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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   2730 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 7, 2025

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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I was today years old when I found out that China Mieville is a man.

I genuinely thought they were a woman for the better part of a decade, I haven't actually read any of their works (Perdido Street Station is currently downloading), but everything I heard about it gave me feminine vibes in a way I can't really explain, let alone their name.

The City and the City is pretty good. I was impressed by how he managed to take a completely bizarre premise and make it seem mundane and ordinary, and authentically eastern European. The thing I'm working on is inspired by that, in terms of the setting.

I found out from this post, because the ~5 people I knew personally who recommended his works have obnoxious extremely political tastes in literature and entertainment, so I politely ignored him.

That's rather amusing given that he looks more like Vin Diesel than the typical science fiction writer. I've only read The City and The City, and while it was interesting the concept taxed my suspension of disbelief more than any other work of fiction I've read.

This was also my issue with the book. It was gifted by a friend, so I felt compelled to read all the way through, even though I could tell within about 20 pages it wasn't going to be my thing at all.

You're right about how he looks. I'd googled it, saw the picture of him and went, huh is that someone else? Then I checked Wikipedia only have it confirmed that he's a bald muscular man.

I assure you, once you’ve read PSS, there will be no illusions.

Second this.

I'm kinda surprised by the confusion TBH, but maybe that is from having read him - although I do wonder if the mistake would have been made 20 years ago? I can kinda see it today, maybe.

Third.

I've read quite a few works by Mieville and the one I'd recommend the most is October, which, while obviously and openly biased towards the Bolsheviks, actually managed to give me a better view of the actual timeline of the events during October Revolution than any of the "real history" works I've read on the subject.

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