tanner, Uther Doul, Brucolac, Shekel, Carrianne - all have these lifelike multilayered personalities that cannot help but captivate the reader, which is a true testament to Miéville's writing skills.

********************************************
And an unexpected bonus - there are GRINDYLOWS in this book! Up until now, my sole exposure to them was though Harry Potter universe, in a shrill Hermione voice:
****

****

Amazing, beautifully written, multilayered book with excellent characters and masterfully crafted setting. 5 stars without any hesitation. Thank you, Mr. Miéville, for this amazing read that kept me engrossed in your fantastic world for so many days. And special thanks to Catie for embarking on this awesome Miéville journey with me. It was great!

“In time, in time they tell me, I'll not feel so bad. I don't want time to heal me. There's a reason I'm like this. I want time to set me ugly and knotted with loss of you, marking me. I won't smooth you away. I can't say goodbye.”

(less)

60 likes · like · see review

Jan 17, 2013 Whitaker rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: e-book, fantasy-scifi, 2013-read

I bow my head in acknowledgement of Miéville's inventiveness. Who else but the Master of Weird would have thought up of anophelii, mosquito men and women? Or of crays, people with the head and torso of a man and the lower half of a crayfish? Or of Armada, a huge floating city made up of boats and ships all tied together? To me, however, it was all just a lot of flashy window dressing. This is all well and good. Clearly there are a lot of people who enjoy that and who find it interesting. I was n...more I bow my head in acknowledgement of Miéville's inventiveness. Who else but the Master of Weird would have thought up of anophelii, mosquito men and women? Or of crays, people with the head and torso of a man and the lower half of a crayfish? Or of Armada, a huge floating city made up of boats and ships all tied together? To me, however, it was all just a lot of flashy window dressing. This is all well and good. Clearly there are a lot of people who enjoy that and who find it interesting. I was not one of those; it did not captivate me.

For me, it was a struggle to make it to the end of the novel. Part of that was the hero's character. The aptly-named Beliss Coldwine is misanthropic, coldly contemptuous, and constantly angry, with a sneering judgement for everything and everyone. It was not fun spending so much time in her company.

Part of it was the writing. This is the first line of the first chapter:

It is only ten miles beyond the city that the river loses its momentum, drooling into the brackish estuary that feeds Iron Bay.

That's pretty good: "drooling" is unexpected and accurately evocative. Then two chapters later, we get:

…a huge minaret of girders soared and drooled fire…

Not so good. And later:

One heads southwest for the shallow water, for Iron Bay and Tarmuth and the drooling dilute salt of the Gross Tar estuary…

Even less meaningful. Here's all the metaphoric uses of "drool" I came across:

A constant drool of trash fouled the water and was swallowed by it.

She walked with him … out between buildings in the drooling rain…

Water began to drool through the holes and over the opened-up skin…

The cactus-man came back, fifteen minutes later, carrying three fat leather waterskins full of brine, that Tanner drooled over himself, and sluiced through his gills.

…skin drooling brine on the matting…

He locks the box, and then drools more of the tallow all over its seam.

The mast was melting… its substance oozing over itself as it spat and drooled downwards…

…I remember every layer, like colours of sand drooled into a bottle…

WTF, dude? You were so pleased with finding that metaphor that you decided you couldn't be bothered to think of others? That's what the writing felt like to me.

Still, I will tip my hat to Miéville for doing what I think he is doing here: writing an anti-epic.(view spoiler) As a concept that's pretty cool, and thus, it's all the more a pity that the work itself did not appeal more to me.(less)

22 likes · like · see review

Mar 17, 2013 Cecily rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: overrated, sci-fi-or-futuristic

** Update: Since reading this, I have read "The City and The City", which I thought was MUCH better (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...) and then "Embassytown", which was fantastic (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...). This review stands as my reaction to reading it, though I now think it probably does Mieville an injustice. **

A very hard book to rate because it is so inconsistent in plot, pace, language and even genre. It could possibly be turned into a good book, but it needs a lot...more ** Update: Since reading this, I have read "The City and The City", which I thought was MUCH better (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...) and then "Embassytown", which was fantastic (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...). This review stands as my reaction to reading it, though I now think it probably does Mieville an injustice. **

A very hard book to rate because it is so inconsistent in plot, pace, language and even genre. It could possibly be turned into a good book, but it needs a lot of work to achieve that. On the evidence of this book, I can only conclude that Mieville is not a very good writer.

