China Tom Miéville, The Bas-Lag cycle: Perdido Street Station; The Scar; Iron Council

Christopher Palmer (La Trobe University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of Glasgow), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 2000 - 2004

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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In each Bas-Lag novel there is an exciting project that brings together a motley team in work and danger; the project is solidly material yet has metaphorical power. Each time the project is, tantalizingly, both advanced and defeated or diverted. In each novel there is a city, thronged, with multiple species, in a state of decay and renewal, scene of oppression and suffering yet also of possibility. In each novel there is a hero, a loner or simply bad at getting on with others, but forced to assemble and rely on a diverse team or alliance. And in each novel there are things or persons or events that stick in the memory because they exceed these recurring features.

The city in Perdido Street Station (2000) is New Crobuzon. New Crobuzon is an evocation of a city as a kind of body, growing,

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2165 words

Citation: Palmer, Christopher. "The Bas-Lag cycle: Perdido Street Station; The Scar; Iron Council". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 February 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=34372, accessed 23 April 2024.]

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