More Mieville

Alice K. Turner · 02 Dec 2004, 19:30 · from 2004-December.txt.gz

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From: aturner6 at nyc.rr.com (Alice K. Turner)
Date: Thu Dec  2 19:30:40 2004
Subject: (urth) More Mieville
References: <20041202200855.9F76B9859B at che.dreamhost.com>
Message-ID: <039501c4d8e8$6f1d4ce0$d27cae44@akt>

Yes, The Scar is a lot better than PSS (though it completely falls apart at 
the end), and IC is hopeless (I think, though I've only ventured into it for 
three chapters). I plead guilty to using the term "hack," but I'll retract 
that. He's not exactly a hack, since that implies churning the stuff out 
mindlessly. Mieville, I think really believes in what he is doing, but 
unfortunately (from my point of view) what he loves is pulp horror, mainly 
taken from movies. You can tell that from the excerpted quotes that 
intrigued some of you. He has also been poorly edited, especially in PSS, 
which is nothing if not repetitive, with terribly clunky prose.

-alga

> Mieville is worth reading.  He is no hack, in my
> opinion, although he has clearly been influenced by
> hacks -- as has Gene Wolfe.  I recommend The Scar as
> the "purest" Mieville -- that's the book I feel has
> come closest to showcasing his strengths.  Perdido
> Street Station will also give a fair appreciation of
> his talents.  I would avoid Iron Council, his latest.
> He's not the tidiest of writers under the best of
> circumstances, but IC is just plain sloppy.
>
> Paul

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