Iron Council

China Miéville

Jul 2004 · Bas-Lag Book 3 · Sold by Del Rey

About this ebook

Following Perdido Street Station and The Scar, acclaimed author China Miéville returns with his hugely anticipated Del Rey hardcover debut. With a fresh and fantastical band of characters, he carries us back to the decadent squalor of New Crobuzon—this time, decades later.

It is a time of wars and revolutions, conflict and intrigue. New Crobuzon is being ripped apart from without and within. War with the shadowy city-state of Tesh and rioting on the streets at home are pushing the teeming city to the brink. A mysterious masked figure spurs strange rebellion, while treachery and violence incubate in unexpected places.

In desperation, a small group of renegades escapes from the city and crosses strange and alien continents in the search for a lost hope.

In the blood and violence of New Crobuzon’s most dangerous hour, there are whispers. It is the time of the iron council. . . .

The bold originality that broke Miéville out as a new force of the genre is here once more in Iron Council: the voluminous, lyrical novel that is destined to seal his reputation as perhaps the edgiest mythmaker of the day.

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from China Miéville’s Embassytown.

Ratings and reviews

My absolute favorite of the New Crobuzon novels. The parts about the Cactocopic Stain were riveting. There is a lengthy flashback partway through that some readers may find disruptive (I didn't). My only complaint is that Mr. Mieville has yet to give us more tales from the fascinating (and horrifying) world of Bas-Lag.

Weakest of the trilogy, but I can't put my finger on why. Simply lacked the excitement and engagement of the others. An undeniable part of the Bas Lag world, but something was just missing for me.

On its own, it could probably get 3 stars but it withers in the light of the phenomenal preceding tales that are Perdido Street Station and The Scar.

About the author

China Miéville was born in 1972. He is the author of King Rat, which was nominated for an International Horror Guild Award and the Bram Stoker Prize; Perdido Street Station, which won the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the British Fantasy Award; and The Scar, which won the Locus Award and the British Fantasy Award, and was a finalist for the Hugo Award, Philip K. Dick Award, and Arthur C. Clarke Award. He lives and works in London.