Embassytown by China Mieville

Embassytown

by China Mieville

Embassytown: a city of contradictions on the outskirts of the universe.

Avice is an immerser, a traveller on the immer, the sea of space and time below the everyday, now returned to her birth planet. Here on Arieka, humans are not the only intelligent life, and Avice has a rare bond with the natives, the enigmatic Hosts - who cannot lie.

Only a tiny cadre of unique human Ambassadors can speak Language, and connect the two communities. But an unimaginable new arrival has come to Embassytown. And when this Ambassador speaks, everything changes.

Catastrophe looms. Avice knows the only hope is for her to speak directly to the alien Hosts.

And that is impossible.

Reviewed by empressbrooke on

4 of 5 stars

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This one was awesome. I started it months ago and then set it down because the first few chapters felt indecipherable. I'm glad that I picked it back up though, because once I powered through the beginning with its alien setting and language, the present-day story about Language started, and suddenly I found myself awake far too late at night dying to know what was going to happen next. Fabulous stuff.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 29 January, 2012: Finished reading
  • 29 January, 2012: Reviewed