The Scar
Encyclopedia
The Scar is the third novel written by China Miéville
, a self-described "weird fiction
" writer from London, England. The Scar won the 2003 British Fantasy Award
and was shortlisted for the 2003 Arthur C. Clarke Award
. Miéville won both these awards in 2001 for his previous novel, Perdido Street Station
, and won the Arthur C. Clarke Award
again in 2005 for Iron Council
.
The Scar was additionally nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award in 2002 and the Hugo Award
for Best Novel
in 2003.
Although set in the same universe as Perdido Street Station, The Scar is not a sequel to that novel, though it is set directly after the events described in Perdido Street Station.
(the setting of Perdido Street Station). It is heading to the city's new colony, Nova Esperium, which lies across the Swollen Ocean of Bas-Lag
. On board the ship are:
Before the ship reaches Nova Esperium, it is captured by pirates, and the passengers, crew and prisoners are all press-ganged into being citizens of Armada
, a floating city made of thousands of ships. Tanner uses his newfound freedom to embrace his remaking. He has his body further remade and the earlier, rough work perfected, becoming an amphibious sea-creature. Treated now as an equal citizen rather than a prisoner or slave, Tanner's loyalties fiercely lie in Armada.
Bellis meanwhile despises her new life as a librarian for the city's vast collection of stolen books, and yearns for home (somewhat ironically, as she was originally fleeing it). She gains the attention of the powerful Uther Doul, bodyguard to the Lovers, the mysterious, scarred leaders of Armada. Doul, for his own reasons, involves Bellis much more closely in the city's matters. She soon becomes privy to a plan formulated by the Lovers to raise a mythical sea creature known as the avanc. Simultaneously, she meets a New Crobuzonian spy named Silas Fennec, who reveals that the grindylow
of the Cold Claw Sea are planning war on New Crobuzon. Silas was on his way home to warn his leaders of this war (thus saving the millions of innocents who might be slaughtered by the grindylow) when he was captured by Armada. Bellis and Silas find romantic interest in each other, and commiserate that they are powerless to save their home city.
Soon enough Bellis, in Armada's library, stumbles across the information that the Lovers need to raise the avanc. Knowing that she must get a message home, Bellis destroys that information. This forces the Lovers to seek Krüach Aum, now the only person who knows how to summon the mythical creature. Armada mounts an expedition to his unnamed island home, which is the island of the dreaded Anophelii (a horrific and deadly race of mosquito-people). The Lovers find Aum and the information they need, while Bellis uses their time on the island, away from Armada, to get a message home, to warn of the impending grindylow invasion. Armada then successfully raises the avanc and captures it – no mean feat, as the avanc is an immense creature, several miles long. The Lovers' true plan is finally revealed: to use the great speed and pulling power of the avanc to find the fabled Scar, a place in the world where reality breaks down and anything is possible. The Lovers see this as a source of ultimate power.
On the journey far into unmapped waters, numerous matters threaten the city. Silas Fennec's actions, which have been far from honest all along, single-handedly bring down the fury of the New Crobuzon navy and the inhuman wrath of the grindylows. Following this a civil war breaks out within the city. Then, terribly wounded, Armada finally nears the Scar, and faces the unsettling horrors that accompany the breakdown of possibility. They pick up a shipwrecked friend from a different train of possibilities, chances and choices, who warns them of The Scar and that he saw the city fell into the wound of he world and everybody was killed. Mutiny follows and the people of Armada finally force the city to turn around and head back to the Swollen Ocean, the life of quiet and piracy, that they all want.
The last chapter of the book is another excerpt of Bellis's letter home, in which she realises how much she was being used by Doul. The reader is left with the question, how much Uther Doul actually was in control of the events in the book, what was chance and what was 'planned' possibility.
reviewed the book for The Guardian
and struggled with the writing style at the beginning of the book, "All through the first 40 pages or so you can hear the grunts of a writer straining too hard for effect," but "[o]nce the novel settles down after its ill-judged beginning, Miéville begins to construct an intriguing plot of espionage and deceit." He concludes that "The Scar eventually demonstrates enough invention and brutal energy, firmly ruled by a calm architectonic intelligence, to show that Miéville is one of the most imaginative young writers around in any kind of fiction."
