Iron Council

Rating:
Summary: Something's missing . . .
Review: I like China Mieville. The guy's got one hell of an imagination, and Bas Leg is easily one of the most compelling worlds to be created within the spec-fic ghetto. Perdido Street Station, in my opinion, sort of coasted on this marvelous world, with a fairly weak plot (deus ex machina all over the damn place) and not the most interesting characters. The Scar came up with a slightly more interesting plot and characters who I actually cared about - but, for me, the plot never managed to be more than a collection of standard spec-fic tropes.

But both of them were incredibly entertaining books - I tore through them in a day apiece and was left hungry for more of Mieville's writing. So, obviously, I was happy when Iron Council finally showed up at my library.

A day later, I'm a little let down. Yes, I was more than entertained by this book, and am still hungry for more Bas Leg. But I still feel a little let down here.

What's the problem? For one, I'm just not into the characters. Maybe there are too many. Perhaps it's the bouncing back and forth between two very different storylines (a steampunk Louis L'Amour and a magical realist Victor Hugo, respectively) - storylines do finally rise above the run of the mill plotting of his last books. Whatever the case, I couldn't invest myself in either Judah, Cutter or Ori (and, for the record, the characters' sexuality did not, in any way, play into this. As one who cut his teeth on Dhalgren, a bit of gay sex isn't an issue for me). They're too flat, too opaque, and even sort of boring.

All of which makes it hard to really get into the story (which admittedly, takes a good long time to get started). Which is too bad, since I think this is the most compelling story Mieville's yet told. New Crobuzon's always seemed ripe for revolution, and it's nice to see it finally come. And I like how Mieville makes the whole revolution bit more of a counterpoint to the creation of/serach for/return of the Iron Council (as with the Armada in the Scar, Mieville's created yet another vaguely socialist utopia in a rather bizarre setting).

Not a big fan of the ending. I mean, normally, I like books that sort of explode into chaos, leaving a mess of unresolved threads and such. I don't really think that's what happened here. Mieville resolves most everything, just in a rather unsatisfying way. Which shouldn't come as a surprise, given how both Perdido Street Station and The Scar had endings that were major bummers. But I guess I'd hoped that, at some point, Mieville would want to toss his readers a shred or two of hope.

Alas, not this time. Bas Leg is starting to acquire the grimness of Sanctuary, out of the old Thieves' World series. Entertaining and enjoyable enough, but sort of soul crushing after a while.

All that aside, this book did entertain me. And it left me wanting more. Which, flaws aside, is pretty good these days.

Rating:
Summary: Painful and good
Review: As we reenter Bas-Lag in the long anticipated third book we find ourselves immersed once more in all that is Mievillian. The decadent early industrial age plus magic setting, comes to life with it's usual desperate heroes fighting the exploitive system in middle of a war that is not going as well as New Corubzon expected.

I find in comparing to the previous works that I didn't connect as much with the characters. Somehow no characters were quite as memorable as Yag, Lin or Bellis.

The ending however made even the Yag and "alternate reality Hedrigal" twists look bland in comparison. All I can say is, it hurt.

A worthy continuation of the Bas Lag epic, certainly, but the Scar remains the best of the three in my view.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing to engage with
Review: I had trouble with the beginning of Perdido Street Station, but by the end of the book had to admit that it had been fun. I thought the Scar was excellent. This book just didn't do it for me. I don't think there was a single character for the reader to identify with. Reads more like a history book than a novel. No real plot, no real action. I'll ask around carefully before I buy Mieville's next book.

Rating:
Summary: Neither better nor worse... just different
Review: I have been a huge fan of Mieville's since his debut King Rat, fascinated by his genre-defying, sophisticated and in some parts downright gorgeous writing style. Given that, I could not wait for this installment of the Bas-Lag books. I had read some reviews before reading the book, and I believe that was a good thing because it made me realize this was something different from the previous two books. When I picked it up it was with an open mind. I tried to see it for what it is, a standalone tale, without comparing it to the previous two books.

