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I finally finished this book. Quick and dirty review. Overall, it was good; it was better in the beginning. It was somewhat too long. If you like Iain M. Banks, you'll probably like it. The star of the show is the setting.
Summary: On a distant planet in a rundown city, an unlikely group forms an alliance to destroy a threat to all life in the city.
The Good
* Excellent world-building: deep and grubby and convincingly real. Nice concept for deploying what we would usually call "magic" as a separate branch of physics and discussing how an impoverished, decaying civilization would employ it--just as such societies employ the other laws of physics--mainly (but not always) to degrade, punish, and make the rich richer. Good integration of several alien cultures together. Nice mix of super-advanced tech with old tech: it feels alien and also like a society that's been through many rounds of development and collapse.
* Fake science: especially near the beginning, the discussion of fake physics and scientists' attachment to their work was interesting and felt psychologically plausible. So, too, the discussion of art.
* The action story (no spoilers): he presents a convincingly tricky problem with various possible solutions, none easy. Nice sci fi realism and tension.
* The characters are not silly or stereotyped. They are diverse and plausible, if not deep. (This is the second of Miéville's books I've read, and this seems his standard approach to character.)
The Less Good
* The characters are not deep. The only potentially profoundly interesting one is Yagharek, and his particular story occupies about 1/30 of the book. Isaac (the best candidate for protagonist) is like intricate pastel painting: a lot of subtlety went into it, but it's all in bland colors.
* It's too long, i.e. too detail- and subplot-heavy to fully sustain interest over 600+ pages (for me).
* It's got some mild gender fail (on which more beneath the cut), which is not egregious by any means, but I'd like to be able to hold Miéville to a higher standard.
( Gender, Character and Spoilers )
Summary: On a distant planet in a rundown city, an unlikely group forms an alliance to destroy a threat to all life in the city.
The Good
* Excellent world-building: deep and grubby and convincingly real. Nice concept for deploying what we would usually call "magic" as a separate branch of physics and discussing how an impoverished, decaying civilization would employ it--just as such societies employ the other laws of physics--mainly (but not always) to degrade, punish, and make the rich richer. Good integration of several alien cultures together. Nice mix of super-advanced tech with old tech: it feels alien and also like a society that's been through many rounds of development and collapse.
* Fake science: especially near the beginning, the discussion of fake physics and scientists' attachment to their work was interesting and felt psychologically plausible. So, too, the discussion of art.
* The action story (no spoilers): he presents a convincingly tricky problem with various possible solutions, none easy. Nice sci fi realism and tension.
* The characters are not silly or stereotyped. They are diverse and plausible, if not deep. (This is the second of Miéville's books I've read, and this seems his standard approach to character.)
The Less Good
* The characters are not deep. The only potentially profoundly interesting one is Yagharek, and his particular story occupies about 1/30 of the book. Isaac (the best candidate for protagonist) is like intricate pastel painting: a lot of subtlety went into it, but it's all in bland colors.
* It's too long, i.e. too detail- and subplot-heavy to fully sustain interest over 600+ pages (for me).
* It's got some mild gender fail (on which more beneath the cut), which is not egregious by any means, but I'd like to be able to hold Miéville to a higher standard.
( Gender, Character and Spoilers )
