Just finished this book and wow, that was amazing. And TOUGH. Be prepared to do some hard work for this one; in its own way "Embassytown" is even tougher to get through than "The City & The City". That book was about political divisions made real (among other things), "Embassytown" is about language. Make that Language, with a capital "L". I don't mean it's important to the story, I mean for all intents and purposes it's the main character: how it defines a race and separates that race from everyone else, the power it can have and how it can make its adherents weaker at the same time. You've got an alien race that can only speak things that are REAL. If they want another figure of speech, they basically have to hire someone to do, or become, what they want to speak about. Imagine a book that has a collection of characters that ARE figures of speech, and who hang around in a bar being fawned over by their alien "fans". THAT'S the kind of strange this book is. If you want to enjoy the payoff at the end you're going to have to really struggle through this one and pay attention, because the climactic scenes hinge around motions. And it's cool. (It was for me, anyway. I know this book isn't going to be for everyone.)

One side note: my sister recommended that I keep the animated movie "Light Years" (or "Gandahar", in the original French version) in mind while reading "Embassytown". I did, and it works. Not that the movie and the book are anything at all alike, but there are elements of the book that call to mind the organic technology from "Light Years", such as one of the characters looking out across the city at the power stations. "They had been made uneasy by the landing, and were still skittish, days later. I could see them stamping." As usual, Mieville does otherworldly and creepy VERY well.