The weird fantasy cum steampunk story concerns a floating pirate city (made up of stolen vessels lashed together) and particularly three characters kidnapped on their way to settle a new land: a 15 year cabin boy, a remade slave and a translator needing to start a new life. Once in the city, there are power struggles between rulers, particularly over a grand, vague and probably dangerous plan to harness unknown powers emanating from a rift in the planet (the eponymous “scar”).

It opens with a commentary about sea creatures and landscapes that could be lifted from the Discovery Channel – until mention of a he-cray with a hunting squid. But that’s OK because Meiville is quirky.

Very little happens in the first third of the book, but it’s saved by some wonderfully vivid descriptions of extraordinary lifeforms and the architecture of the floating city (tree silhouettes “wetly inked onto the clouds”; “the deck’s periscopic cowls crooned like dolorous flutes”; a man “crippled with the understanding of his own inadequacy”; a vampire’s moonship being “opulent and unwelcoming” and “urgent” bonhomie from dockside pubs). There are even some funny things (bureaucratic pirates) even though it isn’t a funny book.

But as the plot picks up, the structure and language fall apart: minor niggles from earlier become more pronounced and new problems arise. However, I'm putting the examples in spoiler tags because although I want to keep them for my own reference, I've since revised my opinion of Mieville:
(view spoiler)[
• There is very little back story, even for the main characters and people/creatures are mostly described in isolation (no mention of family structures, and only a couple of mentions of children), so they feel flimsy.
• In places the narrative is quite confusing, especially when after pages of not much happening, there is suddenly a lot of poorly explained action.
• For all the vivid description of some things, there were many others that I couldn’t really picture or understand.
• As well as the main narrative, there are numerous interludes: letters and first person monologues, which just seem a gimmicky cop-out for filling in a bit of background.
• The first part is moderately realistic (Shawshank came to mind at one point), but about half way through, magic becomes more evident and there are shades of Harry Potter (invisibility, grindylows) and Hitchhiker’s (possibility mining).
• There are 5 words he consistently spells oddly, for no apparent reason: chymical, seawryms, wyrd, elytricity and vampir.
• The swearing is usually too sudden, graphic and out of character, and similarly with the only two sex scenes – more reminiscent of a pubescent trying to shock. I was not offended by the words, but by their awkwardness.
• He uses the word “puissant” ludicrously and distractingly often.
• There are some egregious phrases, such as “the Brucolac was leaned over”, “all of you wouldn’t have died” and “I can’t hardly imagine”; awful metaphors such as “watching his influence spread like antibiotic in diseased flesh”; tenses skipping all over the place, even within a paragraph, and carelessness when a crucial statue is suddenly referred to as a “statuette” and then a “statue” again – all on the same page.

Yet there are a few glorious passages, particularly concerning the joyous liberation of becoming literate and of becoming amphibious, as well as some interesting ideas near the end about alternative realities and parallel universes (“reality rippled about him”). If only there had been more of that.

I don't understand why he is a lauded as much as he is or how come he teaches creative writing at Warwick University. Well, I suppose his writing is unarguably "creative", just not very good.

At 795 pages it is easily the longest bad book I've read! (hide spoiler)](less)

12 likes · like · see review

Apr 24, 2012 Catie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012, fantasy, series, favorite-books

Scars are funny things. They are traumas long past. They are reminders of people we’ve known and places we’ve been. They are healing; they are memory; they are history. Scars can change us into something brand new; scars can show the world that we’ve been irreparably broken. Scars are full of Possibility.

