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Patrick's Reviews > Iron Council
Iron Council (New Crobuzon, #3)
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I've known *about* Mieville for a long time. But I don't know if I've ever read one of his books before. Generally speaking though, people I respect enjoy his books, and that's the best way I know to find new things to read.
Simply said? I really enjoyed it. Strange enough to be wondrous, but not so bizarre that it's nonsensical. Good story. Good use of language. Good characters.
Perhaps more than anything else, I was impressed by the moral ambiguity of the book. And I'm not talking about cheap moral ambiguity, where characters disagree. Or there's some questions along the lines of "was that the right thing to do?"
None of that weak tea here. This book was full of difficult situations and choices, and I can't think of another book I've read where so many people had radically different opinions about what the best course of action was. They disagreed, each took their own path, and and at the end of things, I still don't know who was right. What's more, the author pulled that off in such a way that it didn't feel fruitless and frustrating to me as a reader.
My hat's off Mievile there, that's a *very* difficult balancing act.
My only irritation was that I picked this book up without doing my usual research though. It's only now that I came to enter it into goodreads that I discover what I've fucked up and read the third book of the series.
It speaks well of the book that that didn't keep me from enjoying the story or getting into the world. (Though it does explain the steeper-than-average learning curve at the beginning of the story.)
Simply said? I really enjoyed it. Strange enough to be wondrous, but not so bizarre that it's nonsensical. Good story. Good use of language. Good characters.
Perhaps more than anything else, I was impressed by the moral ambiguity of the book. And I'm not talking about cheap moral ambiguity, where characters disagree. Or there's some questions along the lines of "was that the right thing to do?"
None of that weak tea here. This book was full of difficult situations and choices, and I can't think of another book I've read where so many people had radically different opinions about what the best course of action was. They disagreed, each took their own path, and and at the end of things, I still don't know who was right. What's more, the author pulled that off in such a way that it didn't feel fruitless and frustrating to me as a reader.
My hat's off Mievile there, that's a *very* difficult balancing act.
My only irritation was that I picked this book up without doing my usual research though. It's only now that I came to enter it into goodreads that I discover what I've fucked up and read the third book of the series.
It speaks well of the book that that didn't keep me from enjoying the story or getting into the world. (Though it does explain the steeper-than-average learning curve at the beginning of the story.)
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March 4, 2016
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March 4, 2016
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Manfred
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rated it 4 stars
Mar 04, 2016 11:50AM
Brilliant book, brilliant series! China Miéville is my 'ahem' second-most favourite author!
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While it is the 3rd book set in the Bas-Lag series, I never really thought the three books were that tightly connected to each other. It's not like picking up Wise Man's Fear first, for instance.
That's good to hear.
I've been wondering if it's okay to start with this one. I was sent an ARC of this many, many moons ago, and have put off reading it because I wasn't sure if I should start at the beginning. So, I'll be okay?
If you liked this one, then The Scar (#2 in the series) should utterly blow you away, and going backwards through the series shouldn't be a problem.
Luckily, each book in the Bas-Lag series is largely self-contained, sharing a setting and some characters or allusions to characters of course.
Maybe this is a subconscious thing. You know... "third" book of a series... *Ahem* Just joking :) Thanks for the review. And Bas-Lag trilogy not connected so tightly to each others. So it's not a big problem. Try Perdido, you'll like it I guess.
Thanks again.
Sorry, Patrick, but your stars are way too devalued. You hand out 4 and 5 stars grading as if they were free... so... yeah...
One of the cool things about Mieville is his non Bas-lag stuff is super interesting, and quite varied. Give The City & The City a crack, it's very different bur wonderful in a totally other way
@Pelagius So... he likes books? I wasn't aware there was a limit to how many books you could like enough to give them 4+ stars...
All of China Mieville's novels have a steep learning curve at the start. Iron Council is the third novel set in the world of Bas-Lag, but as far as I recall it shares no characters with the other two. Perdido Street Station is the first book, and The Scar has one character in common (a side character in Perdido Street Stn is the protagonist in The Scar). I'm glad you enjoyed Iron Council, but I have to admit I thought it's the weakest of the three. Perhaps because it is also the most overtly political - you can see China Mieville's cogs turning as he mulls over how the world can and can't be changed (he's well known to be very, very socialist, politically), but that political churning and fretting made it a bit bleak and depressing for my taste.
