Embassytown Audiobook By China Mieville cover art

Embassytown

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Embassytown

By: China Mieville
Narrated by: Susan Duerden
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China Miéville doesn’t follow trends, he sets them. Relentlessly pushing his own boundaries as a writer - and in the process expanding the boundaries of the entire field - with Embassytown, Miéville has crafted an extraordinary novel that is not only a moving personal drama but a gripping adventure of alien contact and war.

In the far future, humans have colonized a distant planet, home to the enigmatic Ariekei, sentient beings famed for a language unique in the universe, one that only a few altered human ambassadors can speak. Avice Benner Cho, a human colonist, has returned to Embassytown after years of deep-space adventure. She cannot speak the Ariekei tongue, but she is an indelible part of it, having long ago been made a figure of speech, a living simile in their language.

When distant political machinations deliver a new ambassador to Arieka, the fragile equilibrium between humans and aliens is violently upset. Catastrophe looms, and Avice is torn between competing loyalties - to a husband she no longer loves, to a system she no longer trusts, and to her place in a language she cannot speak yet speaks through her.

©2011 China Mieville (P)2011 Random House Adventure Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Locus Award Science Fiction Mind-Bending Thought-Provoking
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Critic reviews

“A breakneck tale of suspense...disturbing and beautiful by turns. I cannot emphasize enough how terrific this novel is. It's definitely one of the best books I've read in the past year, perfectly balanced between escapism and otherworldly philosophizing.” (io9)

“Embassytown is a fully achieved work of art…Works on every level, providing compulsive narrative, splendid intellectual rigour and risk, moral sophistication, fine verbal fireworks and sideshows, and even the old-fashioned satisfaction of watching a protagonist become more of a person than she gave promise of being.” (Ursula K. Le Guin)

“Brilliant storytelling... The result is a world masterfully wrecked and rebuilt.” (Publishers Weekly [starred review])
Original Concept • Thought-provoking Ideas • Excellent Narration • Fascinating Worldbuilding • Unique Premise

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this is the first book I've listened to where the narrator not only added to the feeling and tone, but to the functionality of a plot point. amazing. listen to this story.

amazing

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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, because it is so unusual...and interesting.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Embassytown?

The war.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The greatest new sci-fi since "Aliens".

Any additional comments?

Incredibly different story. Very involving. The characters were always surprising. I enjoyed the first person perspective in this story.

Excellent, way out there Sci-Fi!

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In Embassytown, Mieville once again slips your brain into realms it never could have imagined. Stupendous ideas brilliantly developed. Duerden's narration could not be improved upon.

Fantastic novel, perfect narration

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Would you listen to Embassytown again? Why?

No. The book is great. The story is great (when it picks up). And the recording is great. However, the book is meant to offer commentary on language, and I had to look at Wikipedia for reference to understand a lot of the written subtlety of it. Also, one alien species speaks a language with two separate speaking organs making different simultaneous sounds. Narrator Susan Duerden uses sound editing to handle this brilliantly. However, it makes for a very difficult listening experience. I enjoyed the book, but would rather re-read a text copy.

What did you like best about this story?

The examination of language not as communicating merely what is but what could be is a fascinating phenomena. The protagonist is a "simile"--a living extension of Language. She acts "like a girl who ate what she was given." Thus, she is able to introduce new ideas to an alien culture by comparing other existing ideas to her--the girl who ate what she was given. An addict consumes a drug "like the girl who ate what she was given." That whole idea--making people into similes, into extensions of language--is absolutely astounding!

Which scene was your favorite?

This is difficult. A few scenes come to mind. One small scene was when someone's biomechanic prosthetic sprouted an ear to listen to an addictive linguistic drug being spoken. That small detail really intrigued me and served as a great metaphor for addiction and technology.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"In space, nobody can hear your two speaking organs scream!"China Mieville has many books worthy of movies. This one might be too smart for Hollywood to do.

Any additional comments?

China Mieville is an amazing author. Susan Duerden is a fantastic narrator!The story here is as captivating as the science fiction elements!However, this book is not always easy to listen to because of the complex nature of sometimes hearing two sounds spoken simultaneously for short monosyllabic names, greetings, and other moments.
Still, it was well worth the listen and I'm glad I purchased the book!

A Linguistic Masterpiece, but Better Seen than Heard

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Like all of Mieville's works, this book is incredibly imaginative. You don't have to worry about finding recycled plots or concepts here. There have been a few reviews stating that you have to spend too much time at the beginning trying to figure out what is happening, but I didn't think this was a problem. The things you need to know are made clear. The book is written as if you were a contemporary of the main character. If I were relating a tale of my life, I'd just say I made a call. I wouldn't spend two pages explaining how a cell phone works.


Susan Duerden does an amazing job narrating. This would be a very difficult text to read aloud and she appears to do so effortlessly. The minor "special effect" that is used when someone speaks Language was not distracting.


If you need everything spelled out for you, this will be a very unsatisfying read, but if you're ok not knowing every detail this story is amazing.

Mieville made even better by an amazing narrator

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Loved the concept. Linguistics and sci-fi is a winning combination if done well. Unfortunately the book suffers from the same issue that I've encountered in other Mieville works: the plot founders about 2/3 of the way through and the characters get on my nerves as they bumble around until the pace picks up again rushing into the big finish.

Aggressive editing to trim the doldrums would greatly enhance the final product. More focus on the ideas and world building and less time on the characters - who are less interesting than those in the New Crobuzon series - would also play to Mieville's strengths. For this book in particular a significant reduction in length would have been beneficial.

The narrator is quite good.

Would be better as a novella

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incredibly interesting study of language and alien intelligence! the reader did a great job of conveying some of the subtleties of tone required to get the full meaning of the text. highly recommended!

fascinating

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What did you love best about Embassytown?

The author comes up with premise that is very imaginative, and therefore thought provoking

What about Susan Duerden’s performance did you like?

The double voices were a nice touch

Very imaginative

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I finished only because I felt like the uncomprehending alien characters: sure that something worthwhile must be about to happen because of all the energy that was wasted up to that point. Beating my head against a wall or my office chair helped to pass the time while these words happened to me.

The binary voices were presented well and the reader was quite pleasant. I have no complaint with the Audible production.

McNovel

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Completely imaginative story about Language, written in language.

Worth the read, if just to understand this review.

Through the eyes Avice who hel battle a vice...

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