China Miéville
China Tom Miéville is an award-winning English fantasy fiction writer. He is fond of describing his work as "weird fiction" , and belongs to a loose group of writers sometimes called New Weird. He is also active in left-wing politics as a member of the Socialist Workers Party...
, a self-described "weird fiction
Weird fiction
Weird fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction written in the late 19th and early 20th century. It can be said to encompass the ghost story and other tales of the macabre. Weird fiction is distinguished from horror and fantasy in that it predates the niche marketing of genre fiction...
" writer from London, England. The Scar won the 2003 British Fantasy Award
British Fantasy Award
The British Fantasy Awards are administered annually by the British Fantasy Society and were first awarded in 1971. The membership of the BFS vote to determine recommendations, short-lists and winners of the awards...
and was shortlisted for the 2003 Arthur C. Clarke Award
Arthur C. Clarke Award
The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. The award was established with a grant from Arthur C. Clarke and the first prize was awarded in 1987...
. Miéville won both these awards in 2001 for his previous novel, Perdido Street Station
Perdido Street Station
Perdido Street Station is the second published novel by China Miéville and the first of three independent works set in thefictional world of Bas-Lag, a world where both magic and steampunk technology exist...
, and won the Arthur C. Clarke Award
Arthur C. Clarke Award
The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. The award was established with a grant from Arthur C. Clarke and the first prize was awarded in 1987...
again in 2005 for Iron Council
Iron Council
Iron Council is China Miéville's fourth novel and his third set in the Bas-Lag universe, following Perdido Street Station and The Scar , although each can be read independently of the others...
.
The Scar was additionally nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award in 2002 and the Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
for Best Novel
Hugo Award for Best Novel
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
in 2003.
Although set in the same universe as Perdido Street Station, The Scar is not a sequel to that novel, though it is set directly after the events described in Perdido Street Station.
Plot summary
The Scar opens with the journey of a small ship which has set out from the city New CrobuzonNew Crobuzon
New Crobuzon is a fictional city-state created by China Miéville and located in his fictional world of Bas-Lag. It is prominently featured in both Perdido Street Station and Iron Council, and serves as a plot device and background for The Scar....
(the setting of Perdido Street Station). It is heading to the city's new colony, Nova Esperium, which lies across the Swollen Ocean of Bas-Lag
Bas-Lag
Bas-Lag is the fictional world in which several of China Miéville's novels are set. Bas-Lag is a world where both magic and steampunk technology exist, and is home to many intelligent races...
. On board the ship are:
- Bellis Coldwine, a cold, reserved linguist who is fleeing for her life for her alleged connection to the events in Perdido Street Station.
- Johannes Tearfly, a scientist whose interests lie in megafauna and underwater sealife.
- Tanner Sack, a RemadeRemadeThe Remade are a fictional group of bio-engineered people in the novels and stories by China Miéville set in the world of Bas-Lag. Bas-Lag itself is a mix of magic and technology, and the Remade are an example of this...
criminal (that is, he has had his body surgically and magically altered as punishment for his crime) who is bound for slavery. - Shekel, a young cabin boy who befriends Tanner.
Before the ship reaches Nova Esperium, it is captured by pirates, and the passengers, crew and prisoners are all press-ganged into being citizens of Armada
Armada (Bas-Lag)
Armada is the name of the fictional floating city in China Miéville's novel The Scar. The city is part of the fictional universe Bas-Lag. It is over a thousand years old, and little is known of its origins...
