The Scar

Mass Market Paperback, 608 pages

English language

Published June 29, 2004 by Del Rey.

ISBN:
978-0-345-46001-1
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
55984213

View on OpenLibrary

4 stars (70 reviews)

A mythmaker of the highest order, China Mieville has emblazoned the fantasy novel with fresh language, startling images, and stunning originality. Set in the same sprawling world of Mieville's Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning novel, Perdido Street Station, this latest epic introduces a whole new cast of intriguing characters and dazzling creations. Aboard a vast seafaring vessel, a band of prisoners and slaves, their bodies remade into grotesque biological oddities, is being transported to the fledgling colony of New Crobuzon. But the journey is not theirs alone. They are joined by a handful of travelers, each with a reason for fleeing the city. Among them is Bellis Coldwine, a renowned linguist whose services as an interpreter grant her passage--and escape from horrific punishment. For she is linked to Isaac Dan der Grimnebulin, the brilliant renegade scientist who has unwittingly unleashed a nightmare upon New Crobuzon.For Bellis, the plan is clear: live …

6 editions

Review of 'The Scar' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Books like The Scar are examples of why people have to read over sitting passively in front of a TV or movie screen. There's no way that this kind of book could be turned into moving pictures without reducing it to cheap tricks that attempt to make the imagery that Mieville brings forth acceptable to a wider audience.

Thankfully, this is not the kind of book that a "wider audience" would enjoy. Mieville is very much a pro at world-building. One of the hallmarks of this high-style of "urban fantasy" is to make sure the reader recognizes the environment both as geography AND as a character in the story. The book isn't overdone with flowery description in the Anne Rice vein, thankfully. It's both the description that we DO have, combined with the cadence of the writing, that sets each scene. These descriptions and the writing style felt very much …

avatar for RobinMarx

rated it

4 stars
avatar for spiralmind

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Adem

rated it

5 stars
avatar for jjackunrau

rated it

4 stars
avatar for nonskanse

rated it

4 stars
avatar for danwchan

rated it

4 stars
avatar for spideyj

rated it

4 stars
avatar for mttktz

rated it

4 stars
avatar for knodalyte

rated it

4 stars
avatar for oisin

rated it

4 stars
avatar for reverse

rated it

5 stars
avatar for tmarsh1024

rated it

4 stars
avatar for suzidarling

rated it

3 stars
avatar for Stratski

rated it

4 stars
avatar for mrkvm

rated it

4 stars
avatar for erinmalone

rated it

4 stars
avatar for cwhitfield

rated it

5 stars
avatar for stinkingpig

rated it

4 stars
avatar for eyal

rated it

5 stars
avatar for lazcorp

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Ivia

rated it

5 stars
avatar for niclindh

rated it

4 stars
avatar for ieuan

rated it

3 stars
avatar for TimmyMac

rated it

5 stars
avatar for nightgolfer

rated it

5 stars
avatar for m4cb3th

rated it

4 stars
avatar for casocial

rated it

4 stars
avatar for LiminalFlares

rated it

4 stars
avatar for DejahEntendu

rated it

4 stars
avatar for ghost31416

rated it

4 stars
avatar for kevbot9000

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Rinn

rated it

5 stars
avatar for grislyeye

rated it

3 stars
avatar for WorzelFG

rated it

4 stars
avatar for BillieCodes

rated it

4 stars
avatar for mandugar

rated it

4 stars
avatar for VerinEmpire

rated it

5 stars
avatar for genex

rated it

4 stars
avatar for veganmashuu

rated it

5 stars
avatar for flatlined

rated it

5 stars
avatar for flatlined

rated it

5 stars
avatar for n0madz

rated it

3 stars
avatar for billiamthesecond

rated it

3 stars
avatar for pd-bomber

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Lunartech

rated it

4 stars
avatar for erinlcrane

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Tinche

rated it

4 stars
avatar for ulfurinn

rated it

4 stars
avatar for j6m8

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Kesakurpitsa

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Dezik

rated it

5 stars

Subjects

  • English Science Fiction And Fantasy
  • Fiction
  • Fiction - Fantasy
  • Science Fiction
  • Fantasy - General
  • Science Fiction - Adventure
  • Fiction / Science Fiction / Adventure
  • Science Fiction - High Tech

Lists