Inside the Imagination of China Mieville

Likened to Kafka, Orwell and Phillip K. Dick, China Mieville's innovative, genre-busting novels and and non-fiction have helped redefine fantasy and science fiction for our times. At Perth Writers Festival, he talks to James Bradley. February 2013

[@geordiejones5618]

China is a great example of a writer willing to commit to their own style, even if its to a fault, because for them its the most natural way. Whatever you like, whatever you wanna go on about, don't let up and never compromise.

[@vollsticks]

I've been totally sucked in by his work, read the Bas-Lag Cycle first, finished Kraken, King Rat, The Fall Of New Paris and This Census Taker in a week (well, five days). That's not some kind of boast, just a testament to the "unputdownability" of his work. And the latter is probably the best thing he's ever done--as much as I love the Bas-Lag cycle! Railsea was pretty fucking great as well! China Mieville rules.

[@geordiejones5618]

​@@vollsticksThree Moments of an Explosion, Embassytown and The City & The City are the only stuff by him that I've read but they were all really interesting. I'll get around to his more baroque works one day.

[@beforever]

The interviewer was very switched on which is important when interviewing someone like China for the benefit of a viewing audience. How refreshing, nice work Australia!

[@laggingdragons]

Holy shit, ten years ago, I listened to this thinking it was contemporary to the 2020s, that's awesome. Very informative.

[@RR-cq2bu]

the unwritten novel has a basilisk's stare. I love this guy!

[@JIeryxa]

China exactly looks like "Engineer" from Prometheus movie.

[@lylehimself9287]

OMG! This is so true hahaha!

[@Morfeusm]

Amazing as always!

[@rickfinley77]

Very inspiring talk.

[@reginaldforthright805]

29:50 great writing advice!

[@billyalarie2841]

HE MENTIONED SAMUEL R. DELANY YESSSSSSSSSS

[@vollsticks]

Shit, I need to read Dial H now, I'm a big comics nerd anyway. This was a fantastically illuminating presentation. Also, damn China is a sexy bastard. And I'm a straight male.

[@mrshivers4828]

Goddamn, this guy is smart.

[@moreorlesslikeso]

Exactly my thought when I was reading "The city and the city" recently...

[@KeithOlson0326]

Now I know how to pronounce his name! Enough of my butchering.

[@serrincroft7771]

Keith Olson I know, right?! I searched interviews of him to not only see what he is like but to hear someone say his name introducing him!

[@JoeGamer81]

Serrin Croft The host pronounced it wrong. It's Cho-Nug My-Oy-Blub

[@ForeverMasterless]

Haha, same, although apparently I was pronouncing it right this entire time just by sheer luck, I think.

[@jude6228]

China is cool dude. Very articulate gifted orator. I don't like his genre, which tends to wallow in misery and squalor, but do appreciate his poetic phrasing.

[@reginaldforthright805]

He does go on, doesn’t he

[@scrollop]

@@reginaldforthright805No, it’s marvellous.

[@TheSpiritOfTheTimes]

What is this dude's workout routine?

[@bigfat4172]

20x5 sets of curling Das Kapital and 10x5 weighted pulls up with 50 copies of The Metamorphosis strapped to his chest.

[@FaceEatingOwl]

He uses a really heavy pen

[@healingchurchpotluck5352]

@@bigfat4172 lol I was going to make a similar joke

[@wildathair]

54:08 response killed me xd

[@Langkowski]

What happened to this guy? Haven't heard from him in some time.

[@skyrimsniper]

One year seems a long time, but in the context of a decade old video, hopefully not. He recently published "October" in 2017, and "A Spectre Haunting" in 2022. Both about socialism and political history. Wonder where he goes from here.

[@Roolooth]

An informative introduction by the interviewer - "a decade and a half, we're talking 15 years".

[@8020Alive]

17:40

[@ozzylaza]

Is he a British author?

