Embassytown

Welcome to Arieka, the distant, densely imagined planet that serves as principal setting for China Mieville's extraordinary new novel, Embassytown.

Immerser Avice Benner Cho has returned to her childhood home, from her adventures in the Out. Her world is as mysterious, complex, and exotic as any you will ever encounter. It is a world in which humans and "exots" co-exist with the indigenous, enigmatic Ariekei--otherwise known as Hosts. That relationship, which is mediated by a group of unique linguists, the Ambassadors, has proceeded in relative tranquility for many years. Then one day a new, utterly unexpected Ambassador arrives...

Embassytown is a novel about diplomacy and conflict in a vividly created alien society. It is also, most centrally, a meditation on the power and infinitely varied possibilities of language itself. The result is an intellectual adventure of the highest order, a distinguished addition to an imposing--and constantly surprising--body of work.