Slashdot Mirror
Perdido Street Station
The action takes place entirely in a city, New Crobuzon, and it's a large city.
There are loads of things here that are taken from outside the standard fantasy mould. Lots of the inhabitants of New Crobuzon are not human. This isn't revolutionary in itself, but they are far from the normal Tolkien-influenced critters. There are khepri, a weird species that doesn't even look the same for both sexes. The males are rather small and look like beetles while the females are as large as humans and look like a mixture of humans (lower half) and beetles (upper half). They can't talk, but communicate with scents and sign language. There are garuda, which are a kind of bird men. There are walking cacti. There are vodyanoi who live in water and can shape it to sculptures.
One day, Isaac Grimnebulin get a visit from Yagharek, a garuda who has had his wings taken off for some offense that he doesn't want to talk about. He wants Isaac to help him fly again. Isaac takes on the job in a very thorough way and starts investigating various other animals that can fly to find out how it's best done.
This is different from most fantasy. Normally, magic is the only science there is (and often that isn't treated like a science either). In New Crobuzon this isn't the case at all. There is magic, but it isn't the only thing. There are also photography (of sorts), printing presses for underground newspapers, intelligent cleaning robots, air ships and mechanical computers, all together. As if all this wasn't enough to make you think of science fiction, towards the end there's even an example of prime Star Trek technobabble, but in a fantasy mode.
In spite of its bulk, Perdido Street Station is a pretty fast read. The plot as such isn't too complex, but it drives the story forward nicely. What I think really stands out are the descriptions: China Miéville is very good at conjuring moods and environments and getting the reader to realize exactly how something looks, even in an entirely alien environment. China Miéville claims Mervyn Peake as one of his favorite authors, and the similarities to Gormenghast in feel are sometimes striking.
Perdido Street Station feels quite a bit like cyberpunk in a fantasy setting. Most of the common signs are there: a somewhat run-down city environment, technology development in a guerilla manner, drugs, computers, body modification (through surgery and magic instead of gene technology, but still) and quite a bit of attitude. I'm looking forward to see if this book will leave as much of a footprint in the fantasy genre as Neuromancer did in the science fiction genre.
You can purchase Perdido Street Station at bn.com. You can read your own book reviews in this space by submitting your reviews after reading the book review guidelines.
what does this all have to do with cellular automata?
This book has been around a while. I'm wondering what the need for a review is exactly. I did enjoy the book, but something else is going on here, or am I just imagining things?
Sounds too scrambled to me to be of any intrest...it sounds like the guy is trying to do too much at once.
GOD DAMNIT , MODERATE ME!
Now that's out of the way, this book is similar to "Angel Station" by Walter Jon Williams. If you like the reviewed one, you'd most likely enjoy AS..
Pretty crummy website.
You'd think that by now publishers would have ensured they were on top of what must surely be their most important marketing medium.
You think humans look the same for both sexes? I'm glad I don't hang around in the same circles you do.
Strange, I thought "King Rat" was a James Clavell novel.
News for Nerds: Stuff that Matters
/. is rapidly loosing whatever standards it once had.
or
We'll publish anything!
This review reads like a 6th grade book report. I'm sorry, but it seems like
In Capitalist America, bank robs you!
The RPG Shadowrun is set in a Cyberpunk world were magic has returned, along with elves, trolls, dragons, orks, dwarves etc, and there are lots of novels written for that universe.
Personally, I would define this book as "steampunk." The science/tech seems to be fairly driven by gears and such-- its a very low-tech kind of tech, but with high tech implications. What I mean by that is- they use very simple technological concepts like gears, steam, etc. to deliver high tech ideas like artificial intelligence and robots.
I highly enjoyed the book myself and I'm anxiously awaiting the next book, set in the same world, The Scar.
Fantastic book. One of the better things about it is that it has a great cover. Most fantasy (and don't let that term spook you, this book is very urban, and has been acclaimed by both the horror and steampunk crowds) have covers that look like they were done by the Harlequin romance cover artists. It's nice to be able to read a fantasy book in public without shame.
A good interview with the author is here.
-adso
thaumaturgy - The working of miracles or magic feats. According to dictionary.com.
BlackNova Traders
This book has been around for ages (more than a year) so why is it being reviewed on Slashdot, source of cool up-to-date news, now?