And so, The Armada: a place where new scars are made and old ones fall away. A massive floating city, cobbled together with stolen and salvaged boats, stolen and salvaged people. Slaves, servant...more

25 likes · like · see review

view all 47 comments

Nataliya Jim wrote: "Ooh, a birthday!! I can see that pile growing larger already! (and that's a GOOD thing!)
Nataliya, I have had really positive experience wi...more
Apr 25, 2012 07:05pm

Jim Nataliya wrote: "Jim, I've had great experiences with them as well. I love getting books for next to nothing since I never have enough money to buy ne...more
Apr 25, 2012 08:12pm

Jun 05, 2008 Crystal rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: weary genre fiction readers, people with big imaginations

Shelves: favorites

It took me two days to get through the last 50 pages of China Miéville's 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 sentence I found myself staring into space, stunned and cut adrift and wishing for another 50 pages. When I eventually sat down to begin this review, I realized that I had no idea what made the book so amazing.

And tha...more

39 likes · like · see review

Apr 10, 2009 Tim Lepczyk rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, science-fiction, brown, one-and-a-half-stars, needs-an-editor, not-as-good-as-everyone-says

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. In a follow up to his acclaimed novel, Perdido Street Station, Mieville offers up a novel that falls short. For those that loved Perdido Street Station, this novel takes place in the same world where New Crobuzon exists, but follows characters aboard a floating city scrapped together from a multitude of ships. Mieville has something, which few fantasy writers do: a love for words. However, that doesn't mean he should be free of editing or allow himself to get carried away. His books are epics sp...more In a follow up to his acclaimed novel, Perdido Street Station, Mieville offers up a novel that falls short. For those that loved Perdido Street Station, this novel takes place in the same world where New Crobuzon exists, but follows characters aboard a floating city scrapped together from a multitude of ships. Mieville has something, which few fantasy writers do: a love for words. However, that doesn't mean he should be free of editing or allow himself to get carried away. His books are epics spanning 600+ pages, but what in those pages is actually necessary for the story?
Some may argue that his descriptions ground the reader in the setting, and establish the overall mood (decay, grit, mistrustful, and isolation) that weigh on most characters and objects, but when this effect is achieved, do you have to continue throughout the novel? I found myself skimming the pages, because I could visualize the motley group of ships with new buildings sprouting up from their decks. I didn't need to be shown over and over again.
Another failure of this book is that not much happens.
The rulers raise a sea creature, harness it, and travel to a reality warping stretch of ocean where there is a mutiny and they turn back. In the process the primary character realizes she's been used repeatedly. I just saved you 623 pages of reading. Of course, I'm being a little harsh, but I wanted a lot more from this novel. Part of the problem is that I was not particularly invested in any of the characters. The primary character is someone who is reserved, cold and in control of her emotions. There is nothing to identify with or to sympathize. Who cares? Who cares what happens to her or anyone else? I'm thinking of epics with characters that are despicable whom a reader cares about. That leads me to Blood Meridian, full of deceitful killers, yet I care about them, I want to know what happens to them. There needs to be some resolution.
In this novel, not only do I not care about the characters, there is nothing that really ties it all together. Are we to find pleasure in Doul taking control of Armada, or Bellis returning home? It didn't matter to me.
While Mieville has conceived a world that is diverse, dangerous and fantastic, it does not mean this is a well constructed novel. Even the shifts in point of view "interludes" as Mieville groups them, and letters written in the first person show this weakness. He can't tell the story without bouncy around. It's Bellis' story, but not entirely. On the whole, this was a disappointment. If you read it, skim as much as possible, or even better, don't bother.(less)

4 likes · like · see review

Aug 08, 2011 Adam rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Fans of Melville and Verne

Shelves: steampunkery, literature-fantastique

The Scar is a wonderful evocation of the macabre adventure stories of Verne and Wells, philosophical treatise on dystopias/utopias, dark steampunk fantasia in the Moorcock vein, grisly spy story, mad quest worthy of Melville, and a language showcase. I think once the shock of the new wore off that caused people to fawn over Perdido Street Station(which for the most part deserved the praise) critics and readers dimissed the other two subsequent books of Mieville’s anti-trilogy. Well, they missed...more

6 likes · like · see review

Jul 27, 2011 Lori (Hellian) rated it 4 of 5 stars

And my marathon of Mielville continues! Again so different than PSS and Embassytown, I'm impressed.

