Rodomontade

Reading into the Treasure Trove of SF – China Mieville

I have read some posts on Facebook calling the stories that come out of SF–be they Science Fiction, Fantasy, Speculative Fiction–rubbish. So, then I read “rubbish” all the time and I write “rubbish” all the time. To each their own. I won’t be trying to convert those people; I won’t even make justifications about my reading choices. I will merely be posting my comments about the stories that I admire and will continue to read. Today it’s SCAR by China Mieville. It’s breathtaking although not a happy story, full of brutal and ghastly episodes which are starkly Mieville. It is worldbuilding to the extreme, a city of ships that sails the ocean bound for an unspeakable destination, visiting places on the way like the island of the Mosquito Women, the always hungry she-anophelius. These creatures, these citizens of Mieville’s world are but a few that I mention here. His stories, his worlds may not suit everyone’s palate and I won’t read books of his consecutively as I have to wander to other destinations less baleful. But dare read his books and be amazed by the depth of his imagination.