Embassytown in On Paths Unknown

Nov 25, 2014 John rated it it was amazing

For some great follow-up reading, Google "the strong Sapir-Whorf hypothesis". I love when sci-fi makes me smarter! :)

Embassytown is Mieville's foray into straight-up science fiction, as opposed to the "New Weird"/Steampunky motif he is most famous for. While I loved the Scar, the change suits him very well IMHO.

Embassytown blends philosophy, politics, and worldbuilding as successfully as Dune ever did, and with more engaging characters to boot. It's not perfect - there were one or two sections w ...more

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Sep 16, 2015 Moumeeta rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

After reading a few fascinating reviews on Goodreads, I had started to read a China Mieville a while back. The book was Perdido Street Station. While I found it brilliant from the word go, it proved too alien a type of writing for me and I left it halfway. Coming across an article on Mieville recently, that talked about how "fiercely political" his writings were, I dusted off this other book I had bought. And read it.

Embassytown is a simpler book, relatively speaking. I gave myself ample time t ...more

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Oct 05, 2012 Stephen Palmer rated it it was ok

Couldn't finish this owing to it becoming so boring. I liked the premise, but the novel span out of control into tedious politics and yawn-some 'adventure.' At one point I even predicted what was about to happen plot-wise, which surely has to be the worst thing ever for a China Mieville novel? Admittedly I find politics dull, but still... even the Language thing, when it was done and dusted, left me somewhat ennui-ridden. If "Railsea" is as disappointing as this and "Kraken" then it's no more CM ...more

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