Review: The Scar

The Scar is China Miéville’s follow-up to Perdido Street Station, which builds on the successes of the first novel while avoiding the problems it displayed, making for a strong and compelling sophomore effort.

The world building remains impressive and obsessively detailed, and The Scar introduces much stronger and more interesting characters together with a plot that while over-the-top builds in a gratifying way.

That being said, The Scar does start off slow and takes a while to gather steam (rimshot!).

Probably the most troubling aspect of Miéville’s work is that it makes you ponder the unthinkable: If I like this, does that make me a liker of steampunk?

Related Core Dump reviews:

Perdido Street Station