A return

Oh shit. Looks like I dropped the ball with those chapter-by-chapter posts. It was turning out to be a bit of a drain on my enthusiasm, and was making reading one of my favourite books into a chore. While I won’t rule out returning to finish them at some point, I’d rather reshape this blog into something else.

I’ve been reading a ton of space opera and hard SF, and I want to use this blog to post reviews of books I enjoy as I read them, as well as other thoughts on the genre. All that will be coming shortly. First though, I’ll be cross-posting a few recent reviews from my Goodreads account. And that’s all I have to say in this post!

China Miéville’s The Scar Chapter-By-Chapter: Ch. 29, Ch. 30

The Scar - French cover

Bellis is a popular gal in these two chapters, what with Silas sneaking into her apartment late at night, and Uther wanting to read her some poetry. How lucky to be pursued by two such fine suitors! Okay, not really… They each want something else out of her, I’m sure. But to say what before the spoiler warning wouldn’t be nice. So if you read on, BEWARE OF SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE BOOK! [Intro and index]

China Miéville’s The Scar Chapter-By-Chapter: Ch. 27, Ch. 28

Artwork by Zdzislaw Beksinski

Oh crap, I missed a day again. It looks like I probably won’t get this finished in October. Oh well, it won’t kill me to spill a little over into next month. Tonight I’m sharing my thoughts on the first two chapters of Part Five, “Storms”. Our protagonists return to Armada with their message safely sent, and the city now has everything it needs to put its plan into action. Read more below, and BEWARE OF WHOLE BOOK SPOILERS. [Intro and index]

(Artwork unrelated; by Zdzislaw Beksinski)

China Miéville’s The Scar Chapter-By-Chapter: Ch. 26, Interludes

Anophelii by Dominik Petr

It’s the end of Part Four, “Blood”, and our sojourn to the anophelii island is over; both missions (the public one of the Armadans, and Bellis’s private one) are complete. However, events are only just beginning to unravel; and the deeper plans hidden underneath those we know of are far from being revealed. Read ahead for my thoughts on these chapters. WHOLE BOOK SPOILERS AHEAD. [Intro and index]

(Art on left by Dominik Petr)

China Miéville’s The Scar Chapter-By-Chapter: Ch. 23, Ch. 24, Ch. 25

Krüach Aum by Dominik Petr

I covered three chapters tonight to make up for a few missed days. I have a feeling I’ll have to do that a few more times at least. October is coming to an end and I would like to finish my analysis of The Scar within the month. Why? I don’t know, I guess I’m just a little OCD in that I need to finish books in the same month that I start them. These three chapters fulfil Armada’s purpose for going to the island in the first place, however Bellis’s secret mission is left unfinished for the moment. Let’s begin! BEWARE OF SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE BOOK. [Intro and index]

(Art on left by Dominik Petr)

China Miéville’s The Scar Chapter-By-Chapter: Ch. 21, Ch. 22

Anophelius by Shaarel

Tonight I begin Part Four, “Blood”. There’s a lot of it in this section of the book. Blood, and gore. There’s also a song in this post to accompany the creepiness of these chapters! Let’s begin our sojourn to the anophelii island… (intro & index, whole-book spoilers ahead, blah blah blah etc)

(Art on left by Shaarel)

China Miéville’s The Scar Chapter-By-Chapter: Ch. 18, Ch. 19, Ch. 20, Interlude

Statue by Jason Chalker

I bring you three chapters and an interlude tonight to finish off Part Three, “The Compass Factory”. They’re all quite short, and I don’t really have that much to say. These are pretty much bridging chapters: now that we know we’re going to the anophelii island, these chapters exist mainly to show the preparations. Here’s the link to the intro and index, a starting point for these posts if you just got here. Watch out for WHOLE BOOK SPOILERS BELOW!

(Art on left by Jason Chalker)