To Read & To Write

Oh Gods, jabber, Devil's Tail, damn. This book is the best I've read this year. Though -  I'd recommend "Perdido Street Station" to those who are already partial to fantasy, fairy-tales, and science fiction, because the entire novel is heavily steeped in those genre elements and it's an extremely strong brew; a thick and boasty blend, yet a sweet and tart mix of character-driven action, fast-paced at over seven-hundred pages that pulsate with anthropomorphic creatures, evil monsters, a brilliant and non-conforming scientist, beautifully winged-bug maidens, a seedy underworld, a corrupt bureaucracy, sentient A.I. robotrons, pretentious art-world snobs, a hellish brothel of indescribable, sinful creatures and so. much. more.  I'll begin with Isaac, the main character, our passionate scientist unaccepted by his fellows because, well, he's a bit *avant-garde* for his discipline. His thing: Crisis Theory. He's been working on it for some time, but ...

Because of the ingenuity behind China Mieville's "Embassytown" (2011), the book is enormously fun to read. Like many science fiction books I've picked up before, there was a point when I was aware that I was not comprehending all of what I was "reading", but continued happily on anyway, willing to do the work, understanding what I could, while letting the story flow page by page freely. Usually the ability for the reader to do that with a complex story structure and highly intellectual content is a sign of great style. And that - amazing literary style - is something Mieville certainly does have. This is the first Mieville book I've picked up and I was absolutely mind-blown by its concept. With language as the main thematic element, I emerged myself in the wonderful linguistic games, using my own sparse knowledge of Saussurian semiotics to back-up what I thought I was "getting". Beyond that, I loved the symbolism of the book, which Mieville...