Miévillians discussion
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M. John Harrison
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Some reviews are predisposing me towards Viriconium, Kat says: ...was inspired by Jack Vance’s DYING EARTH and the poetry of T.S. Eliot. Chris says about Storm of Wings: It's futuristic fantasy-science fiction with the arc-welding ambience of Neuromancer and the molting-matter creativity of The Street of Crocodiles blanketed by the dust of a creaking, rheumatic world à la Gene Wolfe. (Sounds yummy!)
Now I'm wondering if it would be ok to read the Viriconium collection if you skip Pastel City? They sound pretty good from the second book, Storm of Wings, onward.
I've read both Light and Viriconium and would LOVE to discuss either -- both are great! The Viriconium omnibus is the one I read and would recommend not skipping 'The Pastel City' because it's such a great intro to the world the stories inhabit, AND it's only 108 pages. =)~ The whole thing is 464 pages, so it's really shorter than a number of Mieville's books. (Though if you do skip 'The Pastel City,' it's ok since I've read it anyway haha! It's also "futuristic fantasy-science fiction with . . . the molting-matter creativity of The Street of Crocodiles blanketed by the dust of a creaking, rheumatic world à la Gene Wolfe," for what it's worth. It's even got baans, which are ancient-futuristic swords that can only really be light-sabers.
n.b. Speaking of Gene Wolfe, I just finished reading part 1/2 of his The Wizard Knight series and it was so great! Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
On the other hand, Light is pretty darn cool in its own right! It's like 1/3 noir, 1/3 Blade Runner, and 1/3 Alien(s) — with lots of surrealism and stunning prose!
I see Wikipedia says about Viriconium: Viriconium is on a future Earth littered with the technological detritus of millennia (partly inspired by Jack Vance's Dying Earth series and Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast series although the works are also influenced in their imagery by the poems of T.S. Eliot). I think that sells me. I'll be adding Viriconium to my shortlist, Joseph, and if we don't find other takers for it, will discuss that with you as soon as I can get hold of the book, but let's see if we can't find someone else to go with us first.
Re Light, I see Lit Bug and a few other members here have that on their to read lists, so if you can be patient until January, let's hear what the other people say- I definitely want to read Viriconium, but nothing stops members from discussing whatever books they want, so if the group vote swings to Light, I'd be happy to set up a dedicated John Harrison folder, and then you can (or if you like I can do it) add discussion topics to that, Joseph!
I can always wait! It's about 300 pages and part 1 of a trilogy. I'm actually just starting its sequel,
Nova Swing
(which is just 252 pages) today! It's super-duper interesting! So, I'm sure in January, I'll be just finishing book 3 (
Empty Space
, which is 320 pages), so the story will still be fresh in my mind. Overall, it's a pretty short trilogy. I also check in with wikis if its been a while since I've read something to recall minor plot points (or to remember bits of Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series as I go), but Light is a tough one to forget (as is Viriconium*)!!
Talking of Malazan Book of the Fallen... that's another one I've been eyeing that would fit on Mievillians.Too many shiny books floating around. *slurp*
..and then there's also Jeff Vandermeer
's New Weird works...
True! I'm deeply entrenched in Malazan right now. Closing in on halfway through book 6. I've even read em all this year. I've been recommending the series left and right for fantasy buffs!
I'm just now getting into the Ambergris trilogy (gasp! Taken me long enough, right?!). Jeff Vm's books really intrigue me. His work is gonna be an early 2014 binge for me I think!
Well then let's plan an Ambergris discussion and Malazan discussion for early 2014. After or before Viriconium/Light? :P
I would be in on any of these. I can't really help with Snowcrash because i read it so long ago I don't remember many details. But I loved it. But all the books you're mentioning here would be new reads for me, so I would love to participate.
Oh goody. :)Sounds like we need to do a poll again. Poll coming up for Jab and Feb choices. :)
Miévillians
Books mentioned in this topic
Nova Swing (other topics)Empty Space: A Haunting (other topics)
Light (other topics)
Viriconium (other topics)
In another thread, Joseph wrote:
Has M. John Harrison ever been discussed for a possible group read? I think he's fantastic and so does Mr. Miéville: "That Harrison is not a Nobel Laureate proves the bankruptcy of the literary establishment. Austere, unflinching and desperately moving, he is one of the very great writers alive today. And yes, we writes fantasy and SF, though of a form, scale, and brilliance that it shames not only the rest of the field, but most modern fiction."
—and—
"Harrison proves...that science fiction can be literature, of the very greatest kind. Light puts most modern fiction to shame. It's a magnificent book."
In an interview, he also says: "[Harrison] deliberately messes with the reader’s expectations of world creation. He likes to torture us with that nerdy desire we have for a stable secondary world—and I speak as one who shares it. So, for example, the name of the city he’s created in Viriconium changes from story to story with no particular explanation. The map shifts. A character who is dead in one story comes back later on. This of course makes continuity freaks scream in physical pain. I really love this about him. It’s incredibly provocative, and while it’s not the paradigm I write within, I do try to take some of the lessons from that."
He goes on to say, "[T]here is a lovely formulation from when he was at his slightly more “world create-y” early on in his career. He has a lovely phrase in the opening of "Pastel City" where he says, “There were some seventeen notable empires in the later ages of man. None of them concern us here.” And I love that. It’s so cheeky to pitch this historical weight of world creation, but then say, “Well, I’m not going to go into that because it’s really not relevant.” That to me is sort of like the most elegant and funny moment of world creation in speculative fiction in the last thirty years. “None of them concern us here.” That could be the slogan of the epistemologically rigorous world creator."
He looks very interesting, thanks Joseph. Any specific works you'd recommend us to start with or schedule a read for? Light or Viriconium?