[@vegetariansupremacist8571]

sounds so

[@jorgewmfrazao]

this man is so hot

[@gamingwithslacker]

He sounds a bit like George Michael

[@neilwilson5785]

Southern England, basically.

[@shaneysabillejaranta9983]

「内容を明確にする必要があります」、

[@hamzahmohammed5491]

Um

[@Eikinkloster]

The irony is that nowadays he would never get any Hugo or Clarke prizes, as those are restricted to women of color.

[@queeniegreengrass3513]

Poor guy. Speaking of which here's a cool video where a woman of colour oppresses China. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rZiun6WYq7SBb68

[@jbkjbk1999]

There's literally only been 1 woman of colour winner of the Clarke and 1 of the Hugo, Namwali Serpell in the case of the former and N. K. Jemisin in the latter. What are you talking about.

[@titussardonicus338]

Keep crying about it bro.

[@Eikinkloster]

@@jbkjbk1999 not true. This year's best Novel went for a Jewish woman, Arkady Marine. Jews don't consider themselves White, so, there you go. I bet I can find more if I keep looking. Do you know what you won't find? A White male like China Mieville.

[@Eikinkloster]

​@@jbkjbk1999 let's take a look at 2021: Best Novel: Martha Wells, female Best Novellete: Nghi Vo, female, South Asian Best Novelette: Sarah Pinsker, female, Jewish Best Short Story: T.Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon), female Best Series: Martha Wells, female

[@dr.phibesinred6066]

China Mieville is so overrated. I tried to read one of his novels and stopped after 70 pages, not knowing how I even got so far. I read some of his short stories and was so disappointed. He isn't telling stories, he's constructing sentences. Boring. "Weird Fiction"? Yes, but "weird" doesn't mean leaving out the literary stimulus and neglecting the storyline. There's no real depth, not much emotion and no perceptible creative vein. After all the praise he got, reading some of his stuff was such a drag. Sorry, but that's the way I see it.

[@davidmathew3649]

I think your opinion on Mieville is very much determined by which book of his you start with and also what sort of reader you are. Because a lot of people start with books like Kraken and Embassytown or perhaps even Iron Council and leave disappointed. Those books, Embassytown in particular, can be considered his masterworks but at the same time, they aren't accessible to first time readers of his. He's mentioned in one of his interview (perhaps this one) that he makes his style sort of floundering and cryptic in the beginning on purpose. It starts to grow on you when you trust him as a writer. If you could bring yourself to give him another shot, try reading Perdido Street Station first.

[@dakotahrivers6640]

I started on Embassytown and its just like reading David Foster Wallace, you get bombarded with a lush style of writing. My problem with getting used to China's work was his use of technology and lack-there-of explanations for all the technology or terms or anything like that. You're thrown in like you're supposed to know right off the bat what he's talking about.

[@davidmathew3649]

It certainly makes for fun re-reads, though :p

[@marcofiorentini3992]

I just finished to read Perdido Street Station and there were some point of the story which made me think “wow,he is a fucking genius “ because of his apparently infinite fantasy.His major problem in my opinion is that too often he thinks that is s genius aswell spending way too much time writing in a complicate and prolix way which is simply a style show off.I often felt like he was trying to tell me “look at me how cool I am and how deeply I can describe the crazy world of my story instead of focusing on the only thing that really matters:the story itself “.Fuck sake the guy has a great talent and great story to tell but he spends one fucking chapter just to describe people passing cables around the city after dedicating only three pages to kill one of most interesting characters of the book which is Shadrach.More De Palma,Less Fellini,please

[@dr.phibesinred6066]

@@alexthiebaut2195 Wow, that's a reaction after 3 years. But, allright. Once you leave your trace at KZbin, you're there forever... ;-) Yes, you're right. Now, 3 years later, I even avoid starting to read anything he wrote, because there's so much better stuff out there. I don't to waste my time reading something that's just overblown, but without a real story.