Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 3:02 pm
Sounds like they put someone in charge who really knows what they're talking about, Stone.
Went to get all my tickets today but they don't go on sale til Monday.
And
Vasko!Kevin's Watch
Official Discussion Forum for the works of Stephen R. Donaldson
https://kevinswatch.com/phpBB3/
China Mieville
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Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:00 pm
Yeah it's looking good! I can't believe that everything I want to see is when I'm not at work, as well!
Went to get all my tickets today but they don't go on sale til Monday.
And Vasko!
Went to get all my tickets today but they don't go on sale til Monday.
And
Vasko!Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2010 3:27 pm
Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 5:48 pm
Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 6:42 pm
Yeah, I saw that it was out and it my first thought was, "crap! I haven't even read Kraken yet!"
I'm interested to see his take on sci-fi (and I understand it's a lot about language, too).
Edit: Holy hell, that's Ursula K LeGuin heaping praise on China Miéville!
I'm interested to see his take on sci-fi (and I understand it's a lot about language, too).
Edit: Holy hell, that's Ursula K LeGuin heaping praise on China Miéville!
Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 6:57 pm
that doesn't surprise me at all. the woman loves language. and he has his poetic moments, even in perdido street station (which i'm still having a hard time slogging through) and yeah i would be interested in reading his straight sci fi too. i'm determined to like him. heh. too many authors i like like him.Murrin wrote:Yeah, I saw that it was out and it my first thought was, "crap! I haven't even read Kraken yet!"
I'm interested to see his take on sci-fi (and I understand it's a lot about language, too).
Edit: Holy hell, that's Ursula K LeGuin heaping praise on China Miéville!
Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 8:00 pm
A visit to the bookstore is in order!
Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 8:49 pm
I nearly bought "Embassywood" for the Reader last night. Will definitely pick it up before E-fest. (I haven't read "Kraken" yet either. Maybe I should get both...)
Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 1:55 pm
Hopefully this available to everyone, not just UKers....a video of CM talking about the sci-fi exhibition in the British Library in London-
www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13462771
And here's him talking about Embassytown, open to everyone!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDm_5iMGSN0
www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13462771
And here's him talking about Embassytown, open to everyone!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDm_5iMGSN0
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 10:57 pm
new book out today, apparently, Railsea or something like that
Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 7:32 am
I've heard it very heavily riffs off of Moby Dick.
I've not read Kraken or Embassytown yet, so I'll not be reading it for quite a while.
I've not read Kraken or Embassytown yet, so I'll not be reading it for quite a while.
Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:55 pm
No one mentioned The City and the City, the only Mieville I've managed to find and read so far. It was brilliant, and does not seem to suffer any of the flaws castigated above.
Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 1:15 pm
I'm reading Embassytown right now, and it's very interesting.
The premise is clever: Embassytown is a small human colony on a world populated by aliens who are totally unique. These Hosts have speech, but it seems to be genetically hardwired: communication for them is inseperable from thought. This results in two significant things. Firstly, the Hosts cannot lie, because to speak a lie would require them to think something which is not true. Secondly, they are unable to comprehend any speech which is not their Language, even to the point that they must know it originates from a thinking mind. Because they cannot conceive of languages other than their own existing, they can only understand themselves.
This is complicated by the fact that the Hosts' Language is spoken simultaneously by two mouths. Attempting to communicate any other way fails. So the humans have taken to raising "doppels", cloned twins bred and trained to serve as Ambassadors, their minds linked to enable them to speak as one.
For the Hosts, the human Ambassadors' ability to lie is a thrill: Their minds are unable to process the idea of someone speaking something that is not true, and hearing it gives them some sort of rush.
Hosts have some creativity in Language - they cannot hypothesise, they cannot use metaphor, but they can create similes, which they do by deliberately acting out scenarios which they can then refer to in Language (if it didn't actually happen, they cannot think or speak it).
It really is a fascinating imagination of how language could evolve entirely differently from what we're familiar with.
The premise is clever: Embassytown is a small human colony on a world populated by aliens who are totally unique. These Hosts have speech, but it seems to be genetically hardwired: communication for them is inseperable from thought. This results in two significant things. Firstly, the Hosts cannot lie, because to speak a lie would require them to think something which is not true. Secondly, they are unable to comprehend any speech which is not their Language, even to the point that they must know it originates from a thinking mind. Because they cannot conceive of languages other than their own existing, they can only understand themselves.
This is complicated by the fact that the Hosts' Language is spoken simultaneously by two mouths. Attempting to communicate any other way fails. So the humans have taken to raising "doppels", cloned twins bred and trained to serve as Ambassadors, their minds linked to enable them to speak as one.
For the Hosts, the human Ambassadors' ability to lie is a thrill: Their minds are unable to process the idea of someone speaking something that is not true, and hearing it gives them some sort of rush.
Hosts have some creativity in Language - they cannot hypothesise, they cannot use metaphor, but they can create similes, which they do by deliberately acting out scenarios which they can then refer to in Language (if it didn't actually happen, they cannot think or speak it).
It really is a fascinating imagination of how language could evolve entirely differently from what we're familiar with.
Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 3:49 pm
I loved The City and The City too.
A great premise that you are slowly drip fed the understanding of. Lovely.
Embassytown sounds fascinating.. Man I need to read more!
A great premise that you are slowly drip fed the understanding of. Lovely.
Embassytown sounds fascinating.. Man I need to read more!
Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 8:44 pm
Wow, I just finished Embassytown tonight. What an amazing book, this is the stuff that makes me love science fiction. He simply throws you into a world, without explanation or exposition, and lets you find your way. I felt like again like when I first read Wolfe's first Book of the New Sun novel, which does the same. This one requires a reread soon.