The Scar is another massive work of contemporary urban baroque fantasy by the extraorinarily talented if rather undisciplined China Mieville.

Set in the same world as Perdido Street Station, the protagonist, Bella Coldwine, is captured whilst fleeing the great city of New Crobuzon by sea, and made an unwilling citizen of the legendary floating pirate city of Armada. This extraordinary place is made up of the remains of captured ships lashed together into a fantastically varied marine metropolis, each district built around a particular large vessel, which seems to lend its character to the government and culture of the district. And what variations they are! From democracies through dictatorships to an area that voluntarily pays for its security in blood to its vampire master, the variety of political systems is both crucial to the plot and provides rich and complex lessons for our own societies.

The whole ungainly melange is given some sense of unity through the ultimate leadership of the enigmatic 'Lovers' - whose strange hold on the city is combined with a publically visible sado-masochistic scaring. The mysterious plans of the Lovers for Armada involving the harnessing of a mythical transdimensional Leviathan form the basis for the plot, along with Bellis' own attempts to escape the flottila. In this she becomes involved with the machinations of underground politics and espionage and inevitably strays way beyond her depth.

As in Perdido Street Station, the sheer inventivenes of Mieville is crazed and marvellous: an island of mosquito people whose mindless thirst for human nourishment sometimes outweighs their rationality; humans 'remade' to work underwater; terrifying leech-like beings from other dimensions who can 'swim' through air... and above all the great ramshackle mass of Armada itself, a city even more edgy and dangerous than New Crobuzon.

Mieville's writing is rich and luscious, and the breadth of his invention is matched by the depth of his intelligence. As previous reviewers have pointed out, this book is saturated in metaphors of scars, and the characters are diverse, dangerous and flawed with wonderfully evocative names that echo the melodrama of Dickens and the eccentricity of Mervyn Peake.

So what's wrong with it?

The ending. The same thing that marred Perdido Street Station. It is almost as if Mieville charges headlong through his plot with invention scattering in his path and then... he just stops. This could be conceived of as subverting traditional fantasty plot structures, but I think he just can't think of satisfactory ways to resolve a narrative yet. Still, a brave and magnificent book.

In "The Scar" China Mieville has proven that "Perdido Street Station" was no fluke, he is a force to be reckoned with in the literary world. Once again he returns to the world of Bas Lag, although this time he journeys outside the confines of the city of New Crobuzon. In fact, his characters travel the length and breadth of Bas Lag, as they are the occupants (willing and unwilling) of the floating pirate city, Armada.

It would be nearly impossible to recount the plot here, both because of its complexity, and the risk of spoiling it. However, there are a few general points that I think bear mentioning. First, while this is not a sequel to "Perdido Street Station" it does reference events in that book; there are no common characters, but the protagonist, Bellis Coldwine, is fleeing the city as a direct result of the happenings in the prior novel. While one could easily read "The Scar" without any knowledge of "Perdido Street Station" I would still recommend reading it first, as your appreciation of "The Scar" will be greatly enriched as a result.

Second, "The Scar" is a darker, more ambiguous novel than its predecessor (which was by no means cheery to begin with). It is not an easy beach read for the summer; while it is immensely entertaining, it is also monstrously complex and intensely thoughtful. This is really a novel that needs to be read without distractions and with a great deal of thought as to what is going on. There are a lot of subtle themes and messages in this book, and it needs to be approached in a manner more befitting "literature" rather than your average "sci-fi" (I use quotes because SF can obviously be literature, I'm just speaking in stereotypical terms).

Which brings me to the writing; anyone who read "Perdido Street Station" would have to agree that Mieville is a master of his craft. There are few writers today who have the same grasp of the English language; Mieville absolutely revels in the descriptive abilities of the written word. I would read an atlas if Mieville wrote it just to see how he described the landforms contained therein.