-- http://www.strontiumdog.net
Please, tell me how and why did this get posted? Is it a joke? Nepotism of some sort? Has the site been hacked by 6th graders again? This is the worst, most poorly written, least valuable or interesting story EVER to make the front page. Ever.
There are, reportedly, a quarter million readers of Slashdot. Please explain, why are you subjecting them all to this story? Are you trying to destroy the reputation you have built over the last several years? Have you lost that last shred of respect you once had for your visitors? Are you implying that perhaps, a 'for pay' version of the site would be better able to provide quality content, while the unwashed, freeloading masses are left with stories like this one?
Why? Why did you do this to us? What was the thought process? Whose decision was it? Please, out of respect for sentience, please explain.
The REAL jabber has the user id: 13196
What you do today will cost you a day of your life
I read this a while back, and agree with pretty much everything the reviewer wrote. I'm not sure he covered quite how disturbing some of the ideas in the book are. The mix of magic and technology is quite well done. The machine they use to go to Hell (literally) and the technician's narrative sticks in my mind.
--
E_NOSIG
I refuse to take any literary reviews seriously that are posted by an individual with a username of PINKUNICORNS.
I'm sorry, but this review doesn't really cut it. I've just finished reading the book, and there's a lot more involved than this thin (and inaccurate) plot synopsis indicates.
Perdido Street Station presents an intricately detailed world. The world may shock and repulse you (as it did me). It will certainly make you scratch your head. You may even wonder what the author was smoking to come up with creatures like the khepri and the Construct Council.
I would not want to inhabit this author's dreams.
In some ways, New Crobuzon and it's inhabitants remind me of "The Difference Engine", rolled together with a bit of "Brazil" and "Dark City". It is worth a read and well deserving of the Hugo nomination it just received. Even if you say nothing else about it, you will have to admit that it is not run-of-the-mill SF.
"Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped." --Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915)
The qotm (q of the moment) is:You will get what you deserve. :)
First of all, how exactly is a review of a two year old fictional novel news for nerds?
Secondly, did the person reviewing this even bother to research the genre whatsoever? They make several blatantly false blanket statements about the fantasy genre.
This is different from most fantasy. Normally, magic is the only science there is (and often that isn't treated like a science either).
There are many novels in the genre where science and magic co-exist. Any of the Urban fantasies intermingle modern day science with magic (pick up nearly anything by Charles DeLint or American Gods by Neil Gaiman for examples of this). There are also several novels which have both magic and futuristic technology mixed (Look into Anne McCaffery and L. E. Modesitt Jr. for some good Sci-Fi/Fantasy crossover novels).
This review is poorly written. From uninformed generalizations to details about the story which are taken out of context and do not serve to provide any useful information to the reader. Why this made its way to the front page of Slashdot is beyond me.
A new book by China Miéville called The Scar is coming out June 25. It can be pre-ordered from Amazon.
/ qid=1022258634/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/103-1216150-55022 13#product-details
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345444388
From the editorial review:
The Scar begins with Miéville's frantic heroine, Bellis Coldwine, fleeing her beloved New Crobuzon in the peripheral wake of events relayed in Perdidio Street Station. But her voyage to the colony of Nova Esperium is cut short when she is shanghaied and stranded on Armada, a legendary floating pirate city.
Most people would die sooner than think; in fact, they do.
>This is the worst, most poorly written, least valuable or interesting story EVER to make the front page. Ever.
No it isn't. At least he didn't go on about some Katzish meme-crossing, post-9/11, geek profiling, bullshit.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
And not all the quarter million slashdot readers WERE subjected to this story. Registered users like YOU can filter the stories you see based on topic OR AUTHOR. Golly.
So quicherbitchin.
Fooz Meister
..by James Clavell.
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
That setting is refered to as Steampunk, or cyberpunk in the steam age.
The first two thirds of the book were amazing, one of the best books I had read in quite a while. The final third just sort of fizzled out though.
I haven't read the book, so I won't comment on its merits. pinkunicorn, however, does seem to be a bit mistraken about what makes good science fiction.
True science fiction--at least good SF--has nothing to do with technobable. Rather, science and technology are important characters in the story.
For example, Larry Niven takes the idea of a Star Trek style transporter, and examines what it would do to society. Perfect murders go unsolved, protests and riots spontaneously appear and disappear, pickpockets run rampant.
