There’s a great amount of terror in the idea of being isolated in a small habitable town-bubble, while the larger city that surrounds you has gone deathly silent - and not knowing why.Īvice is unsettled by the change her narration notes that “beyond Embassytown, the oddness of angles and movements that had touched the city seemed to be spreading.” Actually, I was quite surprised by the speed at which the “damage” caused by EzRa spreads. There are signs of a new wrongness however, such as human aircraft no longer receiving signals from landing sites run by the Hosts. The Latterday chapters of Part Two are the last moments of denial for Embassytown’s inhabitants, with everyone trying to continue about their business while things slowly go awry in the Host city outside. This tantalising, but opaque, slide into apocalypse makes the eventual moments of clear terror all the more delicious for the reader - much like the slow, uneasy build up to the reveal of the Slake Moths in Perdido Street Station. The Staff and Ambassadors are suddenly on edge, but are keeping tight-lipped, leaving Avice and the majority of Embassytown (not to mention the reader) in the dark with a faint feeling of dread and unease. Something is undoubtedly wrong but not everyone is privy to the “slow catastrophe” brewing. First I’ll talk about the Latterday plot events, before continuing to examine the background details of the novel’s universe.Īfter the turning point at the end of Part One, when EzRa opened their mouths, there is a period of confusion as to what went wrong. Here we have nine chapters, continuing the alternating Formerly/Latterday structure so that Miéville can intersperse the slow-but-steady acceleration of the plot with more worldbuilding-dense flashbacks.

After a little bit of a break, it’s time to talk about Part Two of Embassytown, a section titled “Festivals”! Catch up on the previous posts in this series by visiting the intro & index page.

Mieville embassytown