The Tain is a fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 novella

Novella

A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...

 by British author China Miéville

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...

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Publication history

It was first published by PS Publishing

PS Publishing

PS Publishing is a Hornsea based publisher founded in 1999 by Peter Crowther. They specialise in novella length fiction from the fantasy, science fiction and horror genres. It has quickly become established as one of Britain's premier small presses...

 in 2002, accompanied by an introduction by M. John Harrison

M. John Harrison

M. John Harrison , known as Mike Harrison, is an English author and critic. His work includes the Viriconium sequence of novels and short stories, , Climbers , and the Kefahuchi Tract series which begins with Light . He currently resides in London.-Early years:Harrison was born in Rugby,...

. It has since been featured in the 2004 anthology Cities, edited by Peter Crowther

Peter Crowther

Peter Crowther is a British journalist, short story writer, novelist, editor, publisher and anthologist. He is the founder of PS Publishing. He edits a series of themed anthologies of science fiction short stories published by DAW books...

, as well as Miéville's 2005 short story collection Looking for Jake

Looking for Jake

Looking for Jake is a collection of science fiction, horror and fantasy stories by British author China Miéville. It was first published by Del Rey Books, part of Random House, in 2005, and later by Pan MacMillan.-Stories:...

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Plot synopsis

The story follows Sholl, a man living in London soon after a convulsive onslaught by unearthly beings. Through introspective monologue on both sides of the fight, we learn of the history of the attacking imagos and "vampires", and the reasons behind the invasion. Beyond the surface of Mieville's customary belligerent prose lies an open parallel to human action — a reflection of modern society also visible throughout the 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...

 novels.

Reception

Infinity Plus suggest that "[a]s a story which uses the tropes of the fantastic to address the real world's injustices, The Tain can stand with the best work of another stylist of decaying empires, Lucius Shepard

Lucius Shepard

Lucius Shepard is an American writer. Classified as a science fiction and fantasy writer, he often leans into other genres, such as magical realism. His work is infused with a political and historical sensibility and an awareness of literary antecedents...

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Bookotron reviewed it and said:
Aaron Hughes reviewed the book for Fantastic Reviews and stated: