Wednesday, August 10, 2011

REVIEW: Embassytown, by China Miéville

Embassytown, by China Miéville. Published 2011 by Random House. Science fiction.

"I can make things bad for you," Ez kept shouting. "There are things I could say."

Embassytown, the latest novel from acclaimed British writer China Miéville, takes as its theme language and the power it can have over us all. Like many of Miéville's books, this one starts with a city, the city of the title. Embassytown exists in the far future, on a distant planet humans have settled. It's kind of a border town between human civilization and that of the Ariekei, an enigmatic race to whom the planet belongs. The Ariekei, or the Hosts,  speak a language so difficult that only specially-trained Ambassadors can communicate with them, so the Ariekei remain an enigma to all but this very select group of people. Avice Benner Cho, the protagonist and narrator, is not one of these people, but she's something even more important. Avice is a simile.

When Avice was a child, she was recruited to perform a task for the extremely literal-minded Ariekei so that they could enrich their language (so iconic it's simply referred to as Language) with figurative speech. Since then, she's traveled through the immer, or deep space, had a career, been married, and generally had a life. There are others like her as well, other similes, and the first breakdown of Language has a profound effect on them. Other key players include an ex-Ambassador named Bren, Avice's husband Scile, and a new Ambassador who is unlike the others, and whose use of Language wrecks a havoc that changes Ariekei society forever.

Embassytown is the kind of book that unrolls slowly, and you'll want Miéville's own extremely skillful use of language to wash over you. Unlike The City and The City, a tight, plot-centric blend of genres, Embassytown is more straight-up science fiction and less about plot and more about the language itself. In other words, it's not a fast read, or a particularly gripping page-turner. I found it to be long and dense, but I kept going because Miéville sets up such a remarkably complex and detailed world and made me care about the Ariekei and their extremely unusual problem. The novel is as rich with ideas as it is neologisms, and even when I couldn't tackle more than a few pages at a time, I never seriously considered putting Embassytown down for good. Miéville is a major talent whom literary readers would do well to get to know. As Miéville wrote in my copy of the book, "Hope you enjoy this linguistic apocalypse!"

Rating: BUY

FTC Disclosure: I did not receive this book for review.

11 comments:

bermudaonion said...

This sounds like one of those books I'm not smart enough for.

rhapsodyinbooks said...

Love that last line: "as Mieville wrote in my copy of the book...." !!!

Trisha said...

This one has been on my wish list since I first heard of it, but with my unnaturally long break this summer, I have no clue when I'll actually get to it.

Zibilee said...

I just bought Kraken after loving Perdido Street Station so much and needing another Mieville fix. It sounds like I should grab this one as well, because sometimes I love dense and complex. This was seriously a great review, and now I need to own this book!

Jeanne said...

I've been interested in this one from what I've already read about it, and what you've said here clinches the deal. Also, it makes me think that I should plan to read this one in small bits, which is good to know, especially this time of year (August is the cruelest month for Academic Administrators).

Audra said...

!! I'm so excited for this, mostly after seeing him speak earlier this year. I was afraid this might be too sci-fi-y for me but I love his use of language so I'm going to give it a go!

caite said...

that so rich with ideas part scares me a bit....but sometimes I get a taste for a little futuristic wandering.

Sandy Nawrot said...

After reading The City and the City, I now know that Mieville is one smart dude. I'm not sure if I would be worthy to sit across from him and have a chat. But I want more of him. He makes my brain buzz.

Dawn @ sheIsTooFondOfBooks said...

*whispers* I haven't yet read Mieville!

I really like the recommendation you've given ... and how can I argue with the author's inscription to you?!

Anonymous said...

Hmmmm. I think I will keep City&City as my first option. Though I like the premise of this, I think it best to first sample Mr. M and his language before jumping in over my head.

Wendy said...

Some years ago while in London, I picked up Mieville's YA novel, Un Lun Dun. I still think about the crazy parallel world he created, and I work to put the book in the hands of good middle school readers. I'll put this one on my list, too.