Finito. Actually a few days ago. While reading Mielville I have so many thoughts, I even plan some sentences in my head for my GR review. But usually these thoughts are nowhere in sight when I sit and write! Especially with this book, because I'm still deliberating over the end. It's one of those ambivalent endings, what REALLY happened, there are various other possibilities.

Which is really the po...more

8 likes · like · see review

Jan 02, 2009 Ryan rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Scar may be Miéville's best Bas-Lag novel. It's more focused than Perdido Street Station and more ambitious than Iron Council.

Miéville's saga of Armada (an ocean city made up of pirated ships) will sweep readers away as though they've rediscovered their childhood imagination. Equally enjoyable is Miéville's exploration of alternative political systems and structures, such as the vampire protectorate of Dry Fell. The plot, premise, and setting all showcase an unbridled imagination that guides...more

6 likes · like · see review

Oct 30, 2008 Jacob rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: i-own, sci-fi-fantasy-etc, 2008-2009, essays-letters-journals-etc, mieville

October 2008

I really want to give this one a five of five--I do, I really do--but I can't. Just can't. But make no mistake, there isn't anything wrong with The Scar. Perish the thought. It's as fantastic, nightmarish, and intricate as only China Mieville can tell it, and I fell in love with it from the very first page (I think it was the line "presences something between molluscs and deities..." that did it). So why four stars?

Forgive me for saying this, but I still don't like The Scar--quite--a...more October 2008

I really want to give this one a five of five--I do, I really do--but I can't. Just can't. But make no mistake, there isn't anything wrong with The Scar. Perish the thought. It's as fantastic, nightmarish, and intricate as only China Mieville can tell it, and I fell in love with it from the very first page (I think it was the line "presences something between molluscs and deities..." that did it). So why four stars?

Forgive me for saying this, but I still don't like The Scar--quite--as much as Perdido Street Station. When I first read it way back in 2005, fresh from falling in love with PSS, I suppose I was thrown off a bit by the entirely new cast and setting in this one. Sure, The Scar was a definitely-not-a-sequel sequel to PSS, but I suppose, in my innocent WoT-and-other-generic-fantasy-addled mind, I was expecting more Isaac, more New Crobuzon, more of the same. Instead, Mieville gave us everything but New Crobuzon (and how!), but the effect felt a bit jarring. This wasn't how sequels are supposed to go!

I've since changed my mind about the issue, because Mieville was all-too-happy to show us how effing incredible the rest of Bas-Lag is. I envy that man's worldbuilding skills, and I didn't mind the change of setting the second time around, from noir/detective to adventure/quest (and, later in Iron Council, pure western). It's a pretty damn good story.

But the other reason it gets four stars is because, to be honest, I just didn't like it as much as the other Bas-Lag Books. Bellis Coldwine was never my favorite character, the worldbuilding occasionally distracts from the main plot, and despire Mieville's apparent flair for the anticlimax, the ending (after a 600-page buildup to what seems to be something big, there's a sudden turn, a 40-page wind-down as that big thing doesn't quite happen) still felt more on the disappointing side than the fantastic (and the ending to Iron Council, though anticlimactic as well, always seemed to be as fantastic as an anticlimax can be).

Now, I have a personal rule that you can't read Mieville for the ending--the point is not to get to the end and finish--because you gotta enjoy the ride instead, And I did. Mieville tells a story, and tells it incredibly well. Really, this is a fantastic book. An awesome book. After Perdido Street Station, it was the best I'd read in years. But as much as I want to give it the five stars, I can't bring myself to do it. Just can't. But that's just me, I guess.(less)

8 likes · like · see review

Mar 31, 2009 Brad rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: faves, speculative, mieville50, to-read-again

I restarted 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 have no boundaries in a way that is poetry for me. I have heard from other readers that these disconnected, deep descriptions are difficult beginnings for them, that they make it tough to connect early w...more

17 likes · like · see review

Jul 13, 2007 Walker rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: roleplayers

Salubrious. Pugnacious. Ossified. 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 play in The Scar - that is, Mieville is still kinda unsure of himself, he still feels the need to prove himself, and his method of choice is Big Long Vocabulary Words.

