The Scar (Bas-Lag Book 2)

Back in December, 2001, I wrote a review of, Perdido Street Station, and gave it 3 stars. I felt the author, though enormously talented, had some problems with characterization, science, and plotting. Im pleased that with The Scar China Mieville has taken some real leaps as a writer. This volume of what appears to be an ongoing alternate world saga takes place in the city of Armada, and Mr. Mievilles ability to give life to locations is one of his greatest strengths. Armada is as fully realized a locale as the New Crobuzon of Perdido Street Station. Armada is a floating pirate-city made up of a coalition of willing and unwilling vessels, and linked through an architecture thats mind boggling. Mr. Mieville also has a stupendous ability to imagine and give life to a motley, malign, and magnificent collection of characters from vampires, to cactus-people, to Remades, to truly frightening mosquito people who can suck you dry in the blink of an eye; and, this time around his humans are much stronger than the somewhat stock characters of Perdido... As to the science: fantasy does require us to suspend disbelief, and Mr. Mieville uses the device of thaumaturgy to get through the patches where science wont work which gives him the tendency and ability to stretch scientific ideas about to the snapping point; and, in at least once instance (an episode with a bathyscaphe) he falls short of believability. The more scientifically inclined reader may take more exception - Im willing to let science slide in favor interesting (if not necessarily explicable) devices. His explanation of possibilities is wonderful - and borderline. Again, unlike his first novel, Mr. Mieville wraps his tale up believably and provides a motivated, logical, and satisfactory conclusion. My only point of contention with Mr. Mievilles oeuvre is that with the exception of Bellis Coldwine (who I dont remember) his characters are not reoccurring from book to book. I understand his latest, Iron Bay, also gives us a new cast. I would like to hear more about Garuda from Perdido..., and there are a few characters in The Scar, notably Bellis, and Uther Doul, who Id like to see again. The up-side of not reintroducing characters is Mr. Mieville doesnt fall into the sequel trap of having to create more and more fantastic aspects to any one character, so Ill not fault him too much for creating a certain nostalgia for characters past. In truth, its a plus whenever a writer gives you a character evolved enough to stay in your mind. Im going to vote 5 stars for The Scar. 4 ½ would be accurate, but with a talent this big why nitpick.

For anyone who spent days in the nightmarish thrall of Perdido Street Station, China Mievilles breathtakingly literate and imaginative monstravaganza, the first question about The Scar must be, was he able do it again? The answer is no, but this turns out to be a good thing. Particularly in its opening, this sea quest tale disappoints in relation to Perdido Street: though the floating city of Aramada is a marvelous creation, it lacks the incredible density of detail and heights of grotesquerie of New Crobuzon, which here plays a supporting, offstage role. One appreciates Armada without loving and fearing it like New Crobuzon. Yet as the novel picks up steam we find these feelings precisely mirrored in perfectly named protagonist Bellis Coldwine. As the wickedly sharp plot begins to twist and turn, Mieville again conjures tales of wonder from the far corners of Bas-Lag, provides us with lovingly bizarre set-pieces and characters, and his story begins to fascinate. The Scar isnt the once in a lifetime book of nightmares Perdido Street Station was, but it is a better novel. The characters are far stronger: Coldwine, Uther Doul, Tanner Sack, Sheckel and Angevine, drive the story rather than vanishing beneath it. The narrative is purposeful, surprising and satisfying. Mieville has taken his protean talents of worldbuilding and description and harnessed them to a serious, adult story. Perdido Street, for all its genre-blending, was a horror story at heart. The Scar is less gruesome and nihlistic, though still refreshingly far from sentimental. Its palette and worldview are broader, its characters its heart. One could argue that among its few flaws, the book is too brief -- I could have gladly learned more of The Lovers, the Brucolac. With this intelligent, exhilarating adventure story, Mieville stakes his claim as a first rate novelist -- no apologizing for genre -- hes the real thing.

