Hey All,

Just read an interesting review of a new novel by China Mieville called _Embassytown_. It's pretty intense sci-fi and this story focuses a lot on language (to put it generically). This review had one paragraph that got me really curious, check it out:

"But the thing that makes them most alien to us, and us to them, is their language. Because the Ariekei have two mouths, their language incorporates two different voices entwined around one another (think Tuvan throat singing—or Google it). Sometimes those voices repeat each other in sync; sometimes the mouths (one mouth is named the Cut, the other is the Turn) say slightly different things, giving additional nuance to a statement. Because this mode of communication is all they've ever known as a species, they fail to recognize a single human voice as a legitimate source of information; identical twin human ambassadors are trained to discuss matters of trade and coexistence with the Ariekei."

Full review: http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/alien...id=8308355

Have any of you read anything by this author before? I've heard of his works for quite a while now, but being obsessed with Japanese of late I haven't been reading much English fiction these days...

K.

Sounds interesting. Never heard of him before. I'll read the sample on my Kindle app and see.

Wikipedia seems to think he's an award-winning author... That doesn't always mean much.

Just in case you didn't read the full review I'd be wary of judging the book by the first chapter(s) -- apparently it drops a ton of sci-fi terminology and is pretty challenging in forcing the reader to live with the lack of immediate clarification/definition/etc. I could see how this is very unattractive to some people, but I enjoy those sort of ambiguities and difficulties. I'm gonna walk down to my local comfy book store and see if I can read the first portion on a couch.

kodorakun Wrote:Just in case you didn't read the full review I'd be wary of judging the book by the first chapter(s) -- apparently it drops a ton of sci-fi terminology and is pretty challenging in forcing the reader to live with the lack of immediate clarification/definition/etc. I could see how this is very unattractive to some people, but I enjoy those sort of ambiguities and difficulties. I'm gonna walk down to my local comfy book store and see if I can read the first portion on a couch.

Unfortunately, without stealing it (or throwing money at it blindly) it's the only way I have to judge if it's going to be good or not.

You can't go wrong with Mieville, as long as you're fond of highly literate science fiction & fantasy.

He's also into speculative realism (philosophy), so that's a bonus.

You can find a lot of info/comments on Mieville on Crooked Timber.

Haven't read anything myself but it's quite high on the list of books I'll read once I stop reading exclusively Japanese.