So...about China Mieville's The Scar

Back in December I reviewed Perdido Street Station, the first book by China Miéville that I'd read, and the first of three he's written so far about an imaginary world called Bas-Lag. Even if you didn't read my PSS review, you'd know I enjoyed it since I bought another Miéville book; but the question is, how did this one stack up against that one? Well, I'm happy to report I'm already on to the third Bas-Lag novel, Iron Council, and I plan to buy Kraken when it comes out in paperback this March.

Until then, here's a bit more about The Scar, just enough to get you interested in it without spoiling anything important.

Bellis, by Trabbold

The protagonist is Bellis Coldwine, a woman mentioned just once in passing in PSS (None of the characters from that novel appear in this one). Bellis has been forced to flee New Crobuzon even though she wasn't involved in the events of PSS, just because of her connection to someone who was involved. You know how the militia can be. ;-/ Bellis books passage on a ship carrying a few other free travelers and a hold full of "Remade" criminals whose bodies have been warped by science and magic and who are now destined for a life of slavery in the foreign land of Nova Esperium. One of these Remade is a man by the name of Tanner Sack. We never learn what his crime was, but he seems like a nice guy; and whatever he did, it surely wasn't enough to deserve having a pair of tentacles grafted to his chest.

Tanner, by AgarthanGuide

Anyway, it's no spoiler to tell you the ship never reaches Nova Esperium. It's commandeered by pirates; and Bellis, Tanner and all most of the rest are pressganged into joining Armada, a giant (no, really, a giant) floating city made up of thousands of roped-together vessels which has apparently been drifting around the ocean for almost as many years as it has ships.

For Bellis, being shanghaied is a disaster; she loves New Crobuzon and hoped to return one day after the furor died down. For Tanner, it's the best thing that ever happened to him. He's free in Armada, a full citizen with just as much respect and opportunity as anyone else. He even finds a way to make his Remaking work for him instead of against him.

Standoffish and self-controlled as Bellis appears to be, she still longs for companionship and a conspirator as she tries to escape. This brings her into contact with a number of decent and not-so-decent individuals. Then there's the mysterious letter she writes in secret, recounting all the events that happen to her in the course of her journey. I sympathized very deeply with Bellis throughout the novel, and what happened when she finally revealed the letter's recipient was the most poignant moment of the whole story for me. When you read The Scar, if you read it, notice what the revelation says about Bellis herself. Then imagine how she must feel at the response of the person she reveals it to, especially after she offers to let this person read the letter. Miéville really underplayed this scene, but I got it. I could see myself doing just the same as Bellis, and I knew how I'd react if I got that response.

There are other important characters in The Scar besides Bellis and Tanner, but I wasn't able to find satisfying pictures of most of them. There's Silas Fennec, a  charming spy; Uther Doul, the warrior-philosopher who'd kill you as soon as look at you; Shekel, the cabin boy befriended by Tanner Sack; the Brucolac, the leading vampire of Armada; and the Lovers who run the whole thing. I found a good picture of the Lovers, at least. As you can see, their faces are scarred in mirror image, and Miéville teases you for a good long while before revealing their origin. I won't steal his thunder. ;-)

You might notice that while I've taken a lot of time to describe the main players of The Scar, I've hardly said a word about the plot. There's a reason for that. Trust me, you don't want to be spoiled too much before you read this novel, because there are so many occasions where you think you finally understand what it's all about, only to discover you've climbed a single step up a staircase that spirals out of sight. When the staircase finally ends, though, you might find yourself where you never expected to be, considering all that had gone before. I was certainly surprised, and I say this as someone who figured Yagharek's crime the moment he first hinted about it in Perdido Street Station.

Beyond that, I'll just say that I was pleased with The Scar. Very pleased. ;-)

Neil Gaiman encounters an undead Ulorin Vex

I'll post another entry tonight or tomorrow when I have more time, but meanwhile, I've finally figured out what's been bugging me about this pic from Ulorin Vex's blog. It's not just that she's too pale; it's that she looks positively undead. I don't know whether she's a zombie or a vampire or a lich, but she's clearly about to take a bite out of poor Neil unless her lips have been sewn shut (I've been reading more China Mieville, you see. That's what my next blog entry will be about).

Steampunk Sexpots

I always have a nagging feeling that steampunk is merely a phase, and that once it passes its prime it'll be every bit as uncool as poodle skirts. But for the moment it's still hot, and I'm very happy it is hot. After all, how else could I find so many badass beauties in leather, belts, and various kinds of cinchers, all in a single place? Sometimes the beauties even carry exotic weapons. ;-P

At right is Kato, model and proprietor of Steampunk Couture, where you can find all kinds of cogwheel-driven loveliness. And here are a few more pictures of her, for your pleasure and for mine. The middle pic was taken by Root of Silence; unfortunately, I don't know who shot the other two. But Kato is wearing her own designs in all three pictures.

