I've lately strayed far from African literature, hoping to get back to it soon. I went on a sci-fi tour this past year, as readers of the blog know, and finally ended up with China Miéville who I have been hearing about for several years. Embassytown is good but not particularly great. I found myself skimming a lot. And the ending is a complete disaster... like the Narnia movies where you have to stage a giant battle... why? So untrue to the vision. A battle? Really? They can travel through the "immer" millions of light-years but they still have battles with smoke and dead bodies? But the setup and premise was really clever. The idea of the "language" that can only be spoken by special ambassadors is well executed. As is the idea of language as a kind of drug, taking the meme notion to the extreme. Any true sci-fi fans will of course have read this already, so no need to recommend. But if you are not a sci-fi reader, but are a really intellectually curious reader, I would encourage this one... Especially as a gift for a precocious 15 year old....
Embassytown by China Miéville
I've lately strayed far from African literature, hoping to get back to it soon. I went on a sci-fi tour this past year, as readers of the blog know, and finally ended up with China Miéville who I have been hearing about for several years. Embassytown is good but not particularly great. I found myself skimming a lot. And the ending is a complete disaster... like the Narnia movies where you have to stage a giant battle... why? So untrue to the vision. A battle? Really? They can travel through the "immer" millions of light-years but they still have battles with smoke and dead bodies? But the setup and premise was really clever. The idea of the "language" that can only be spoken by special ambassadors is well executed. As is the idea of language as a kind of drug, taking the meme notion to the extreme. Any true sci-fi fans will of course have read this already, so no need to recommend. But if you are not a sci-fi reader, but are a really intellectually curious reader, I would encourage this one... Especially as a gift for a precocious 15 year old....
Leave a comment