564 pages
English language
Published April 19, 2005
Iron Council (2004) is a weird fantasy novel by the British writer China Miéville, his third set in the Bas-Lag universe, following Perdido Street Station (2000) and The Scar (2002). In addition to the steampunk influences shared by its predecessors, Iron Council draws several elements from the western genre. Iron Council is one of China Miéville's most overtly political novels, being strongly inspired by the anti-globalization movement, and tackling issues such as imperialism, corporatism, terrorism, racial hatred, homosexuality, culture shock, labour rights and war. The novel won the Arthur C. Clarke and Locus Awards in 2005, and was also nominated for the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards the same year.
Simply an amazing book; everyone who wants to make change and likes fantasy should read it. My only regret in re-reading it is that Goodreads' Android app seems to have eaten my longer review.
the last and most political of the bas-lag
books is also the best.
For me, far less engaging and enjoyable than Perdito Street Station and The Scar. The 'western' aspects of the story were repetitive and too long an I wanted to know more about the Tesh.
I'll certainly read more Mieville, but might not have if this had been my first read.
The last book in Miéville's Bas-Lag trilogy, it is a worthy finale - even though the books are not connected. Miéville's images and metaphors are strong and almost hallucinatory in their power and the politics are as strong as ever.