The problem is that he latches onto one, and then us...more

8 likes · like · see review

Aug 28, 2010 Suna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, tentacles-will-kill-us-all

Crikey, I was upset after reading this.

Having taken about a week to let the whole reading experience percolate down into calmer waters, I think I now understand why.

I took Bellis' stupidity personally somehow, the way she was drawn clearly struck a major chord in my personality.
Viewed from a distance, I can absolutely see how I myself could end up in a position like that if, like Bellis, I were forced to bereave myself of my roots, my culture and my comfort-zone: Wanting to be special in the fac...more

8 likes · like · see review

Apr 10, 2011 Ben Babcock rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-read, fantasy, pirates, hugo-nominee, owned

I'm not sure how I feel about China Miéville.

On one hand, Miéville is a competent writer and, even better, a superb storyteller. The three books of his that I've read (including this one) are good. People tend to gush about his worldbuilding, often at the expense, I think, of talking about everything else that's great about his stories, but they do it because of his obvious skill in this area. Many great fantasy authors create wonderful stories by taking the traditional elements of fantasy and e...more

8 likes · like · see review

May 13, 2007 Jenn Myers rated it 4 of 5 stars

Mieville's writing just gets better and better. The Scar continues with the same world introduced in Perdido Street Station, a world of strange turn-of-the-century Londonishness and scientific magics. In this particular story we follow a group of new characters as they find themselves press-ganged into a floating pirate city.

Need I say any more?

Mieville has tightened his writing style, and introduced us to characters that are likeable, while still managing to create an amazing and stunning world...more

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 11, 2008 Elze rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book could have been a lot more interesting if not for problems with pacing.

"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 the post-Perdido-Street-Station fallout. Her goal is to emigrate to a faraway corner of Bas Lag, but her trip takes a wrong -- or rather, strange -- turn when the ship is hijacked by, and incorporated into, a floating conglomerate of...more

5 likes · like · see review

Jul 23, 2012 Frozenwaffle rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite-soul-feeders

This is my third Miéville novel, the first with an ending I actually liked, and one of the best books I've read in my life.

The pace is slow, yes, but with so much food for thought I felt it was just right. It has so many layers, so rich in possibility that I know this will be one of those amazing rereads when you keep finding more, seeing this other meaning that you were blind to before, hmm... I can already feel the greatness!

I don't even feel ready to come back to a world without Bastard J...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 04, 2012 Brandon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Spoiler free.

There's a reason China Miéville has won the Arthur C. Clarke award three times now. There's a reason he's been nominated, time and time again, for the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy awards (he's won them, too): he's a fucking genius.

I'm still unsure whether or not I liked this or Perdido Street Station better, and perhaps it is a tie. I felt more connected to these characters, but there's something about this story that didn't give me the same feeling that PSS did. What that feelin...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 26, 2012 Evan Leach rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, hugo-nominees, 2000-2009, brit-lit

”There is no redemption in the sea.”
- The Scar.

The Scar is the second of China Miéville’s Bas-Lag novels. It isn’t exactly a sequel to Perdido Street Station, although the book begins right where Perdido left off. The aftermath of Perdido’s events, and the totalitarian government’s brutal search for answers, force Bellis Coldwine to flee New Crobuzon for her own safety. She sets sail for one of the city’s colonies, but her ship is attacked by pirates en route. Bellis and the other survivors fin...more

7 likes · like · see review

Jul 26, 2012 Apatt rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: top-20, fantasy-top20, favorites

By gods and Jabber! This is one pugnacious thaumaturgical book! (sorry, bad in-joke).

China Miéville an interesting and awe-inspiring author, he writes like an angel but looks like a football hooligan! This is the second of the New Crobuzon series. Why it is not called The Bas-Lag series I have no idea, all of the Scar is set outside the great sprawling city of New Crobuzon, though it is frequently referred to.