Timothy Zahn creates a super-soldier with implanted weapons and sends the soldiers home. They're feared and hated, develop terrible wasting diseases, and eventually flee to create their own society.
James Hogan explores virtual reality and the effects of total immersion in an unreal world. Alan Dean Foster creats a society of fanciful aliens with a specialized socialst structure and then throws humans into the mix. Frank Herbert creates a self-aware computer that becomes God--or is it the Devil?
There are related genres. Good space opera, like David Weber's works, is classic adventure storytelling set in a detailed and internally consistent technologically-advanced future.
Star Wars and friends is perhaps best classified as science fantasy. The story may be entertaining, but it makes no attempt at basing itself in reality. What psuedo-technology there is serves as colorful background. If Star Wars were truce science fiction, it would have spent more time on the Endor Holocaust than the (admitedly entertaining) final swordfight between Luke and Vader.
So don't expect me to get excited about a story just because it has intelligent cleaning robots and mechanical computers, especially if the plot isn't too complex. If I want intelligent cleaning robots, I'll read Doug Adams and get a great plot and good laughs. If I want mechanical computers, I'll read William Gibson and get a great plot, social commentary, and a fascinating exploration of human nature.
Why SF and fantasy are lumped together is beyond me. What Tolkein and Vernor Vinge have in common besides great creativity and command of the English language escapes my attention.
</rant>
b&
All but God can prove this sentence true.
Stare as eyes uphold me
And wait to see right through
And curse me... The love has crippled you
Shadows haunt the night
Burning my disguise
[As I die (whispered x times) As I die]
Reaping through the truth
Life becomes untrue
Sin the last diversion
My fate will be untouched
Dismissed now, the anger of a fool
Shadows haunt the night
Forgive me as I die
Taking a chance
And take what you gain
My soul it has no price
Total release is out of harms way until I can decide
You punish me, can't you see, [I'm] not real
Bush: I guess I'm pretty weak in the Atheist community. Faith in God is important to me.
Sherman: Surely you recognize the equal citizenship and patriotism of Americans who are Atheists?
Bush: No, I don't know that Atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God.
The fact that your analytical posting is given a measly modding of 1 (one) while the alleged """"""review"""""" is still front page news (to the degree it is news, just 2 years short of hot) is all the proof we need that this is rampant nepotism of the first water at work.
Can anyone give me the slightest reason why I should pay genuine money to subscribe to this site?
Maybe he meant Slashdot was freeing the rules, so that they would run wild and free.
This book has already been discussed at John Shirley's web site. Hopefully most people here know he is a noted cyberpunk author, member of the orginal Movement, scriptwriter and currently horror author.
In this setting he does know what he is talking about and he gave it thumbs up. (BTW no point giving links, that was on a weblog that kept only the 300 most recent messages)
Perdido Street Station won the 2001 Arthur C. Clarke award for the best science fiction novel of the year.
"Information wants to be paid"
Randall Garret's Lord Darcy stories and novels were doing this years ago. A parallel Earth (with a couple of historical differences) where "magic" is the technology of the day and is used more as background (the stories tend toward Sherlock Holmes-type mysteries).
Technically fantasy but written to the rules of hard SF such that the stories used to be published in Analog back under John W Campbell, when that magazine had such a reputation for hard SF it was often referred to as "the one with rivets".
-- Alastair
Yes, but you see, if I filter by author, I will exclude myself from the possibility of reading other stories posted by Timothy. This isn't as great a loss as it might seem, but the point is, the stuff that gets posted should be interesting, or, as in the case of Jon Katz, written with some semblance of literacy.
I like most of the book reviews that get posted, so I don't want to limit that. On occasion, Timothy might funnel forth something interesting, so I don't want to shut that door either.
The purpose of the editorial staff is to pick and choose through the submitted articles, and to post the stuff that seems interesting and 'of quality'.
This is neither IMO, and so, I just want an explanation. I can typically see something of value in the sposted stories. Even the ones that do not interest me, I can imagine being of interest to others. But this review is so badly written that it actually turned me off to the book.
It was bad enough for me to stick my neck out to multiple 'flamebait' and 'troll' ratings, even though I am completely sincere in my question.
