Embassytown is another powerful science fiction novel by China Mieville. The setting is on a planet on the edge of humanity’s expansion. Humans have an outpost there (Embassytown), allowed by the sentient native aliens, the Ariekei. Their technology is biological in nature, but has been adapted to support human life. The Ariekei’s means of communication is so fundamentally different from human speech, that understanding between the two species is a combination of gestures, guesswork, and goodwill. The aliens cannot use language as we understand it. Their “language” can only make simple statements of truth, and can only be expressed when uttered from two mouths, a blend of sounds that their fan wings can pick up. Humans use some of their own technology to mimic the “language,”, but with disastrous results.
The whole tale has been called cerebral, intellectual, richly conceived, deep, political, and astonishing. The celebrated author Ursula Leguinn called it a “fully achieved work of art.” The characters are well crafted. The alien setting has been rendered with great care and precision. From start to end, the author has maintained a high level of storytelling, mixed with a great leap of imagination.
Another astonishing book by China Mieville. 4.8 out of 5.0 stars
An audio excerpt:
Notes:
- I have also read Perdido Street Station, The City and the City, and The Scar. They are all different and each stands alone as a wonderful read.