As with the amazing Perdido Street Station this book is full of interesting characters...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jul 21, 2011 Danielle Smith rated it 3 of 5 stars

As much as I love China's work, and as much as I wanted to love The Scar, this book fell a bit short for me. The prologue managed to grab me and did a good job of holding me for a while, hoping that the excitement I experienced in the first pages of the novel would continue. Problem is, the story seemed to fall flat, not because it didn't have some interesting characters or definite promise, but because China fell victim to the classic writer's disease: deadwood.
The Scar is simply too wordy. Don...more

6 likes · like · see review

Dec 20, 2011 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own

The second book in the New Crobuzon series/set in the world of Bas Lag and my second book read by China Mieville. After reading Perdido Street Station and being blown away with the world Mieville had created, his choice of vocabulary and impressed by the imagination used to create such a piece of work, I was totally up for reading another Mieville. When I read the synopsis for The Scar I was not too keen, I wasn't in the mood for a pirate story, I wanted to be back in New Crobuzon, the dirty, co...more The second book in the New Crobuzon series/set in the world of Bas Lag and my second book read by China Mieville. After reading Perdido Street Station and being blown away with the world Mieville had created, his choice of vocabulary and impressed by the imagination used to create such a piece of work, I was totally up for reading another Mieville. When I read the synopsis for The Scar I was not too keen, I wasn't in the mood for a pirate story, I wanted to be back in New Crobuzon, the dirty, corupt city with weird and wonderful dwellers, but I began reading and was sucked into life on Armada, a floating pirate city spanning miles with all the wierd and wonderful races seen previously. All the characters were interesting but I found myself empathising with the characters in P. S. S. more than The Scar. The Scar is not a direct sequel to P. S. S. and can be read alone but having read P. S. S. first I am glad I did as there were references to New Crobuzon and the events which occured in P. S. S. prior and I feel I got more out of the read with that prior knowledge. P. S. S. also describes the different races and the history behind them which is only glossed over in The Scar. Bellis Coldwine (who fled New Crobuzon after the events in P. S. S and also has links to previous characters) is the main character in The Scar and the anti-hero, which makes her more of a realistic character in my eyes, it wasn't easy to like or dislike her as was the same of many other characters. The overall theme I took from this book was freedom in its many forms, mixing fantasy, horror, sc-ifi and steampunk. The Scar ended up impressing me just as much as P. S. S., I didn't want it to end. Both P. S. S. and The Scar are fantastic, with The Scar being the more positive read as well as a smoother reading experience from page 1. I would have loved to read more on the journey of Armada and its inhabitants but will willingly continue on and read Iron Council which is not a direct follow but the third book in the series set in the world of Bas Lag. :) (less)

2 likes · like · see review

Jul 30, 2009 Architeuthis rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: goodest-reads-2009, 2000s, china-mieville, fiction-that-speculates

I loved Perdido Street Station and was excited to read the second book in the world of Bas-Lag. Mieville didn't let me down. I can't honestly say which of the two books I prefer: they are drastically different from one another, and if one couldn't conveniently think of them both as "fantasy" novels, it would be hard to place them in the same genre.

I don't want to spoil anything about the story, but I will say that The Scar reminded me in some ways of Moby Dick. Only in good ways. There weren't a...more

5 likes · like · see review

Feb 09, 2008 Chris rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

Imagine a floating city, built of stolen and scavenged boats from around the world. A city whose very existence is simply rumor and legend. That city is Armada and it's inhabited by the strangest collection of beings in Bas-Lag - insect-headed kephri women, talking cacti, scarred lovers, Remade people, vampires, nightwalkers and mermen. They take ships and press-gang anyone who is aboard. Once a citizen of Armada, always a citizen of Armada. And its rulers have a plan.

Imagine a great sea-beast....more

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 13, 2007 Willa rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Scar is a vast improvement over Perdido Street Station. Set in the world of Bas-Lag, but not in New Crobuzon, this is a good, solid, entertaining read from beginning to end.

