Ursula K. Le Guin is always worth reading, but when the Great Lady of SF and fantasy writes about China Miéville, we lesser writers should shut up, pay attention, and take notes.
Via The Guardian, Le Guin reviews Three Moments of an Explosion by China Miéville – masterfully horrific SF. Excerpt:
Much contemporary fantasy is quite violent, perhaps in an attempt to win the respect of people who assume fantasy is all fairies and fluff; but I doubt if that’s why so much of China Miéville’s work is so in-your-face gruesome. More likely he is meeting the expectations of a readership used to the infinite kill count of sensational films and electronic games, and is bloody-minded enough to enjoy doing so.
But, knowing him as a writer avowedly committed to Marxist principles of social justice, with an intense sensitivity to contemporary moral and emotional complexities and a thoughtful mind that finds expression in lucid, cogent talks and essays, I wonder if he uses the horrific as a brilliant barrage of blanks concealing a subtler, deeper engagement with the dark side.
Comments