Next up are three ladies you might or might not be familiar with: Evan Evan, Nicotine Desire, and Bad Charlotte (a.k.a. Vampire Leniore, although I hate to call her that because she can't even spell the damn thing correctly. Still, if you want to find her on Deviant Art, that's the name to look for). Evan was photographed by Allan Amato, Nicotine by Scott Church, and Bad Charlotte by Tina Dolin.

A couple of interesting notes about Nicotine: 1) She swears that's her real waist in the picture above. I remain unconvinced. 2) She sells steampunk sex toys on Lady Clankington's Cabinet of Carnal Curiosities.

And now onward to three shots of Zoetica Ebb, who will no doubt be the first person on the planet to realize when steampunk has become uncool and abandon it. So far she has not. The first and third shots are by Allan Amato (who has a thing for steampunk, himself); I don't know who took the middle one.

Lastly, here are three shots of Ulorin Vex...again. Yes, she does steampunk, too...even if she does it in latex in the first picture. ;-P But it's my blog, and it's my favorite picture of her ever, so in it goes! That one's by Amato again, the second is by Grace Elkin, and the third is from a shoot Ulorin did for Kato's Steampunk Couture (Once again, I don't know the photographer).

As always, models not otherwise noted can be found on Deviant Art and/or Model Mayhem.

A little something for everyone

Here's another case of my planning to post one thing and then running across something else so enticing that I had to feature it instead. I've just discovered the apparently endless Deviant Art gallery of one Scott Church, a photographer who shoots everything from X-rated fetish scenes to babies to pregnant women to cow skulls. Like I said, a little something for everybody...even the ones who like truly terrifying gigantic fake boobs the size of a woman's head. :-/

Here are a few of the most EMC-friendly shots I found, in no particular order. I'm pretty sure trilby else wrote a story about those naked women lying in the middle of the road. ;-)

Ack

It's Sunday evening, and I've just realized that I never got around to updating my blog this weekend, even though I kept reminding myself about it. I've never done that before; I always try so hard to be so damn...responsible. :-/

But I'm due a break, not least from my own sense of perfection! Besides, I've been battling a stomach virus, and I'm at the point now where I'm starting to get loopy from lack of proper meals. I think I've turned the corner, though, and I feel sure I'll have something new to share with you by Wednesday. Stay tuned!

Someone had a *very* fetishy New Year's Eve!

Let's check in with Io. I haven't blogged about her in ages, but believe you me, I've kept up with her! She's had a very up-and-down year, as detailed in her blog, but at least she got to visit some fun places - and to enjoy one hell of a New Year's Eve. She partied in Miami with fellow model Dylan Monroe (lead contender for World's Prettiest Man and owner of an exquisite pair of thigh-high boots) and a bunch of other clothed-and-otherwise friends. Check it out. I'm not usually one for candid shots, but I must say, this set really pushes my buttons. My only complaint is that I wish there was a better closeup of Io in her lace mask. That thing is gorgeous.

Treading the thin MC line

When I was a kid, I was fascinated by the notion of brainwashing. I guess that's probably true for a lot of MC fetishists. Brainwashing was the closest thing we knew to real-life mind control, and ten or twenty years ago, there were a lot of misconceptions about the ways brainwashing could remake a person's mind. Cool misconceptions.

When I grew up, I accepted my mind control fetish as a positive force in my life; but at the same time, I realized that the tales of brainwashing which had fascinated me as a kid were more like real-life horror stories. If the things you find cool in a Stephen King novel happened in real life, you'd be appalled; and some of the things I read about brainwashing happened in real life. In fact, even worse happened.

Now, don't worry; I don't intend to start the new year with a downer post. No, this is a post about treading the thin line between titillating fantasy and real-life horror. I started thinking about this while listening to Muse's album The Resistance, which includes a song called "Mk Ultra." For those of you who don't know, MK-ULTRA was a real program instituted by the CIA to explore brainwashing techniques. You can read more about it here, if you do want to get into the downer aspects of real-life (tragically unsuccessful) efforts at mind control.

But I'm trying to keep this as light as I can. Muse clearly means this song to be depressing, but it can be pretty damn awesome if you're an MC fetishist and just let yourself get caught up in the fantasy elements. Let me show you what I mean. I spent a good half hour on YouTube browsing all the different official and unofficial versions of the "Mk Ultra" video (and, okay, several other Muse videos - Knights of Cydonia is truly cheesetastic). Some of the versions are depressing, some are just plain bad, and then there's this one. It's the most bare-bones of them all, but I chose it because when you've got nothing but the music and the lyrics to concentrate on, you can just enjoy the fetishy goodness of an SF brainwashing and not worry about the deeper implications.

So here you go. Happy New Year!



P.S.: If you're on dial-up or just don't like Muse, you can read the lyrics by themselves here.