This is the middle volume of Mievilles trilogy of novel about New Crobuzon. I think the easiest way to describe these books is as fantasy novels, or a sort, which are highly politicl, and set in a steam punk type world, of a sort, which elements of horror. Mieville likes to refer to these books as weird fiction and I guess that suits as well as any other description. Anyway you look at it, all three books are well worth reading. I think this is my favorite of Mievilles trilogy of novels set in the world in and surrounding New Crobuzon. I cant say why I like this one best, I think because the monsters in Perdido Street Station were too... monstery, and the socialism in the Iron Council was too... socialist. Plus, I am a total sucker for sea stories, and this one is a sea story. Here we have a floating armada of misfits and strange creatures guided by a strange couple, on their way to the end of the world. It a fast and gripping read. I wish Mieville would quit writing childrens stories and get back to writing really smart weird fiction.

Just when I thought that the fantasy/science-fiction genre had exhausted every possible setting, China Mieville introduces Bas-Lag, the most original and diverse world since C.S. Lewiss Narnia. He populates his world with tried archetypes--for example, vampir--and strange novelties, like the thorny cactacae and the blood-armored scabmettlers, each with their own history, mythology and culture. In a lesser writers hands, this assortment of oddities could threaten to overwhelm the storyline, but Mieville keeps the action grounded in an episodic plot that continually throws new dangers at the primary characters. And what fresh, multidimensional characters! There is Bellis Coldwine, a student of dead languages and prisoner; Tanner Sack, a loyal, Remade man with a second chance at life; Silas Fennec, a spy with an evershifting agenda; and Uther Doul, a soldier with no ambition to be a general. Throw in the secondary cast--the scarred Lovers, Deadman Brucolac, Kruach Aum--and you have a memorable roster of misfits and madmen. I would not be surprised if someone bases a role-playing game on his books. Not only is Mieville an innovator at world design, he is also an expert stylist. His language ripples with visceral detail, making The Scar a jolt to the nerves to read.

If you think about it, Mievilles THE SCAR is a modern-day 20,000 Leagues tale. Both start off with the ship and crew going to some distant location, only to have their voyage halted by an unexpected attack. Instead of a giant squid, you get an avanc. Instead of Captain Nemo, you get Uther Doul--a man whos past could easily spawn several spin-off novels. Instead of the Nautilus, you get Armada, a miles-wide city constructed entirely out of captured ships that are all tethered together. Supposedly you can even visit a likeness of Armada on the online virtual world Second Life. Instead of visiting an island of cannibals, the characters in The Scar visit an island of giant mosquito people that will literally attack you and suck you dry. Overall, I like The Scar better than Perdido Street Station, except when it comes to the ending. I thought Perdidos ending was more poetic and powerful. Ill admit too that The Scar takes a while to get moving, but once it does it becomes very hard to put it down. Its interesting to discover how ones own feelings mirror that of the main character, Bellis Coldwine. What is going on here? Am I ever going to get off this city of ships? Where are we going? The reader is as much a prisoner as she is. But just as Armada integrates captured ships and their crews into its cityscape, so is the reader attached to the tale of this ship-city, and its fate.