But it really is impossible to judge it as a standalone when it's a part of such an impressive matrix. When Perdido Street Station came out, I was astounded by its wild imagination, vivid ideas and rich language. When The Scar came out, I thought Mieville had outdone himself. It was everything Perdido was - and more. The ideas, the world, the characters were much more intriguing and memorable. The Iron Council, however, follows a completely different path, a path that may not be for everyone. It is definitely the most political and controversial of the three, but I believe it is also the most HUMAN. By saying that I mean that while Perdido and Scar were amazing roller-coaster rides filled with otherworldly creatures and theories, The Iron Council takes a step beyond all that and gives us something the previous books only barely touched. The humanity of it, the mechanics of unrest and tragedy and love are so real and well-thought-out that it actually renders the fantastic the least engaging part of the book. Don't get me wrong, the strange magic and creatures and ideas were no less fascinating this time around, but it was not these aspects that kept me reading on; it was the characters, their dilemmas and hopes and spirit. While the previous two books made me giddy with delight, this one actually made me tear up in the end. I'm astounded that so many readers have thought the characters flat and uninteresting. It was most definitely the opposite with me.

But I do admit, this book is not for everyone. Some may have issues with its politics. Others may be turned off by the main characters' sexuality. Many may not feel this book had enough of those "wacky ideas". But I don't believe it really depends on any of those things. I certainly do not agree with Mieville's political standpoint and his socialist's beliefs, and yet I utterly enjoyed the book. To me, it's not about politics as much as it is about people. It is not the action that makes this book so believable and memorable, it is the subtle, many times unanswered questions. Is revolution always the best way out? Are the oppressed always the benign and sincere in their intentions? Is achieving victory nearly as important as concentrating on what happens after said victory takes place? Is sacrificing innocent lives justifiable if in the end it serves to bring freedom to many others? Can one be dedicated to a revolution if one finds its methods objectionable?

Of course, the book is far from being a mere collection of essays on philosophy and politics. It is a painstakingly detailed, brilliantly realized and beautifully written novel that proves once again that Mieville is a powerful and remarkable young voice in today's literature. I cannot wait for his next book, and I am confident he won't let me down.

Rating:
Summary: Should have been one book.
Review: I was disappointed with this book as compared to Perdido Street Station and the incredible The Scar, but it took me a long time to figure out why. Essentially, I realized that this is two small books masquerading as one longer novel. First we have the story involving Judah Low, Cutter and the Iron Council. Second, we have the story of Ori, Spiral Jacobs and the summoning of the urbomach (gods, I love Mieville's wordsmithing). The two stories have very little to do with one another, and I found the first story to be flat and dull. In a word, it was boring. It dragged down the other story which was driving and exciting. If we could excise the Iron Council throughline and everything having to do with it, this would be a really exciting novella. The revolt was less interesting than it could have been, given the social unrest present in Perdido Street Station. It had kind of a rehashed feel. If he had removed the Iron Council plotline, he might have had more time to concentrate on the revolt line. I found the whole Toro bit to be a ridiculous piece of fan service. In the end, I don't think it should have been "Iron Council" at all, but that's just me. The Ori throughline proves that Mieville still has some good stuff up his sleeve.

Rating:
Summary: Just add a dictionary and tissues...
Review: Iron Council is a well-written and interesting book with a rich fantasy setting. However, before embarking on this epic journey you will need some equipment: an unabridged dictionary and several boxes of Kleenex. Why? Because the author is fond of using words like quotidian and evanesce and the plot is unremittingly depressing. It is a shame that such a good story is mired down with spelling bee pretentiousness and heavy handed tragedy.

Rating:
Summary: Worthy of its predecessors, but just barely.
Review: Like others have said here, it doesn't measure up to either of Mieville's earlier Bas Lag books. It takes seemingly forever to get the story rolling, and when it does, the ending is really a Deus Ex Machina, and is gravely disappointing. It's unfortunate, too, because the plot builds very deliberately to a crescendo that demands resolution... but then ends in a whimper, not a bang.

The gay protagonist is also annoyingly shallow, and appears to be put there as self-gratification for the author, rather than to add any kind of value to the story.

Speaking of self-gratification, I was also amused by Mieville's need to demonstrate his mastery of vocabulary on every other page. It's almost comical. Mr. Mieville's got the unabridged Oxford Dictionary on his shelf, and darnit, he's going to school you on how much of the language he knows. Ad nauseam.

