Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

The Scar

June 30th

I'm in

Pirates! I am so in.

In. :)

In!

Still waiting for my copy from Betterworldbooks....

My copy has arrived last week so I am now opening the first page. A bit giddy since it has been a few years since I went in this universe.

The prologue is fantastic. The imageries and the feels are very Lovecraftian.

I'll be starting this later hopefully.
I'm curious to see if any of the chracters from Perdido Street Statio will make an appearance.

Yes, I loved Mievilles powerful imagery in the first book, Silvana!
I hope this book will be as awesome.

I am at page 76 and it has been wonderful.

The narrative is very accessible. I had a harder time with The City and the City.

Sorry, will be late to the party. Gotta concentrate on Malazan first.

Overbooked? :D

I am at page 101. Love, love Armada. (view spoiler)[Yes, Mieville is writing about another city!

I know we have floating settlements IRL, traditional and modern, but this is just fantastic. I would love to see this.

The fact that it has a huge library was so cool. Bellis had less to worry about she got the best job ever!

I really want to see the breating apparatus the topsiders wore underwater. And to see the Cray part of the town. (hide spoiler)]

Starting today hopefully. I have around 4 BRs going on at the same time

Wow, I can only do 2 max at the same time. I would be too distracted.

Just finished the first part. I am loving this so far!
I agree with Silvana, it seems to be more accessible (in comparison with Perdido Street Station, I haven't read The City and the City)

(view spoiler)[I really want to know why Bellis had to leave New Crobuzon and who she is writing to.
I'm curious when and how the beings from the prologue will show up again.
Another thing I noted is the ship name Terpsichoria. (Terpsichore is the muse of dance in greek mythology).
(hide spoiler)]

I'm in chapter 13 now.

(view spoiler)[So Bellis is Isaac's ex-lover. Was she mentioned in Perdido Street Station? I can't remember... (hide spoiler)]

I am about to start chapter 15

OH MY GOD.
(view spoiler)[ that thing...bonefish....was so scary. Fantastic action though. I am super curious about the mysterious army who went looking for the Armada. (hide spoiler)]

What do you think about Tanner's (view spoiler)[being Remade? I thought it was cool as heck. I am a scuba diver myself and I WANT that ability to breathe underwater. That must have been so much fun to become an amphibian. Underwater is so much better than the land... (hide spoiler)]

And it is not Mieville if we don't have that (view spoiler)[weird sexual congress between a human and a Remade. (hide spoiler)]

Bea wrote: "I'm in chapter 13 now.

[spoilers removed]"

I also can't remember. But even if she was, it was probably just in passing.

Finished Part 1.

So far, this is a slightly more conventional narrative - (view spoiler)[ a marine journey, foreign people, translation, raiders - all very interesting.

The long purposes of Bellis and Fennec are what I am chiefly interested in, and whatever new force has appeared underwater (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 11 done

This city is so bizarre! And engrossing.

I must say I think (view spoiler)[Bellis got of easy, being a librarian. Seems to be a fairly good job. (hide spoiler)]

Yeah... I am so envious of Bellis. She got the best job in the best city.

I got a bit sidetracked by an anime... Now almost finishing part 3. I can't wait to meet (view spoiler)[the mosquito men (hide spoiler)]

Done with part 3. Still liking it :)

(view spoiler)[I'm afraid of what will happen when the lovers find out that Bellis and Silas are playing their own game. I imagine Doul can be even nastier than he already is (I find him interesting, though)
What I was wondering: since Tinntinabulum gave Bellis the task to find books by certain authors (especially Krüach Aum) why did nobody ask her why she didn't bring the book to the lovers immediately but kept it to translate it first? I thought that might seem a bit suspicious to them since they are very distrustful in general. (hide spoiler)]

Re Tanner (view spoiler)[Yes it was cool and I actually felt very happy for him. I guess he's been through a rough time (being remade for punishment seems pretty gruesome) so it was nice to see him being so joyful about swimming and diving and feeling at home when he's in the water.
Oh, diving is so cool, Silvana! I want to try it one day since I love swimming and the sea :) (hide spoiler)]

Silvana wrote: "Yeah... I am so envious of Bellis. She got the best job in the best city.

I got a bit sidetracked by an anime... Now almost finishing part 3. I can't wait to meet [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I was already wondering about the lack of insect people lol (hide spoiler)]

Oh you should try diving, Bea, it is literally and figuratively an otherworldly experience.

