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Book Review
Sep. 3rd, 2011 07:17 pmIron Council
by China Mieville
This is the third and, for now, final of Mieville's Bas-Lag novels, and it's really amazing. The intricate narrative centers on two interconnected plots: the story of the renegade nomadic train city, Iron Council as it evades and then returns to New Crobuzon; and the struggles of the underground dissidents in an increasingly oppressive New Crobuzon that is embroiled in a deadly yet mysterious war with the distant city of Tesh. The first centers around Judah Low, a powerful maker of golems (of course) and one of the founders of Iron Council. The second centers around Ori, a restless dissident yearning for action and change. At the mid-point of the book, Mieville embeds an interlude recounting Judah's early life, how he learned to make golems, and the beginning of Iron Council. It's nearly a novel in itself, and the way Mieville places it in the book and how it ties it into and together with the rest of the story is a feat of form and structure.
Iron Council is extremely complex and thoroughly fascinating, and I loved reading it. It's also a more political novel than most books in any of the genres it incorporates (fantasy, sci-fi, steampunk, and westerns), concerned with issues of social justice, economic justice, liberation, freedom, and democracy. Mieville also explores the difference between the symbol a thing can be and the reality of the thing itself; the relationship between women, power, and change in a society where they are not equal; the tension between hope and cynicism; and the connections between the personal and the political. It's a novel that gives you a lot to think about.
Change and progress are always coming, and the only thing that can hold them back is time.
by China Mieville
This is the third and, for now, final of Mieville's Bas-Lag novels, and it's really amazing. The intricate narrative centers on two interconnected plots: the story of the renegade nomadic train city, Iron Council as it evades and then returns to New Crobuzon; and the struggles of the underground dissidents in an increasingly oppressive New Crobuzon that is embroiled in a deadly yet mysterious war with the distant city of Tesh. The first centers around Judah Low, a powerful maker of golems (of course) and one of the founders of Iron Council. The second centers around Ori, a restless dissident yearning for action and change. At the mid-point of the book, Mieville embeds an interlude recounting Judah's early life, how he learned to make golems, and the beginning of Iron Council. It's nearly a novel in itself, and the way Mieville places it in the book and how it ties it into and together with the rest of the story is a feat of form and structure.
Iron Council is extremely complex and thoroughly fascinating, and I loved reading it. It's also a more political novel than most books in any of the genres it incorporates (fantasy, sci-fi, steampunk, and westerns), concerned with issues of social justice, economic justice, liberation, freedom, and democracy. Mieville also explores the difference between the symbol a thing can be and the reality of the thing itself; the relationship between women, power, and change in a society where they are not equal; the tension between hope and cynicism; and the connections between the personal and the political. It's a novel that gives you a lot to think about.
Change and progress are always coming, and the only thing that can hold them back is time.