Mieville has overcome most of PSS's weaknesses here. This plot is far more tight and controlled. Don't misunderstand, there are plenty of twists, turns and surprises, but the storyline moves continually forward, not splintering into disparate and confusing arcs that don't ever, in many cases in PSS, come back together. C...more

3 likes · like · see review

Nov 23, 2011 Taueret rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobook, have, literary, sci-fi, speculative-fiction

Again, enough imagination for 100 books, packed into one. The crazy world of Bas-Lag is worth the price of admission alone. Story full of intrigue and adventure, and a lot of interesting, more or less likeable characters. Bellis though, who provides the main point of view? Geez louise, what a narcissistic, stick-up-her-butt bitch! I'm actually really glad the book is almost over- I am enjoying the story but can't wait to part company with the whiny cow! It's like visiting that kid in the "hunger...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 24, 2008 John rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-would-read-again

I read Mieville's earlier book, Perdido Street Station, and think The Scar is a vast improvement. The pacing is better, the characters more developed and believable, and the plot is more complex. What is especially enjoyable is the clever and intelligent way that Mieville weaves themes that deal with political authority, power, and socialist ideology into his work, a feat that gives his work not only a realism that is sorely lacking in most fantasy works but also a sense of relevance to contempo...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 09, 2012 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Scar may be one of the best fantasy novels I've read. The first 100 or so pages were a bit slow going, Mieville has a knack for inundating the reader with exhaustingly detailed descriptions of the world he's created, but it's more than worth the payoff.

1 like · like · see review

Aug 04, 2011 Tim James added it

As with the previous Mieville book, Perdido Street Station. The Scar was like a splash of cold water to the face.

Different, original in a good way, with strong characters, gripping situations and incredibly inventive names.

The blurb on the back does not do the novel credit, which seems to give a central role to the character Tanner Sack, but although he plays an important role the book belongs to Bellis Coldwine, a female running from something, that means she cannot return home to New Crobuzon...more

like · see review

Apr 08, 2013 Lark rated it 3 of 5 stars

Bellis is a cold woman running away from New Crobuzon, begrudgingly let on a colonizing ship to act as a translator between races. But when plans go awry and her ship is boarded by pirates, she is brought to a strange city called Armada. It's a city never seen before, made of a nimbus of ships bound together until even a city's districts and factions are reflected in this place. But not everything is as it seems, and enemies and allies alike don't speak of hidden agendas. For Bellis, she only lo...more Bellis is a cold woman running away from New Crobuzon, begrudgingly let on a colonizing ship to act as a translator between races. But when plans go awry and her ship is boarded by pirates, she is brought to a strange city called Armada. It's a city never seen before, made of a nimbus of ships bound together until even a city's districts and factions are reflected in this place. But not everything is as it seems, and enemies and allies alike don't speak of hidden agendas. For Bellis, she only longs to get back home. But as she makes plots and plans, the question that soon rises to the surface, like foam on the ocean, is whether she is the player or played.

Unfortunately I could only get my hands on this book before reading Perdido Street station, but hopefully that doesn't cause any discrepancy in this review.

I liked this book quite a book, but certain things held me back from saying its a great book. First off, the world. Wow, can Mieville write a different world. With the rich description and imagination to paint the Armada, it's really quite beautiful. Not to mention, the multitude of races, the mosquito people and the cactus people. It's interesting to see how commonplace elements are incorporated into a sentient race. The only drawback that I would say from the world building is the amount of time put into it.

I love a beautifully descriptive world as much as the next sci-fi fan, but Mieville really bogs down the book with endless description. Almost every single sentence is loaded with adjectives and descriptive phrases. It's dense. It's a really dense book that is hard to skim or understand the jest of a paragraph. It takes time to savor each paragraph. And when things drag, it gets a little boring. The first hundred pages or so had so much descriptive detail that I really wanted to keep flipping as fast as I could - but you can't do that when the important facts are hidden behind adjectives galore. It's still a beautiful world though, just a denser book than I generally prefer.

