China Mieville on D&D

[MonsterMash]

Originally Posted by China Mieville
I know there are people playing home-brewed RPGs set in Bas Lag and there is no higher compliment. I am enormously pleased. I had a conversation with someone about this the other day, and I said, “Yeah, I’d love to write the Bas Lag encyclopedia.” And they said, “That’s really bad though, because you’re a socialist. You shouldn’t be writing these books that are just a kind of naked, cynical attempt to cash in on the sad obsessions of the geeks.” And I said, “No, no, no, you don’t understand at all! I can’t imagine anything I’d love to do more than write an encyclopedia of my imaginary world, with the possible exception of writing the bestiary.” I’m in this ing business for the monsters. The monsters are the main thing that I love about the fantastic. And unfortunately, you can’t really sell books of monsters to publishers. They insist on stories linking them.

Maybe he should try working with someone to do a D20 book of monsters - that'd sell (but not in the quantities his novels do)

 

[Nellisir]

Maybe he should try working with someone to do a D20 book of monsters - that'd sell (but not in the quantities his novels do)

I'd be flat-out amazed if he hasn't been approached for the RPG license yet. Green Ronin and Mongoose have both done a few licensed properties, and the RPG opportunities are sooo blatant here.

Cheers
Nell.

 

[fuindordm]

Dang, lots of people jumping on Wulf for saying a book doesn't sound like his style. I know it's hurtful when someone says they don't think they'll like something that you adore, but really now...

CM's books are definitely 'special'. The style is sometimes difficult, the world is absolutely swarming with mosnters and bizarre creatures, and the author's avowed fascination with monsterism sometimes feels jarring and gratuitous. I particularly remember a love scene between Isaac and his khepri girlfriend near the beginning of Perdido Street Station that I found unpleasant and completely unnecessary, and the outrageous cruelty of the New Corbunzon judges in their sentencing of the reMade (criminals whose bodies are modified as punishment) also seems terribly over the top.

Having said that, I have thoroughly enjoyed all four of his books. The setting is terribly creative, his take on magic and technology refreshing, and his use of language masterful. I don't think I've run into any other author that has me thinking "oh, cool!" to myself every second or third page throughout the whole dang novel.

The politics don't bother me (I guess I'm a bleeding heart liberal!), and while we definitely view New Corbunzon from the level of blue-collar workers they don't seem especially oppressed in any economic sense, but rather terrorized by a sadistic and invasive military-judicial system. In any case, the political environment is merely background flavor in Perdido Street Station, and practically nonexistent in the Scar; it's only in his third book that it drives the plot, and this is one of the reasons that I enjoyed Iron Council least of the three.

If anyone is sitting the fence about whether or not to try Mieville, start with The Scar. It's a really cool story, showcases his strengths, and also gives a little background and context to the world that makes the rampant monsterism a little easier to swallow.

Ben

 

[diaglo]

i consider myself fairly well read in the RPG world. but other than the link i have no clue who China Mieville is.

 

[Gez]

CM's books are definitely 'special'. The style is sometimes difficult, the world is absolutely swarming with mosnters and bizarre creatures, and the author's avowed fascination with monsterism sometimes feels jarring and gratuitous. I particularly remember a love scene between Isaac and his khepri girlfriend near the beginning of Perdido Street Station that I found unpleasant and completely unnecessary, and the outrageous cruelty of the New Corbunzon judges in their sentencing of the reMade (criminals whose bodies are modified as punishment) also seems terribly over the top.

Speaking about special authors and books filled with monsters, anyone beside ever read something by Serge Brussolo? That man is twisted -- but he's a goldmine.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Right, so a minor aspect of the book, which can easily be bypassed by looking at other very cool elements of the story, since they really aren't as front and center as you may think, would result in your not reading the book.

I can't believe I have to repeat this again.

It's not the book, it's the AUTHOR.

The comments in that interview are not attributed to a character speaking from the book. Those comments are from the AUTHOR. I find myself, through the comments of the author, utterly uninterested in giving him my money or my time. That has nothing to do with the the proficiency of his writing nor is it a commentary on the quality of the book.

I'm beginning to wonder if the secret to enjoying Mieville is to somehow tied to a staggering lack of reading comprehension.

 

[Desdichado]

I was very disappointed with Perdido Street Station. Perhaps I had overly high expectations from listening to some of the discussions here. I found it terribly undisciplined and self-important. Some great prose, to be sure. But it seemed that the author never had an idea he didn't like, and felt obliged to cram them all into one book, regardless of how poorly the ideas meshed. He would drop something that was cool, then promptly disregard the implications, and hare off after the next cool image. Imagine watching the raw footage from Apocalypse Now -- you could see there was a good book yearning to breathe free, but it just got buried because there was no focus. Appalingly bad resolution at the end, too.

Very similar to my reaction (NOTE: spoilers for following that link) to his book as well. It was overhyped. It had some good ideas, but pretty lousy execution. I haven't been inspired to read the rest of "the trilogy", although I understand that trilogy is a bit of a misnomer here since they share very little in common.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I can't believe I have to repeat this again.

It's not the book, it's the AUTHOR.

I think I understand what you mean. As a personal example which hopefully won't ruffle any feathers, I don't like the actor Russel Crowe because of his off-screen behaviour. To the extent that I don't bother to watch any films that he is in. I understand that Master and Commander and A Beautiful Mind are both jolly good films, but I've been to see other films instead - I have a limited time and budget, and my personal feelings about an actor are one of the distinguishing criteria, that is all.

Cheers

 

[Desdichado]

On the topic of China Mieville, there was a thread a few months ago wherein some EN Worlders were trying to create stats for slake moths. For some reason, the Search feature doesn't work for me....not sure if I have to be a member or something to use it. Does anyone have a link to that thread?

I presume you mean this thread?

I'm curious where people are comparing PSS to Planescape. I don't think they particularly have much in common at all.

 

[Mercule]

The comments in that interview are not attributed to a character speaking from the book. Those comments are from the AUTHOR. I find myself, through the comments of the author, utterly uninterested in giving him my money or my time. That has nothing to do with the the proficiency of his writing nor is it a commentary on the quality of the book.

Whereas, I'm disinclined to read the book not because I disagree with CM on politics -- I disagree with GRR Martin, but am eager for his next book -- but because he sounds as though he takes great pride in inserting those politics in his books. If he can turn "capitalist" into an insult and keep a straight face about it, odds are that there are many similar remarks in the book that would make reading it equivalent to self flagilation -- as much so as reading a book that repeatedly denigrated Christians, or some other belief system I adhere or respect.

In college, I read things like that because I was seeking a degree in political science. I still occasionally read those sorts of things to keep myself "in tune" with different thoughts. When I read fiction, though, I do it to escape and entertain. If there's a strong political slant to the writing, I want it to idealize the same things I do, not slap them around.

If he doesn't put as much politics in his books as it sounds, then I might enjoy them. I have confidence that I'd dislike CM on a personal level, but that applies to most actors to whose movies I go. Of course, since I like my fantasy firmly separated from technology and loathe Planescape-style plane-hopping, it sounds like the author's politics and their incorporation into the stories are a totally secondary concern to my enjoyment of PSS, et al.