Not your average Lord of the Rings

[_fustian]

Current Music: Orbital -- I Wish I Had Duck Feet

I've just finished the third of China Miéville's New Crobuzon books, Iron Council (2004). Why wasn't I told it was his best? I wouldn't have waited so long

Comments

[thefon]

I liked it too, it chose a direction and stuck to it.
I'm not so harsh on The Scar, since I enjoy the "Continental Adventure" and "Space Opera" genres.

[strangedave]

I thought The Scar was the best of the three. It had an ending that made the preceding book better, whereas Perdido sort of coasted to a stop, and Iron Council seemed a bit too much true believer wish fulfillment. Ultimately the Scar wins for me because I felt it had a proper structure, not just an ending.

I think you are very perceptive in mentioning The Fiend Folio, Miévilles love of the D&D monster manuals roars off the page to me.

[_fustian]

Iron Council seemed a bit too much true believer wish fulfillment.

Wish fulfillment how? I mean, it seemed to me that nothing happened in the end that the reader might have wished for. I was particularly impressed (moderate spoiler alert!) by the reinforced sense of the inevitability of the Status Quo, of the powerlessness of the individual, and the whole "history hasn't been planned" theme. It fulfilled none of my wishes, and yet was better for that.

Miévilles love of the D&D monster manuals roars off the page to me.I've sometimes wondered whether he's set himself an "encounter table challenge"-selecting obscure humanoids at random and seeing whether he can lever them into the setting-or whether it's a more considered thing, concentrating on the folkish and the archaically bizarre like the cock-riding hotchimen and the catoblepas. But then, he really goes beyond even that; I mean, cactus people? Roach-headed dryads? Moon elementals? To me, this is more of his Anti-Fantasy, meant to undermine expectations and push hard against the

[accy]

Well there is an awful lot of socialist chest something in Iron Council. So mush so that it probably put me off a bit. I like The Scar better personally. I found the ending quite good as well.

[_fustian]

an awful lot of socialist chest something

Chest-thumping, you mean? I thought it was a powerful commentary on the quaint ineffectiveness of much of it-which made for some biting pathos.

[xhile]

ooh, thankyou. This certainly looks worth a read.

(and i am very fussy about my 'fantasy' books, although this looks quite far removed from LOTR)

[_fustian]

This certainly looks worth a read.

I think you could safely jump straight into this one (rather than reading the first two); it does refer to some events in the other books, but only as colour for the backstory.