China Mieville is one of the most unique writers you will come across and this book is a prime example. Essentially a police procedural/murder mystery, what makes it very different is the fact that it takes place in the paired cities of Beszel and Ul Qoma. And by paired, I mean overlaid and by overlaid I mean that if you are in one city, you must not “see” the other city and vice versa. You must “unsee”. If you violate this, you are in “breach”, a […]
Weirdly Good Comic
Target: China Miéville’s Dial H, Vol. 2: Exchange. Art by Alberto Ponticelli, David Lapham and Dan Green. Collecting issues #7-15 and Justice League issue #23.3 Profile: Comics, Mystery, Science Fiction, Fantasy When last we left Dial H, Miéville was busy adding weird fiction and horror tropes to a little known corner of the DC Universe. The events of the last volume have raised the stakes and opened the door to a multiverse of possibilities. Unfortunately, while Dial H was an incredible critical success, its sales numbers left something to be […]
The City and the Abcity
Target: China Miéville’s Un Lun Dun Profile: Young Adult, Fantasy, Weird Fantasy ‘China Miéville’ and ‘children’s book’ are not, at first glance, two things that would appear to mesh. Miéville, who I have described in previous reviews as being macabre, dense and sometimes overwhelmingly complicated (in an enjoyable way), is hardly the first person I’d pick to write a book for older kids and young adults. Nevertheless, Un Lun Dun is a triumphant piece of fiction. It taps into the fundamental truths of adventure stories, […]
Mieville Gets Weird(er) – On God-Squids and Paranoia
Kraken is the first China Mieville book I’ve read aside from his celebrated Bas-Lag books: Perdido Street Station, The Scar, and Iron Council. And while no one would ever doubt the fecundity of his imagination, his plotting has always left a bit to be desired. My overwhelming impression after finishing Perdido Street Station, in fact, was that I would kill to be able to play a Bas-Lag MMO (well, that, and a desire to find out where Mieville buys his drugs). But of course, there’s […]