I just want to know what it was about this story that appealed to Timothy enough to put it on the page. Is he a big fan of the author? The story-line? Is he friends with the person who submitted the review? Is he filling a quota?
This story is BAD. Very bad. It's poorly written, it's uninteresting, it is, IMO, a waste of space. I genuinely want to see Timothy's reasoning, to try and understand. And I'm willing to burn precious Karma to do it.. So, Timothy, if you're reading this, go as far as a bitchslap if you must, but do explain to me why you posted this story. I sincerely want to know.
And notice, I'm not making fun of you, I'm not being insulting (not intentionally, and not maliciously, unlike many others who mock you regularly). I am being a bit snide, but this is my way of trying to be a little humorous, not mean.
I'm truly curious as to why this story exists.
The REAL jabber has the user id: 13196
What you do today will cost you a day of your life
It's an excellent book. I would call this news for nerds, if only the review did the book justice. You should all shut up and read it already. :)
It's usually standard for advertorials to have some sort of brief statement or label somewhere informing the reader that they're reading a paid advert.
One reason to mention this book is because it is currently nominated for a Hugo. I found it interesting and somewhat engrossing, but not as good as the Connie Willis book (Passages?) that is also nominated.
This is a great book, I read this a while back and gave the copy to a friend to read, it has been going around.
This book actually has a lot of disturbing images while gave me some odd dreams. I did not however like the way this book ended and felt that it did not fully wrap up the story. Leaving some of the main characters maimed and listless, dragging each-other off into the sunset.
It is a very good read however and has wonderful imagery.
anime+manga together at last.. in real time.
This is as good a time as any to plug Octocon 2002 - China Miéville is the Guest of Honour this year. Time for a trip to Ireland?
Octocon always has a great many guests, and is one of the most fun SF conventions in Europe - doesn't take itself quite as seriously as the large British or American cons, yet it's large enough to attract an impressive lineup.
See you there...
I can't understand how the "free-spirited" Slashdot crowd stands for the IP ban shit...
This would have made Chip from Futurama happy. I'm thinking of the Futurama episode where Chip falls in love with a mermaid. After a great romancing phase, the passion derails when they get into bed and Chip suddenly comprehends that he will never again have sex as long as he is in a relationship with a mermaid. As he sprints in terror from her house he wonders "...why oh why couldn't she have been the opposite, with the human part down below and the fish part on top?!?"
.
- First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then ???, then profit.
I should preface by saying I read some science fiction and fantasy novels, and other things too.
I read the excerpt to the new book and could not decide if the dialogue, description, or narrative was worst. Is it the compelling plot which sustains interest in this book???
-Yon!
What did it for me was the ending. He's far too preachy. Not to spoil it, but after Yagharek has played an instrumental role in saving the city and Issac is ready to give him wings, another garuda shows up and explains what his crime was in the first place. All very well and good, but doesn't saving a city of over a million inhabatants count for something? Surely saving a million lives outwieghs (spoiler!) the rape he committed years ago. Mielville seems to chicken out (no pun intended) at the end and refuse to allow that any rapist could ever be redeemed.
From a literary view, that's my beef with the book. In a post-Christian literary environment, rejecting redemption is like a throwback to Greek drama. His archaic moral, therefore, jives with the steampunk (a better phrase might be "gas-lamp fantasy"), technology-forward fantasy world he's created. A vivid read, but a let-down ending.
Plus, the monsters were rather unoriginal, I thought.
I never have frustrations, the reason is, to wit:
If at first I don't succeed, I quit!
Obviously, what the two authors have in common is a prodigious imagination coupled with a patient intellect capable of exploring an entirely mentally constucted world through many levels and editing it for self-consistency.
Tokien used his vast research of european mythology to make a world of his imagination (middle earth) feel real to the reader, just as Vernor Vinge uses his scientific knowledge to make the universe of his imagination in "Fire Upon Deep" feel plausible (in parts).
Fantasy and science fiction *are* very similar. Both are excellent when the author has imagination, knowledge, and mental discipline to shed insight into our culture, and both are utter trash when all the author has is rehashed ideas, a bad love story, and a colorful front cover.
I found this review more helpful. I haven't had a chance to read this book yet, but it's on my list!
I found this book review through Locus Magazine , which is the best online source of sf and fantasy news that I've found.