What I don't understand from the book, why many are said (view spoiler)[could now swim. It was mentioned twice at least. I assume all pirates or whoever live in the sea are the best swimmers. At least IRL (hide spoiler)]

chapter 24

mosquito people
(view spoiler)[the women were bloody scary carnivore and the men were herbivore. I laughed at the scene where the men sucked the flowers. But then I remembered the women and they scared me again. (hide spoiler)]

you know, I enjoyed the Armadan's camaraderie especially Tanner and his friends.

I like Tanner too :)

Re mosquito people (view spoiler)[Yes, to imagine them lying around bloated with blood is gross!
What I find noteworthy is that the act of being killed by being sucked dry is depicted as gruesome as it should be in my imagination(just imagine how that must feel!) whereas a similar act is often depicted as sexy or desireable in vampire novels. I don't know if that makes sense but I like it when things that are technically gruesome are actually depicted as gruesome. (hide spoiler)]

I'm in chapter 28 now.
(view spoiler)[Doul is such an interesting character.
I hope we learn more about how he ended up as the Lover's man!
And I want a book set in High Cromlech, it seems to be so fascinating! :) (hide spoiler)]

We don't have a buddy read for Iron Council, do we or am I blind?

No, we have not. Wanna BR? I already have a copy and plan to read it but will have to check my schedule.

Yeah, I want to read it, too. How about August? July is already a bit full for me...

Sure, how about late August? 26th?

I'm good with that :)

Ok, I'll ask for a thread. Now, continuing our read. This is fun, deciding to the read the next before even finishing our current one lol 😂

It is a reader's natural and adaptive behaviour in order to prevent the worst possible catastrophe (->no more books to read)

finished with part 5
(view spoiler)[holy hell they did it. so nervewracking.

and the statue kisser was Silas! I thought he was Doul due to his uncanny speed but I was wrong.

I wonder what his real missive was. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 17 of part 3. This is very slow going for me.

Anyone have any clue what the mysterious interlude dwellers want?

Arkadeb wrote: "Chapter 17 of part 3. This is very slow going for me.

Anyone have any clue what the mysterious interlude dwellers want?"

I'm a bit slow as well. I think it is because of the dense narrative. easy to digest but contains lots of meat in it.

I think the mysterious dwellers want to (view spoiler)[use the avanc for their own benefit. dunno what thought. It could also be that they came from the same place as the avanc and want to set it free (hide spoiler)]

Ok finished.

Ending was a bit fizzly but I was not as disappointed as many readers above.

Overall I really enjoyed it, especially the closing of the Grindylow arc, I just wish the author had done more with what he had to hand.

Almost done, I have about 50 pages left, some random thoughts:

(view spoiler)[
-Soo, I was having bad feeling about Silas since he started to distance himself more and more from Bellis. I somehow didn't trust him and I was right! Him hanging onto his statue like it's some kind of drug was disturbing!
-I somehow feel very sorry for the avanc. Anybody else?
-Poor Tanner!
-I loved the underwater scenes where Johannes and the others tried to find out what's wrong with the avanc!
-It's sad how innocent people have to suffer or die just because a few powerful persons are pursuing their own plans for more power. I like how Mièville mirrors bad traits and actions that are sadly very common in our real world. (hide spoiler)]

Finished! I really liked it over all, maybe even a bit more than Perdido Street Station.

Bea wrote: "Almost done, I have about 50 pages left, some random thoughts:


-Soo, I was having bad feeling about Silas since he started to distance himself more and more from Bellis. I somehow didn't trust hi..."

I felt extremely bad for the (view spoiler)[ avanc! Abducted from its own world, drugged and made to labour here, then killed for something it was never involved in - poor creature! I was really hoping it would get better and then come up to chomp the city. I usually always root for monsters in monster books and the avanc was such a benevolent monster. (hide spoiler)]

Oh no! I still have 90 pages to go.

Chapter 42 is so depressing. (view spoiler)[especially when the ships and airships left Armada. (hide spoiler)]

Yay, finally finished.

Oh dear. What. A. Journey. This is definitely my favorite Mieville book to date.

First of all, I am amazed he could put all of those in one book. I think it could have been a duology or trilogy.

