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Reviews posted on Amazon:
From Publishers Weekly
London is a dangerous and demon-haunted place, at least for the characters in the dark, finely crafted tales presented in Miéville's first story collection. Miéville, who has won Arthur C. Clarke, British Science Fiction and British Fantasy awards, writes of a city besieged by exotic forms of urban decay, monsters, sadistic and ghostly children, as well as, on a lighter note, the Gay Men's Radical Singing Caucus. In the novella "The Tain," the city has been conquered by vengeful creatures who have erupted from every mirror and reflective surface. In "Details," a story with subtle connections to H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos, a young boy meets an elderly woman who has looked too deeply into the patterns that underlie the universe. In "Foundation," perhaps the most powerful story in the book, a veteran must come to terms with the horrors he helped perpetrate during the first Gulf War. Though lacking the baroque complexity and extravagance of Miéville's novels (Iron Council, etc.), these 14 stories, including one in graphic-novel form, serve as a powerful introduction to the work of one of the most important new fantasy writers of the past decade.
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From Booklist
*Starred Review* Even the greatest admirers of Mieville's New Crobuzon novels (the award-winning Perdido Street Station, 2001; The Scar, 2002; and Iron Council, 2004) may feel that these stories really fulfill his big newcomer's promise. Several proceed in the best kind of uncertainty, sustaining the gnawing question, what is going on here? In "Go Between," a man finds things in, say, bread loafs, or chocolate bars, along with directions to convey them elsewhere. He always obeys, until one day he gets word that his work is done. Thinking he has been dumped, he pettishly refuses to post his last find. War breaks out: the end. Other stories concern inexplicable occurrences. In "Reports of Certain Events in London," papers mistakenly delivered to Mieville suggest that short streets in major cities are temporally and physically unstable. In "The Ball Room," cowritten with Emma Bircham and Max Schaefer, the extremely popular play cage in an Ikea-like store requires an exorcist. "An End to Hunger" and "'Tis the Season" are rich, sharp satires of "free market" capitalism. "Jack" is a note from the New Crobuzon underground. "On the Way to the Front" is a comics collaboration with the most impressive penciller, Liam Sharp. The book concludes with "The Tain," a powerful postapocalyptic novella about both sides of the looking glass. In every story, Mieville's way with voice and perspective is utterly captivating. Brilliant work. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Liam Sharp! Didn't he do Death's Head II? |
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