Английская Википедия:Embassytown

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Файл:Bookbits - 2011-06-10 China Mieville-Embassytown.vorb.oga

China Miéville on Bookbits radio talks about Embassytown.

Embassytown is a science fiction novel by British author China Miéville. It was published in the UK by Pan Macmillan on 6 May 2011, and in the US by Del Rey Books on 17 May 2011. A limited edition was released by Subterranean Press. The plot of the novel surrounds the town of Embassytown, the native alien residents known as Ariekei, their Language, and the human interaction with them. The novel was well reviewed and won the 2012 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.

Plot

Embassytown takes place mostly in the city of the title, on the planet Arieka. Embassytown is a colony of a state called Bremen; and its trade goods (precious metal and alien-influenced biotech), along with Embassytown's unique position at the edge of the known universe, make it a particularly important colony.

Avice Benner Cho, an "Immerser" (a traveller on the Immer, see § Style below for the meaning of Miéville's neologisms), has returned to her childhood home from her adventures in the "Out". On the planet of Arieka humans and other "exots" co-exist with the indigenous, enigmatic Ariekei—otherwise known as the Hosts. Few people can speak the language of the Ariekei (referred to only as "Language"), as it requires the orator to speak two words at once with one mind; those humans who can are genetically engineered twins known as Ambassadors, bred solely for this purpose. The Ambassadors can be understood by the Ariekei (who do not recognise any other form of communication) allowing for trade in their valuable biotechnology. Language does not allow for lying or even speculation, Language reflects both their state of mind and reality as the Ariekei perceive it; they create literal similes by recruiting individuals to perform activities that can then become allusions in Language. Avice herself became a simile when younger, “the girl who was hurt in the dark and ate what was given to her". Ariekei compete at Festivals of Lies to see who can most closely approximate speaking an untruth, an act both thrilling and highly taboo.

The relationship between humans and Ariekei has proceeded in relative tranquillity for many years. However a new Ambassador arrives, named Шаблон:Sfrac, who despite not being twins, is able to speak Language. The speech of the new Bremen-engineered Ambassador, regardless of words spoken, intoxicates any Ariekei exposed to it, and they become addicted to the extent that they cannot live without it.

A faction of the Ariekei deafen themselves to break their addiction and begin to violently convert others, developing increasingly sophisticated gesture-based communication. Avice is drawn into a search for a solution, having a special relationship with the Ariekei as a human simile. With assistance from sympathetic Ambassadors, she trains a small group of Hosts to be able to use metaphors and eventually utter lies. Due to the interconnectedness of thought and Language, this has the effect of altering their minds and now the words of Шаблон:Sfrac lose their addictive properties. The two Ariekei factions reconcile; freed from the literal nature of Language, they are able to learn new forms of communication, which also allows them to speak to non-Ambassador humans.

Style

Often described as a book about language, Embassytown also employs fictional language, or neologisms, as a means of building its world. The author Ursula K. Le Guin describes this as follows: "When everything in a story is imaginary and much is unfamiliar, there's far too much to explain and describe, so one of the virtuosities of SF is the invention of box-words that the reader must open to discover a trove of meaning and implication".Шаблон:Sfnp Their effect on the reader has been described as disorienting, with The GuardianШаблон:'s James Purdon remarking on "a slow accretion of detail and implication until a universe coheres".

Another stylistic quirk employed by Miéville is the use of fractions such as Шаблон:Sfrac to display alien language, which takes the form of two words spoken simultaneously (by two alien mouths).

Characters

The names in Embassytown which are presented in fractional notation are supposed to be spoken simultaneously, by two mouths.

• Avice Benner Cho – Embassytown native and Immerser, wife to Scile and lover of CalVin
• Scile – non-native linguist and husband to Avice; believes that Language should remain as it is regardless of the consequences
• Шаблон:Sfrac — Ambassador of high standing, lover of Avice Benner Cho
• Шаблон:Sfrac — head Ambassador
• Шаблон:Sfrac — new, Bremen-engineered Ambassador consisting of two non-identical people. Becomes known as the "God Drug".
• Bren – ex-Ambassador still living in Embassytown and advisor to Avice, one half of the "cleaved" Ambassador BrenDan
• Ehrsul – an "autom" (from automaton), best friend of Avice
• Wyatt – Bremen's contact in Embassytown
• Hasser – a human "simile" used by the Ariekei as part of Language. Killer of Шаблон:Sfrac.
• Шаблон:Sfrac (or Beehive) — the most successful Ariekei liar. Hasser murders it during a Festival of Lies.
• Spanish Dancer – an Ariekei with markings reminiscent of a Spanish dancer. A follower of Шаблон:Sfrac with an interest in the similes.
• YlSib (formerly Шаблон:Sfrac) — ex-Ambassador living in the Host city; Bren's contact.

Development

Шаблон:Quote box Miéville originally had the idea for the Ariekei at age 11, in "an early draft of what became Embassytown", written while he was in school. They next featured in a short story he wrote eight years later, which Miéville intended to get published in Interzone magazine. In attempting to portray an authentically "alien" alien race, Miéville commented that he finds it almost impossible, stating "if you are a writer who happens to be a human, I think it's definitionally beyond your ken to describe something truly inhuman, psychologically, something alien."

Publication history

• 2011, UK, Pan Macmillan Шаблон:ISBN, pub date 28 April 2011, Hardback
• 2011, USA, Del Rey Books Шаблон:ISBN, pub date 17 May 2011, Hardback
• 2011, USA, Audible, pub date 27 Jun 2011, Audiobook
• 2011, USA, Subterranean Press Шаблон:ISBN, pub date 30 Sep 2011, Signed limited edition hardback
• 2012, UK, Pan Macmillan Шаблон:ISBN, pub date 5 Jan 2012, Paperback
• 2012, USA, Del Rey Books Шаблон:ISBN, pub date 31 Jan 2012, Paperback

Reception

Ursula K. Le Guin, reviewing the book for The Guardian, wrote "Embassytown is a fully achieved work of art...works on every level, providing compulsive narrative, splendid intellectual rigour and risk, moral sophistication, fine verbal fireworks and sideshows, and even the old-fashioned satisfaction of watching a protagonist become more of a person than she gave promise of being".Шаблон:Sfnp Publishers Weekly said "Miéville's brilliant storytelling shines most when Avice works through problems and solutions that develop from the Hosts' unique and convoluted linguistic evolution, and many of the most intriguing characters are the Hosts themselves. The result is a world masterfully wrecked and rebuilt." The Scotsman stated that "Embassytown features aliens that are genuinely and thrillingly alien" and suggested "a book fundamentally concerned with the role of language as an imaginative liberation. Miéville has taken the theoretical and philosophical insights of thinkers such as Jacques Derrida and Paul Ricoeur and turned them into story. It is not, however, a tract. There is a genuine emotional transaction at the novel's climax."

Awards

Year	Award	Result	Шаблон:Abbr
2012	Arthur C. Clarke Award	Шаблон:Nom
	BSFA Award	Шаблон:Nom
	Hugo Award	Шаблон:Nom
	John W. Campbell Memorial Award	Шаблон:Nom
	The Kitschies (Red Tentacle)	Шаблон:Nom
	Locus Award	Шаблон:Won
	Nebula Award	Шаблон:Nom
2014	Premio Ignotus	Шаблон:Won
	Seiun Award	Шаблон:Nom

Sources

• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite journal

Further reading

• Шаблон:Cite book
  • Шаблон:Cite book
  • Шаблон:Cite book
  • Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite journal

External links

• Шаблон:Isfdb title
• Miéville discusses his intentions for Embassytown, at YouTube