So you want to read Mieville? If youre already familiar with his work you can skip first paragraph or two of this text. Ill be dealing with The scar later on. Anyway, few months ago my girlfriend expressed desire to read some fantasy. She came with me to a convention or two and she quite liked it so she decided to catch up on the genre. So I started feeding her books, starting with some classics, some popular authors, bit of this and that, just to see where her interests are. Everything is not for everyone as Im sure that you can imagine. At some point, Mieville came to mind. He is one of the best authors out there (inside and outside of the genre) but is quite challenging to read and requires a peculiar taste. I decided that I should give her The Scar, it being far better than Perdido Street Station and quite different, that is to say - more exemplary - than King rat. It was as good place to start with Mieville as any. Since she usually wants to know a bit about the book before she starts to read it, I said to her that its basically a pirate novel - everything else shell have to discover by herself. After thirty or so pages into the book, she was baffled. She couldnt make any sense of it; what and where is happening, who and what are all these characters, and what kind of a world this is. Language was difficult for her, Bas-Lag defied any visualization or attempt on a more rational reorganization etc. She still struggles with it, and Im not sure if shes gonna make it `till the end. Things that put her off balance confirmed my thoughts about Mieville. His Bas-Lag works present quite a challenge for new people. In a sense they are what hard-SF is to an average (especially new) reader - too difficult to follow without any apparent gain. Mieville requires a reader that is well versed into the intricacies of the genre, reader who enjoys genre itself, not just the stories written in it, reader who enjoys language and its usage for a world-building. If youre that kind of a reader, Mieville will be the author youre looking for. The Scar itself is brilliant. It is brilliant on many levels but Ill just state a few that worked for me. Bellis Coldwine (main character) is appalling. Shes a person I would gladly and repeatedly kick in the head. Basically shes a spoiled brat, snobbish, whiny and irritating person whose downfall and sort of growing-up were one of the main themes of this book. Yet, despite the fact that I loathed her, she worked perfectly as a main character because I couldnt quite figure out what Mieville intended to do with her. Anything could happen with her and that sense of unknown kept me going...didnt happen to me for quite a long time. What else did work? In The Scar Mieville explores boundaries of an autocratic society and its change from a society that indulges masses to a society that follows a higher-purpose. This is shown as a struggle between real-politics (Armada before Lovers) and visionary politics (Lovers). It accurately represents our society which tends to choose every-day survival instead of a leap of faith. There are no leaders in a modern world, nor are there grand-scale visionary policies. Again, this worked here because Mieville didnt cheer for any option. He managed to show the essence of this struggle in a rather consistent and interesting way (although his resolution was somewhat anti-climactic and meek). World-building worked. Usually, fantasy novel comes with map somewhere inside. This one didnt which kept my mind in a constant effort to visualize grandiosity of Bas-Lag, its weird inhabitants, its places and territories, its bustling cultures and reality-bending experiences. Other characters worked (though Brucolac, Uther Doul and Shekel are bit stretched) and interacted with each other in a sensible, nuanced manner and I couldnt quite see how it all connected before it actually did. To summarize, reading The Scar was fascinating experience for me. I cant quite remember when was the last time I stayed awake for a whole night reading a book just to see what happens next and how this or that is going to be solved. For this one I did. And I would gladly do it again.

Having read some of Mieville’s other works, I knew the level of detail and world-building would be astounding. In all of the works I’ve read by Mieville, the setting is one of the most intriguing aspects of the story, and the city of Armada is no different. One of the most vivid battle scenes I’ve ever seen rendered in a work of fiction comes in the latter third of the book, and it is worth putting the time aside to get through it in one sitting. Probably with a drink in hand. The cast of characters are headlined by two unlikely protagonists in a linguist, Bellis Coldwine, and a criminal being sent to indentured servitude, Tanner Sack, while the remaining individuals will bend your expectations of pirates, spies, and vampires. The cast adds entire genres of characters you hadn’t thought possible. I can’t think of higher praise other than saying I thoroughly enjoyed every moment reading The Scar, and am still mulling over that ending, wanting more from this world.

The most imaginative writer in the business.

Perdido Street Station was incredible, so I went into this book with high hopes. Unfortunately, they were to fall. The main character spends a great deal of time not really doing anything, which was frustrating and boring. Though Mieville continues to incorporate some cool fantasy - sci fi stuff into his world, it is not nearly as interesting as that in Perdido Street Station. The end was a real disappointment - I wont ruin it if you decide to read it - and really turned me off to this book. Overall, The Scar did not seem as original, interesting, or dynamic as Perdido Street Station. There is not nearly as much action, and no clear antagonist. Read Perdido Street Station, but I wouldnt bother with this one.

I thought this was better than Perdido Street Station. Interesting story. I liked the main character even though some reviews Ive read didnt care for her. Great continuation of the Bas-Lag world.