Getting Johannes was just one step in the plans of The Lovers, we don’t even see their plans before Bellis and Johannes get to Armada. Johannes confides in Bellis that Armada attacked the Terpsichoria because he, a famous scientist, was aboard, and they wanted his knowledge. And hey, if it makes you interested in reading The Scar or any other China Mieville? bonus! This book came out in 2002, so not only do I not feel bad about giving minor spoilers, I’m confident enough in my vaguebook abilities that if you’ve never read this book, none of this post will make any sense to you. Welcome to a spoilerific discussion of China Mieville’s The Scar.

I found that I desperately wanted to be his audience. I saw that while I only wanted to look at Doul through splayed fingers, that I could listen to him with no fear. I saw the mistakes I’d made in my previous reads of this book. I saw what people are willing to do to get what they want. I saw how language can give a culture freedom, and can also be used as a prison. I saw Tanner gain his freedom, and then gain it again. I saw that sometimes she knew when she was being used. I saw how those scars change people – sometimes it is a reminder of pain, sometimes a reminder of rebirth and positive change. I saw the creation of physical scars in the plot. This read tho, this time I was able to see everything else. I know all of that stuff, I’ve seen it five or six times already. I know the plot, I know what happens, I know the big reveals, I even know some of the tiny intimate scenes that really don’t matter. Yeah, so, The Scar was the opposite of that. You know, sometimes you don’t read a book for years, and then you go back to it, and it’s not as good as you remember, and you wonder why you squeed so much over it in the first place, because yeah it’s a good book, but it ain’t great?

Yep, The Scar by China Mieville is still in my top five list.

The scar china mieville review