It's actually really interesting how Mieville treats the characters. It's almost as if he doesn't care if you like them or not. The main character Bellis is so unemotional and analytical it's sometimes hard to sympathize. In fact, it's hard to sympathize or love any character. But I guess I did love Bellis in the end, because as hard as she tries to be unemotional (besides going home), she does end up caring for people. In her stoic ways, at least. She is definitely an anti-hero. The interaction between the characters are genuine, but short. Dialogue is minimal. I guess that's understandable because Bellis hardly speaks. But that also means the story drags on a little longer. I was a little annoyed at how quickly important secondary characters switched in and out of the story, as if the story only had room for two characters at a time. (ex: Johannes, Silas, Doul, etc.) It's made the story feel discombobulated at times, unfocused even.

The story grew upon itself. That was a good thing at first because you realize that there are layers of deception upon more lies - and that's fascinating because I wanted to know the truth, I wanted to figure it out. But towards the end, it just started getting frustrating. It was like beating a dead horse. No, you can't trust anyone. Yes, you are being used. No, this is not the end goal. Yes, there is a hidden agenda. They were all beautifully written, more or less engaging, and very different. But at some point, it just feels like it's dragging on. And I was disappointed at the reveal of the Scar. Not impressive enough, bah.

I actually loved the ending when I read it. And then I thought about it a little and then was just sad. I loved it because of how realistic it is. Not everyone can be a player, a mover and a shaker. Not everyone knows all the pieces of the puzzle. And though Bellis was like a marionette, she was still able to say yes I did that with myself and reason behind it all. Even though all of her relations and friendships fell apart, she still received her desire at the end, but not through her own strength or cunning. It was just so realistic; I love it when a book can end without falling into cliches. And then I thought about it and ah, it is a bit of a bittersweet ending, perhaps even a tragedy. Perhaps.

This is not a book that leaves you with warm and fuzzy feeling about humanity, or with triumphant huzzahs. It's not a whirlwind of laughter and joy to sadness and worry. It's not that kind of book. As for emotions, it's as emotional as the main character: hardly. You'll turn the pages with anticipation and maybe a bit of fear and worry, but this is not a happy book. It's real, it's dark and gritty, it's a world that forces you to see things without those rose-colored lenses.

Three stars because it was a good read with strange, new world. Unfortunately the story got bogged down by excess detail and perhaps one too many plot twists. I was tempted to give it 3.5 stars because of the ending, but there are just too many problems for it to really hit that 3.5.
Recommended for people who like a lot of world building and are not afraid of dense books. It's quite interesting.

I'll also probably make an edit after I read the first book.(less)

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Scar: Unsatisfied with the ending !?!	16	176	Feb 25, 2013 07:47am

combine
Other Editions (24)

More editions...

Genres

Fantasy

774 users

Science Fiction

196 users

Science Fiction > Steampunk

192 users

Science Fiction Fantasy

59 users

Weird Fiction > New Weird

53 users

Adventure

39 users

Horror

33 users

Fantasy > Weird Fiction

30 users

Speculative Fiction

30 users

Fantasy > Urban Fantasy

26 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About China Miéville

A British "fantastic fiction" writer. He is fond of describing his work as "weird fiction" (after early 20th century pulp and horror writers such as H. P. Lovecraft), and belongs to a loose group of writers sometimes called New Weird who consciously attempt to move fantasy away from commercial, genre clichés of Tolkien epigons. He is also active in left-wing politics as a member of the Socialist W...more

More about China Miéville...

Books by China Miéville

Perdido Street Station (New Crobuzon, #1)

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Scar

1 trivia question
1 quiz

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from The Scar

“In time, in time they tell me, I'll not feel so bad. I don't want time to heal me. There's a reason I'm like this.
I want time to set me ugly and knotted with loss of you, marking me. I won't smooth you away.
I can't say goodbye.” — 351 people liked it

“Scars are not injuries, Tanner Sack. A scar is a healing. After injury, a scar is what makes you whole.” — 190 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: The Scar
avg rating	preview: The Scar Goodreads rating: 4.14 (11583 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68497.The_Scar?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320435192l/68497.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68497.The_Scar?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Scar by China Miéville[/url]

The Scar (New Crobuzon #2)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website