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Embassytown

By China Mieville

(19)

| Others | 9780345524492

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EMBASSYTOWN by China Mieville

Review by Bill Brody (MAY 17, 2011) The core of Embassytown by China Mieville is an exploration of the nature of language in the context of the future on a far-distant solar system where humans interact with an alien species that speak a profoundly d ... (read full critics)

mostlyfiction published on Wed, 18 May 2011

Embassytown

Reminiscent of 1970s socio-political science fiction by the likes of Ursula K. Le Guin and Doris Lessing, China Miéville's often revelatory new novel Embassytown is three books in one: a tense political thriller, an amazing, sometimes brutal rhapsody ... (read full critics)

barnesandnoble published on Wed, 18 May 2011

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3 Reviews

2 people find this helpful

Must read, but turn your brain on

Embassytown is a colony on the planet Ariek, a city embedded in the heart of the natives’ territory, the horse-sized and two-mouthed aliens Ariekei, also referred to as the Hosts. Coexistence is pacific and communication made possible by the existence of the Ambassadors, human twins genetically mani ... (continue)

Embassytown is a colony on the planet Ariek, a city embedded in the heart of the natives’ territory, the horse-sized and two-mouthed aliens Ariekei, also referred to as the Hosts. Coexistence is pacific and communication made possible by the existence of the Ambassadors, human twins genetically manipulated so that they are able to mimic the unique characteristics of the Language spoken on Ariek, which requires for two mouths to speak simultaneously while linked to a common mind.
Avice, the narrator, is an Embassytown-born human and an immerser, a traveller of space able to withstand the strain that crossing the hyperspace induces on the human body and psyche. She is also a simile: a human who’s become part of Language by performing some specific act requested by the Hosts. Avice is the girl who was hurt in darkness and ate what was given to her. The use of similes allows the Hosts who speak them to address abstract concepts, even though the meaning of what they say using the similes is often obscure to humans.
When the new Ambassador EzRa lands in Embassytown and he speaks to the Hosts, life on Ariek changes radically for both humans and aliens.
It’s a novel that bears rereading in order to understand everything that Miéville does and tries to do with it. The first part of the book isn’t in chronological order, drifting back and forth between the present and Avice’s life before her return on Ariek with her husband, and getting into it takes a bit of effort, particularly because we’re also trying to understand the fascinating world Miéville created and to acquaintance ourselves with the many neologisms and unfamiliar words Miéville uses to refer to certain aspects of the setting. Avice’s passiveness in this part of the novel is also something that makes it a bit more complicated to become engaged with the story, often relating events to which she was not present in a sort of summarized telling.
It’s worth the effort, though, because after the initial difficulty the novel finds its pace and is relentless and unputdownable from then on.
We are used to the unique premises of Miéville’s works – The City & the City comes inevitably to mind – but never like in this novel has he worked the premise so organically into the storytelling, weaving it together with the plot and taking both to a satisfying resolution.
And the characters shine through as well. I was surprised when, nearing the end, I found myself caring and fearing for them. The magnitude of concepts and ideas might have dampened the emotional response to characters in novels past, but not in Embassytown. Here they go together and I can tell you, it packs a heck of a punch. I was reading the last fifth of the book and I was shivering with that tight-stomach feeling that you get when you’re reading something truly astounding. Everything comes together so beautifully that I couldn’t help being amazed, and I’m not talking about plot: I’m talking about the way the various elements of this book, its philosophies, the characters, the events, the ideas all work organically, together, to deliver something that you can only call a work of art.
It’s not a laid back, easy read. Miéville treats his readers as intelligent people and is not afraid to make us work hard, and I don’t know about you but I’m grateful for it. There’s enough books if you want to switch your brain off and spend some time, but this one is everything the best science fiction has been praised and known for – it’s entertaining but it’s also serious, it makes you think hard both because of what it says, and of how it says it. As I mentioned, it’s the kind of book that benefits from multiple rereads, and I can’t wait to come back to it in a few months and discover nuances and details I couldn’t notice on my first read.

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Erialti said on Jul 12, 2011 | 2 feedbacks

"Language is the house of being, which is propriated by being and pervaded by being". (Martin Heidegger)
I did love, love this book – one of the best I’ve ever read in my whole life.
It’s a quite difficult book, philosophically thought-provoking and stimulating.
It might not be “the perfec ... (continue)

"Language is the house of being, which is propriated by being and pervaded by being". (Martin Heidegger)
I did love, love this book – one of the best I’ve ever read in my whole life.
It’s a quite difficult book, philosophically thought-provoking and stimulating.
It might not be “the perfect novel” in some respects, I admit, but I can’t term it simply a “book”, because it’s by far much more. Every page overflows with a deep sense of epic, of arcane, even of sacred, I dare say.
As I was reading, I lost myself in this absolutely endearing story, recalling all the theories about language that philosophy and the poetic avant-gardes discussed mainly during the last century. Furthermore, I was mesmerized by its sketched grim and stunning setting, its utterly fascinating and extraordinary characters (both human and alien) – I tasted, smelled, felt every feeling, every word of the story passionately.
To me this is high literature, not just a great book.

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Oedipa_Drake said on May 6, 2012 | Add your feedback