He is also intensely interested in exploring human nature across its entire spectrum. From compassion to cruelty, Mieville is fascinated by our motivations. If one reads an interview with him, it becomes obvious that Mieville wouldn't mind being cast as the anti-Tolkien. While giving a nod to Tolkien's creation of an entire world down to the smallest details, Mieville revels in his characters' moral ambiguity and indecision, as opposed to Tolkien's characters who always know where they stand. Furthermore, while Tolkien used his races to highlight different ideals, Mieville uses his vast panoply of creatures to highlight the absurdities of racism and the nature of "humanity".

Finally, Mieville is a master of the metaphor. I can say, without, giving anything away, that the Scar, of the book's title, is an actual place, but also a recurring theme throughout the novel. All of the characters (which are so diverse and beautifully realized it is nothing short of breathtaking) have scars, physical and mental. Some rise above them, some never come to grips with them, and some are brought low by them. In the end, the Scar is, at its most simple level, a double entendre. It is the heart of darkness of the world of Bas Lag, but it is also that heart of darkness within the primary characters that draws them to their destiny. In the end, some of the characters refuse to have their future dictated by the scars of their past, while others wallow in their pain and meet their end.

I could go on indefinitely, and not even scratch the surface of the message in this book. However, I have covered the key elements I took away from the novel; I'll leave it for others better versed than I to continue the discussion. Ultimately, "The Scar" is a novel of immense emotional depth. The characters are brilliantly written and act upon a world stage that is breathtaking in its scope. It is a highly entertaining adventure in the finest nautical tradition, but it is so much more. It is an exploration of the depths of our ambition and the foundations of our humanity. Do yourself a favor and read this novel (and carefully), it will not disappoint and it will leave you thinking for a long time to come.

China Mieville, the author who astonished me with his vision with Perdido Street Station has wowed me again with this equally unforgettable masterpiece:The Scar. The author who could had taken the easy route and just write a sequel to his first instead takes us back to his world of Bas-lag but in a different place. Bellis Coldwine, a linguist is escaping her city of New Crobuzon because of her brief relationship with a certain scientist named Isaac Dan der Grimmnebulin.If you want to know why read Perdido Street station. Bellis's ship that she is traveling on is attacked by pirates and she and the survivors are taken to Armanda, a city constructed from the hull of pirates ships. While Bellis is there she finds out that rulers of this strange shipcity: a S&M couple called Lovers are planning on a epic project that will change the face of this world forever! Mievielle's epic masterpiece is filled with scenes of terror and wonder as his obvious love of the sea shows on every page. This novel can be described as combination of Herman Mieville and H.P. Lovecraft in design. The characters of this epic novel come alive in these pages. Bellis Coldwine, the unlikely heroine who is manipulated by the various forces upon Armanda. Silas Fennac-the spy and Bellis sometime lover who's agenda no one can fanthom and who holds a deadly secret that will threaten everyone on the Armada. Uther Doul-the Lover's powerful warrior henchman with a incredible weapon at his command.Tanner Sacks-the sailor who becomes less than human and who's loyality to the Armada is set in stone. Brucolac, the sinister vampire who rebels against the power of the Lovers. I mentioned earlier that this book is combination of Herman Mieville and Lovecraft. Like Mieville's moby dick the Lovers obsession with their endeavor it will threaten the lives of all of the inhabitants of this city and the menace of a group of terrifying aquatic demons called grindylow who seek something stolen from them by one of the inhabitants of the city chilled the blood.Mieville's skills as a world-builder are more evident in this book than in perdido street station as he creates alien beings like a race of mosquito people who feast upon blood and
raising of giant ancient creature called Avanc from it's resting place under the ocean.This novel is the one to beat as best fantasy novel of 2002 and further cements China Mieville place as one of the premier fantacist of this generation and century!

My Dad grew up in Baltimore and played football for Loyola High and Johns Hopkins University. We gave him this book for Christmas last year and he loved it - a wonderful gift for bringing back memories.