, a floating city made of thousands of ships. Tanner uses his newfound freedom to embrace his remaking. He has his body further remade and the earlier, rough work perfected, becoming an amphibious sea-creature. Treated now as an equal citizen rather than a prisoner or slave, Tanner's loyalties fiercely lie in Armada.
Bellis meanwhile despises her new life as a librarian for the city's vast collection of stolen books, and yearns for home (somewhat ironically, as she was originally fleeing it). She gains the attention of the powerful Uther Doul, bodyguard to the Lovers, the mysterious, scarred leaders of Armada. Doul, for his own reasons, involves Bellis much more closely in the city's matters. She soon becomes privy to a plan formulated by the Lovers to raise a mythical sea creature known as the avanc. Simultaneously, she meets a New Crobuzonian spy named Silas Fennec, who reveals that the grindylow
Grindylow
A grindylow or grundylow is a folkloric creature that originated from folktales in the English counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire. The name is thought to be connected to Grendel, a name or term most famously used in Beowulf but also found in many Old English charters where it is seen in...
of the Cold Claw Sea are planning war on New Crobuzon. Silas was on his way home to warn his leaders of this war (thus saving the millions of innocents who might be slaughtered by the grindylow) when he was captured by Armada. Bellis and Silas find romantic interest in each other, and commiserate that they are powerless to save their home city.
Soon enough Bellis, in Armada's library, stumbles across the information that the Lovers need to raise the avanc. Knowing that she must get a message home, Bellis destroys that information. This forces the Lovers to seek Krüach Aum, now the only person who knows how to summon the mythical creature. Armada mounts an expedition to his unnamed island home, which is the island of the dreaded Anophelii (a horrific and deadly race of mosquito-people). The Lovers find Aum and the information they need, while Bellis uses their time on the island, away from Armada, to get a message home, to warn of the impending grindylow invasion. Armada then successfully raises the avanc and captures it – no mean feat, as the avanc is an immense creature, several miles long. The Lovers' true plan is finally revealed: to use the great speed and pulling power of the avanc to find the fabled Scar, a place in the world where reality breaks down and anything is possible. The Lovers see this as a source of ultimate power.
On the journey far into unmapped waters, numerous matters threaten the city. Silas Fennec's actions, which have been far from honest all along, single-handedly bring down the fury of the New Crobuzon navy and the inhuman wrath of the grindylows. Following this a civil war breaks out within the city. Then, terribly wounded, Armada finally nears the Scar, and faces the unsettling horrors that accompany the breakdown of possibility. They pick up a shipwrecked friend from a different train of possibilities, chances and choices, who warns them of The Scar and that he saw the city fell into the wound of he world and everybody was killed. Mutiny follows and the people of Armada finally force the city to turn around and head back to the Swollen Ocean, the life of quiet and piracy, that they all want.
The last chapter of the book is another excerpt of Bellis's letter home, in which she realises how much she was being used by Doul. The reader is left with the question, how much Uther Doul actually was in control of the events in the book, what was chance and what was 'planned' possibility.
Reception
Steven PooleSteven Poole
-Biography:Poole studied English at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and has subsequently written for publications including The Independent, The Guardian, The Times Literary Supplement, The Sunday Times, and the New Statesman...
reviewed the book for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and struggled with the writing style at the beginning of the book, "All through the first 40 pages or so you can hear the grunts of a writer straining too hard for effect," but "[o]nce the novel settles down after its ill-judged beginning, Miéville begins to construct an intriguing plot of espionage and deceit." He concludes that "The Scar eventually demonstrates enough invention and brutal energy, firmly ruled by a calm architectonic intelligence, to show that Miéville is one of the most imaginative young writers around in any kind of fiction."
Awards
- British Science Fiction Award nominee, 2002
- Philip K. Dick Award nominee, 2002
- British Fantasy Award winner, 2003
- Locus Award winner, 2003
- Arthur C. Clarke Award nominee, 2003
- Hugo Award nominee, 2003
- World Fantasy Award nominee, 2003
External links
- Scar at Worlds Without End