I am with you guys about the avanc. (view spoiler)[not sure whether it is a deliberate allegory of man harnessing the force of nature and bend it to his will without thinking about the consequences, but it is indeed a sad one. The chapter of Tearfly was harrowing. (hide spoiler)]

Silas (view spoiler)[he's definitely a master manipulator. I felt pity for both Bellis and Tanner. Glad that his ultimate fate would have been gruesome. (hide spoiler)]

I love every power struggles here, mutinies, subterfuges and whatnots. No matter the race/species, they're all the same. And to think that all thought they're doing the best for their beloved city, was just heartbreaking.

I cannot wait for Iron Council. You'll be joining Bea and I, right, Arkadeb?

Yeah, I am going to read Iron Council, and I was wondering about Railsea as well.

Railsea is awesome! It is my ultimate fave YA novel so far. A Mievillian take on Moby Dick.

I just got started ... late but better than never i guess.

I'm not a huge YA reader but a YA novel by Mièville sounds interesting. Let me know if/when you want to read it!

Re avanc/allegory: (view spoiler)[I'm struggling to put the feelings concerning humankind (or intelligent races) that this book has caused in me into words. It's not just that humans get involved in nature in a destructive way without thinking about the consequences. It's more that when a person is in any sort of position of power this can bring harm to another person/animal etc. even if this person/animal just happened to be in the wrong place. Bellis has to leave New Crobuzon just because she knew Isaac. This particular avanc happens to be the one poor being that was summoned and dies as a result of that. I got this feeling that wherever humans/other races are, nature is no longer pure (as it is in our world as well). Think of New Crobuzon which is so often described as dirty and foul-smelling.
Whenever a person uses his power in an irresponsible way it leads to suffering - until somebody/something rises and puts an end to it (in this case the inhabitants of Armada) - or tries and fails. I was actually waiting for the avanc to go crazy and rebel against the city as well.
I don't know if this conveys what I want to say (my english is still failing me when it comes to more profound matters, sorry) but I definitely had this feeling that Mièville is criticising our way of living. (hide spoiler)]

Bea wrote: "I'm not a huge YA reader but a YA novel by Mièville sounds interesting. Let me know if/when you want to read it!

Re avanc/allegory: I'm struggling to put the feelings concerning humankind (or inte..."

I would not be surprised at all if Mieville is using his story and worldbuilding to criticise our society. And I think your take on it is mostly accurate.

Another author who talks a lot about the destructive tendencies of civilisation and the problems of tyranny is Steven Erikson of the Malazan series.

One aspect from the novel that I found interesting is that we had an interpreter as one of main characters and the use of language and written words for knowledge sharing. The colonization and knowledge mining/embargo of the Anophelii was just cruel.

just finished Part I.

I imagine the (view spoiler)[underwater city must be magnificent, with both parts above and under water.

The he-cray that taught Bellis was the same one that was in the prologue? (hide spoiler)]

So far the story is moving along nicely. Intriguing developments at the end with the (view spoiler)[missing rig, then the mysterious Mr. Fenner and the pirates. (hide spoiler)]

End of Ch 9, pg 173

Bellis
(view spoiler)[I agree with the others that she got the best job as a librarian. Now, she could research what it was that the Lovers wanted down at the bottom of the ocean. Judging from the prologue, it should’ve something to do with huge sea creatures. Although, the rigging suspiciously seemed like an off shore oil rigs?

Im also wondering why Bellis was running away from New Crobuzon. She definitely knew Isaac, but she didn’t appear to be a major character in PSS. Wonder if she knew more than she let on... (hide spoiler)]

Fener
(view spoiler)[Not sure if I trust this guy with his stories, suddenly opening up to Bellis. (hide spoiler)]

Arkadeb wrote: "Bea wrote: "I'm not a huge YA reader but a YA novel by Mièville sounds interesting. Let me know if/when you want to read it!

Yeah, I actually had to think about Malazan as well while reading this book :)

End of Part III

The Lovers
(view spoiler)[What hubris to think that they could control such a beast. I think it’s gonna end super badly for the Armada ...

Btw, if you really want to stay hidden from the authorities, it’s probably not a good idea to build such a vast settlement that aren’t agile. Better to split it, and keep some sort of ruling council to coordinate stuff periodically. Kinda like a pirate council. (hide spoiler)]

Barry wrote: "End of Part III

(view spoiler)[Yeah, the Lovers definitely seem to be blinded by their power.

I wondered how realistic it is that Armada was NEVER discovered by anybody...
Building a huge floating city seems definitely risky to me, I agree, Barry. (hide spoiler)]