These criticisms aside, Mieville is still as inventive as any fiction writer today, and here, he further expands upon a world that's at once familiar, and at the same time, unlike anything in modern fiction. If you've not read his other works, start with Perdido Street Station, and then The Scar. Both are great, but The Scar, I think, is his best work so far. Even though Iron Council was a little bit of a letdown, I still eagerly look forward to his next book.

Rating:
Summary: Falls Short of Perdido St. Station and The Scar
Review: Read this on its own terms. If you read this expecting something better than or as good as Mieville's other Bas-Lag books, then you will be disappointed. Iron Council is a slow starter. If you can last for the first hundred or so pages, then you will be rewarded with a more richly-textured view of Bas-Lag. I again marvel at Mieville's imagination. His detailed somaturgy is a pleasure to read.



Rating:
Summary: Revolution Descending the Staircase
Review: There are several stories woven together in this novel - another on the New Crobuzon series (if you would call that a series). The very first is an expedition of New Crobuzon 'rebels' let by Cutter, setting out to find Judah Low and the Iron Council. The second theme is Judah's own tale - an observer and prospector for a new cross-country railroad, then a mage, and then a revolutionary. This is inextricably bound up with the tale of the train itself - slowly moving across the face of the world as the track is built, finally revolting from its overlords, workers and train taking off on their own. The strange ecology that comes into being as a feral train and those that keep it independent and moving it the Iron Council. Now something of a legend back in New Crobuzon, and hated by those it rebelled against.

Back in the city itself, the themes of oppression and revolution play themselves out. Ori, a young man, is drawn into the mild sedition or an organization (perhaps it is a 'dys'organization) called the Caucus. These meet secretively, engage in mild guerilla politics, but are mostly a discussion forum. Finally dissatisfied, he shifts to a more violent form of protest, let by the bull-headed Toro on a quest to kill New Crobuzon's mayor and bring down the current regime. New Crobuzon itself returns as a major theme, much like the one it played in Perdido Street Station. But while that book saw the city as something vitally and sometimes fearfully alive with both horrors and delights, Iron Council presents a picture of a degenerating social class struggle, a collapsing economy, and an increasing oppressive government.

The stories are sometimes disjoint, but inevitably intertwined, as the Iron Council becomes less a group of angry train builders and more a symbol for what is happening in the city. The great, peripatetic path of the Iron Council leads inevitably back to the city. The war with the Tesh rides on the insurgency. Judah, Cutter, and Ori are the players that tie these threads together into an unnerving tapestry straight out of Hieronymus Bosch.

When an author who has been consistently excellent falls short of his previous efforts, there is a tendency for the reviewer to be excessively critical in response. While I intend to avoid that extreme, Iron Council has some very real flaws that deserve some attention. The first is the extremely slow start of the story lines. Most of the first half of the book is the history of Judah and the train. While the core facts of this history are vital to an understanding of the story to come, Mieville seizes on the opportunity to show off his control of language. Scenery is described in almost excruciating detail and the writing style, full or portent and metaphor is florid, even to the point of invented words. By the time the story became more than historical narrative this reader was feeling a bit dazed, and I had a great deal of trouble re-establishing my reading momentum.

On top of considerable linguistic skills, Mieville is an extremely inventive author. But in Iron Council he, like the city itself, becomes too dependent on mechanism. Judah is a golem master, and these creations play dues ex machine roles in moving the story forward. Just as the city makes monsters out of human, machine, and animal parts, Mieville constructs his own version of the English language, with its own occasional horrors. The reader is often undecided if he is reading a work of fiction, a metaphoric autobiography, or something written purely for display.

If not as readable as Mieville's previous books, this is still a landmark effort and should be accorded respect. It isn't a 'reader friendly' book - none of the New Crobuzon novels are really that - but it is one that generates both thought and new ideas in the reader. If you are new to the series, start with Perdido Street Station, since this story is very much embedded in that one. If you are looking for stylistic parallels then you will find Mieville's facility with language quite similar to Umberto Eco's, and can make your decision accordingly.


Rating:
Summary: Excellent vision
Review: This novel is a beautifully conceived and composed orchestra of language and fantastic thought. While some object to what I have heard described as its "spelling bee pretentiousness," well, I can only say that if you require an unabridged dictionary to understand words like "quotidian" and "evanesce," then perhaps you should stick to the Young Adult section of the store.