Read a good book lately?
Strong, but variegated sense of place, good stretches of characterisation, extremely inventive imagination, but there's a monotony of tone here---there are maybe a couple of bright spots, but there's an unremitting sense of general awfulness and hopelessness that the ending in fact makes complete sense.
I am a REGISTERED user, and can filter out whatever I don't like.
I am NOT a PAYING user.
Big difference
Fooz Meister
I'll have to do a review of The Epic of Gilgamesh or The Book of the Dead one day.
Danny.
I have written over 900 book reviews
A part of the book that really intrigued med was when Isaac held a long monologue about the Torque. The Torque is a mysterious force that can be used as an incredibly powerful energy source -- as well as big-ass bombs. Sort of like nuclear power and nuclear bombs. But the Torque doesn't kill by radiation -- it has the power to distort reality. In a "people grow tentacles and act weird" kind of way.
Isaac described an expedition where the members got Torque poisoning. Quote from memory: "One of the scientists started disappearing. Part by part. Large holes appeared in her body. There was no pain, there was just large holes where here flesh disappeared. She killed herself when both her legs were gone."
I think "The Scar" will most likely deal with the Torque.
Other Torque quotes: "We think it was a domestic goat. The scientists shot it, but the claws in its stomach killed a crew member when they dissected it. [...] That was once a house. The mouth appears to be made from engine gears."
Leveling up builds character.
Not much info to spoil here, actually. Consider it a teaser instead.
He indicated that Yagharek should turn the page. Yagharek did so, and something clucked deep in his throat. Isaac supposed it was the garuda equivalent of a sudden intake of breath. Isaac looked briefly at the picture, then looked up, not too quickly, at Yagharek's face.
'Those things in the background like melting statues used to be houses,' he said levelly. 'The thing you're looking at, as far as they could work out, is descended from the domestic goat. Apparently they used to keep them as pets in Suroch. This could be second, tenth, twentieth generation post-Torque, obviously. We don't know how long they live.'
Yagharek stared at the dead thing in the heliotype.
'They had to shoot it, he explains in the text,' Isaac went on. 'It killed two of the militia. They had a go at an autopsy, but those horns in its stomach weren't dead, even though the rest of it was. They fought back, nearly killed the biologist. Do you see the carapace? Weird splicing going on there.' Yagharek nodded slowly.
'Turn the page, Yag. This next one, no one has the slightest idea what it used to be. Might have been spontaneously generated in the Torque explosion. But I think those gears are descended from train engines.'
[...]
'There were twenty militia, Sacramundi the heliotypist and three research scientists, plus a couple of engineers who stayed in the airship the whole time.
Seven militia, Sacramundi and one chymist came out of Suroch. Some were Torque-wounded. By the time they got back to New Crobuzon one militiaman had died. Another had barbed tentacles where his eyes should be, and pieces of the scientist's body were disappearing every night. No blood, no pain, just... smooth holes in her abdomen or arm or whatever. She killed herself.'
[...]
'Yag,' Isaac said softly, 'we ain't going to use the Torque. You might be thinking "You still use hammers and some people are murdered with them". Right? Eh? "Rivers can flood and kill thousands or they can drive water turbines." Yes? Trust me... speaking as one who used to think the Torque was /terribly/
exciting... it's not a /tool/. It's /not/ a hammer, it's not like water. It's...
the Torque is /rogue/ /power/. We're not talking crisis energy here, right? Get
that /right/ out of your head. Crisis is the energy underpinning the whole of
physics. Torque's not about physics. It's not /about/ anything. It's... it's an
entirely pathological force. We don't know where it comes from, why it appears,
where it goes. All bets are off. No rules apply. You can't tap it -- well, you
can try, but you've seen the results -- you can't play with it, you can't trust
it, you can't understand it, you sure as godsdamn-fuck can't control it.'
Leveling up builds character.
I've been thinking about buying it for the past two weeks, but this "review" (you call that a review? Bah.) made me really want to read it. Now. I'll pick it up on monday.
(Here == Sweden)
Leveling up builds character.
We even have a review of the sequel of this novel published before this Slashdot article!
0 5/ 17/0837213
http://news.diversebooks.com/article.pl?sid=02/
SF and Computing Book Reviews from : http://www.DiverseBooks.com