I haven't read any other Mieville - I read this because the premise sounded interesting (I like Borges, for example).
I think my reaction was fairly similar to yours, overall. The premise was interesting, the ramifications were interesting, and the story seemed as if it were going to go in interesting directions. But it didn't, which ultimately made things seem a bit silly. (When the American executive has his little rant, near the end, I found myself thinking "you know, he has a point.")
I am not entirely convinced that the realistic mode was a mistake, at least early on. I thought the first half or so of the book worked well, but that was with the expectation that it would get a lot weirder later on, which it didn't. In retrospect I suppose it works less well.
As for inspiration, Evelyn Leeper (I think it was) posted on r.a.sf.w about a police case in one of those spots on the Belgium-Netherlands border that is full of enclaves and exclaves which sounded as if it could have been an inspiration for the book. (There are apparently buildings there which are partly in one country and partly in the other, which means the police have to be very careful when looking for evidence.)
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Date: 2010-06-27 09:27 pm (UTC)I think my reaction was fairly similar to yours, overall. The premise was interesting, the ramifications were interesting, and the story seemed as if it were going to go in interesting directions. But it didn't, which ultimately made things seem a bit silly. (When the American executive has his little rant, near the end, I found myself thinking "you know, he has a point.")
I am not entirely convinced that the realistic mode was a mistake, at least early on. I thought the first half or so of the book worked well, but that was with the expectation that it would get a lot weirder later on, which it didn't. In retrospect I suppose it works less well.
As for inspiration, Evelyn Leeper (I think it was) posted on r.a.sf.w about a police case in one of those spots on the Belgium-Netherlands border that is full of enclaves and exclaves which sounded as if it could have been an inspiration for the book. (There are apparently buildings there which are partly in one country and partly in the other, which means the police have to be very careful when looking for evidence.)