unregisteredpseudonymspls: (Default)
unregisteredpseudonymspls ([personal profile] unregisteredpseudonymspls) wrote in [personal profile] terriko 2011-10-04 12:38 pm (UTC)

The City and The City

Recently finished The City and The City by China MiƩville. It's a very strange sort of story, and it's one of those I like "on balance", and regardless it's definitely worth reading for the surrealism value. I don't know if you've ever read MiƩville. He's a dense and difficult writer but often worth the slog. Appreciated best if you're a British Marxist-Leninist, but the slake moths in Perdido Street Station are among the creepiest fantasy monsters I've ever seen.

Michael Swanwick's pair of steam dragon novels, The Iron Dragon's Daughter and The Dragons of Babel are also excellent examples of weird fantasy, though the first one was a little bit too grim---the second one is MUCH warmer, and makes a very good audiobook. Can be read in either order as they are set in the same world but not connected, recommend reading the latter first.

I also read Stross' Rule 34---I'm a big Stross fan but I thought this one was alas fairly weak, especially compared to its prequel Halting State or any of the Laundry books.

Post a comment in response:

(will be screened)
(will be screened if not on Access List)
(will be screened if not on Access List)
If you don't have an account you can create one now.
HTML doesn't work in the subject.
More info about formatting

If you are unable to use this captcha for any reason, please contact us by email at support@dreamwidth.org