This Census-Taker

I often worry about a book whose back cover extols the virtues of the author, but not of the book. I'm sure there are legitimate reasons, such as not wanting to spoil the plot by giving the book to advance reviewers.

This book's back cover extols the virtues of the author, but not of the book. And there's no plot to spoil. Slim, at about 200 (not-very-filled) pages, the novella appears to be an experiment of sorts, where Miéville tries to see how to tell a story that's almost no story. Full of half-glimpsed hints into its characters' lives and the world they live in, it ultimately does not deliver on the implicit promises made by those mysteries. The atmosphere is well-crafted, and haunting, but it's nearly all about the setting and atmosphere, not unlike [b:The City & the City|4703581|The City & the City|China Miéville|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320475957s/4703581.jpg|4767909]. At least the latter had a plot, and wasn't written in what's probably supposed to be beautiful prose, but ultimately just came across as awkward and difficult to parse.

After [b:Three Moments of an Explosion: Stories|24044142|Three Moments of an Explosion Stories|China Miéville|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1426654001s/24044142.jpg|43365539] and now this, my reaction at seeing a new Miéville on the shelves may be turning from gleeful anticipation to something else entirely.