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Embassytown cover art

Embassytown

By: China Mieville
Narrated by: Susan Duerden
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Publisher's Summary

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

Critic Reviews

"It’s a bewitching performance by a writer who deserves praise for daring to do something rare among writers of his stature: He’s willing to walk the high wire without a net." (The Millions)
"Miéville is up to something else. In the case of 'Embassytown'... with his usual confident ambition [he] takes its monsters and spaceships deep into the zone of overlap between linguistics and politics." (The New York Times)
"Embassytown... 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." (The Guardian)

What listeners say about Embassytown

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

I couldn't finish it.

Not monotone but monotonous telling of a half interesting story. Would've liked more emotion in the narrator's voice in a story told in the first person. Better off reading it if you're interested.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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  • Tom
  • 09-12-2023

The ideas

Amazing ideas. China pushing the envelope of creative writing. But the way it was written I found suspended me in this unending need for resolution. It was very narratively written. Like the whole novel was a prologue and I found that kept me a bystander in the whole story. It jumped fast and with a lot of esoteric themes that I felt I was a spectator waiting for the main act to begin.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

great listen, although not his best

classic china story, lots of weird and mind bending stuff and a great ending. wouldn't say it's his best work but honestly he can't really do much wrong.
voice actor is great.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Im conflicted

In the beginning the reader is thrown into this strange alien world and it can be a bit confusing. Gradually you learn about the world and different parties and it becomes enjoyable. I felt like the story was always building to an epic finish but it fell a bit short of that. I think this is partly due to the narrator. Speaking of. The narrator was really bugging me towards the end. She would always drag out the word “language”. This word is used 3 or 4 times a paragraph in places. Every time she said “laaaanguuuaaage” i wanted to hit my head against a wall.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Narrator is hard to listen

The narrator hits the 'S' too hard & is really forced. I have to turn the volume down to listen.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing

This an exceptionally good novel, with an unusual plot, wholesome characters and exciting scenery. Loved every moment of it!

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