The Scar: A Bas-Lag Novel 2

by China Miéville

Has he not noticed, I wonder? Is it coincidence that the three most powerful people in Garwater, hence in Armada and hence on the seas, are out-landers? That they were not born within its confines? That they grew to cognition and agency unconstrained by the limits of what is, what remains and cannot but be a mess of old boats, a little town – even if the most extraordinary one in the history of Bas-Lag – and can therefore see a world beyond its petty robberies and claustrophobic pride?

Withered flowers and weeds strain for poor lamplight in the veins of walls, in ruts of concrete and wood. Life is tenacious, as we who have died know.