The Scar
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| The Scar | |
.jpg/200px-TheScar(1stEd).jpg) Cover of first edition (hardcover) |
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| Author | China Miéville |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction/ Steampunk novel |
| Publisher | Macmillan Publishers |
| Publication date | June 2002 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 717 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-333-78174-0 |
| Preceded by | Perdido Street Station |
| Followed by | The Tain |
The Scar is the third novel written by China Miéville, a self-described "weird fiction" writer from London, England. The Scar won the 2003 British Fantasy Award and was shortlisted for the 2003 Arthur C. Clarke Award. Miéville won both these awards in 2001 for his previous novel, Perdido Street Station, and won the Arthur C. Clarke Award again in 2005 for Iron Council.
The Scar was additionally nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award in 2002 and the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2003.
Although set in the same universe as Perdido Street Station, The Scar is not a sequel to that novel, though it is set directly after the events described in Perdido Street Station. The Scar features different characters and settings, and can be read independently of Perdido Street Station.
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[edit] Plot summary
The Scar opens with the introduction of Bellis Coldwine, a cold, reserved linguist from New Crobuzon, the setting of Perdido Street Station. Bellis is attempting to reach Nova Esperium safely before agents of New Crobuzon can find her. The only other passenger Bellis speaks at any length with is the bookish Johannes Tearfly, a scientist whose interests lie in megafauna and underwater sealife.
During this time aboard the ship, the reader is also introduced to another two important characters aboard the ship. Shekel, a cabin boy, befriends Tanner Sack, a Remade (an individual whose body was modified through science or magic, usually as punishment for a crime) who is to be sold into slavery once the ship reaches Nova Esperium.
Before that can happen, Bellis, Shekel, Tanner and the rest of the crew are captured by pirates. After killing the captain and first-mate, a mysterious figure in grey announces that the raiding party is from the floating city called Armada. None of the captives are faced with any choice; they must return with the pirates to Armada and become equal citizens of the city, or face imprisonment and 'reeducation', until they accept life in the city.
Bellis and Tanner each react to their new surroundings in very different ways. Bellis finds herself longing for New Crobuzon, though ironically she was fleeing it for her life. Tanner, on the other hand, takes to his new home like a Remade duck to water. Facing a life of slavery, prison or worse, Tanner realizes that Armada provides him a new chance at life. He collects his savings and undergoes further augmentation of his body, remaking himself into an amphibious sea-creature.
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Please help improve this section by expanding it with: a full plot summary. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. |
[edit] Related books
Below is a list of titles that influenced the writing of The Scar.[citation needed] Many are referenced in the book, the most obvious through the names of characters, ships and locations:
- The Blue World, by Jack Vance
- The Boats of the "Glen Carrig", by William Hope Hodgson
- The Gormenghast novels, by Mervyn Peake
- The Hunting of the Snark, by Lewis Carroll
- Moby-Dick, by Herman Melville
- Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
- The Viriconium cycle, by M. John Harrison
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The Scar publication history at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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