The scar, the second book of the trilogy, is my favorite one among Mieville's books.
My favorite book of his is Perdido Street Station. I'm working on the 3rd book now.
Perdido Street Station has a special place in my heart as much because it was so different from anything I had ever read prior to it as because it is a ripping story. Kraken is a very funny, very smart book. My favorite Mieville is "The City and the City." Just trying to imagine the geometry of Beszel and Ul Quoma while a great whodunnit happens within them is good for the brain.
Pelagius wrote: "Sorry, Patrick, but your stars are way too devalued. You hand out 4 and 5 stars grading as if they were free... so... yeah..."Many authors only (or mostly) share reviews of books they love. I think it's because they know how much blood, sweat and tears go into the writing of a book. They also know just how bad it feels to read a bad or mediocre review, and that any reaction to a book is intensely subjective.
I don't get why you have a problem with that. For a bestselling author like Pat to dish out uncomplimentary ratings and reviews of other books would seem quite mean to me. "Punching down" etc.
Seeing blurbs and recommendations by writers whose books I enjoy makes me buy the books they praise. I don't need to know which books they found underwhelming.
Gotta agree with folks who're dogpiling onto Pelagius. It's one thing for a nobody like me to slam a novel with a poor review. If I do it, so what? I'm just some crank on the internet. It's different when the reviewer has a degree of celebrity. Quite aside from the gaucheness of sniping at another author, it can lead to bad feelings. Publishing is still a pretty small world, especially in genre fiction. Why make enemies for no reason?
Go read The Scar. It is holy shit amazing. I loved every page.
You should definitely read Perdido Street Station and The Scar. Both of them are brilliant "un-put-downable" novels. I haven't gotten around to Iron Council yet (been meaning to for years), but those two books are some of the most imaginitive fantasy/sci fi/horror of the 21 Century.
"It's only now that I came to enter it into goodreads that I discover what I've fucked up and read the third book of the series. " I laughed
Bas Lag books are a series like LeGuin's Hainish books are a series. Chronologically Iron Council comes after Perdido Street Station and The Scar, but the events are totally self-contained with the exception of a few references to the "trilogy".
Having read this around the same time you did, I'm really glad you enjoyed it as well. Hopefully you read the rest of the series, and some more of his work too. You've actually already read another one his books, Railsea, and put up some of your thoughts in a review. You didn't rate it at the time, but maybe you could go back and update it now that you're more familiar with his work?
I fucked up in exactly the same way, and confirm that this is one of the series in which this mistake has very little impact.However, as good as the Bas Lag series is, I would support the recommendation made above for The City & the City. A quieter novel which blends Mieville's brand of urban sci-fi with mystery and social commentary, this is one of only a few books I can pick up again and again, and which lingers for a while after it's done.
I have tried twice to read his stuff. I can't get through it. Except. for the shock value I am bored to death. it must be written for the younger folks.
I've been enjoying (devouring/collecting) China Mieville's books, but Iron Council is probably my least favorite in part because I think the author succeeded in making me feel time slowing down and stopping. By the end of the book I was having to force myself forward just because I wanted to finish it, which made me feel a little meta given what was happening in the plot. If that was the author's intention (which, given his skill, I have to assume it was), then he did an amazing job of it, but finishing the damn book was still torture.I've wondered, though, if Iron Council sets the stage for a link to RailSea.
Try the Scar by him! it's awesome, also Perdido Street Station
Same. I bought the ebook as a Google Books recommendation of "Similar" to M. John Harrison's "Viriconium". To my discharge I have to say that I had already read the Wikipedia entry and that I did this because the series was recommended to me by a fellow metalhead, so that I knew it was a series... I just didn't remember the order.
Anyway, I'm hooked. I'll read the rest afterwards and feel as if I were travelling in time ;)
Anyway,
