Embassytown, China Mieville (3.5)
I read one other book by China Mieville and I found it very complicated and difficult to follow. I’m not sure if ‘Embassytown’ is better, or if I am more patient, but I did enjoy this book. Mr. Mieville is an award winning Science Fiction author who pushes boundaries in unique ways, which may be why I find his stories harder to follow. His writing assumes you know more than you do about his new planet/culture/beings. As the story unfolds, your confusion evolves into many ‘aha’ moments. It can either be rewarding or frustrating. In ‘Embassytown’ he has created a world where humans are renters, of sorts, on a planet whose ‘Hosts’ communicate in a very unique way. The concept of language and how species communicate is poked and prodded throughout this story. He has shown how a tenuous handle of language can cause events to go terribly wrong to the extent of causing a war. Overall, I liked the uniqueness and the ideas of language that were presented, but I think other areas could have been pursued more to make it a higher ranked Sci-Fi book.
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