Three Moments of an Explosion

Three Moments of an Explosion by China Miéville
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the book to read if you are not concerned with the laws of science as we now know them. That seems to be part of the point of these stories--the unexplainable. Sometimes the anomaly becomes part of the new reality such as in "Polynia" when icebergs float over London; sometimes they become a mystery that never gets solved and is hidden away such as in "After the Festival" when a traditional (weird) rite causes strange addicting behaviors; or " The Design" when a medical student discovers bones with etchings; some seem strangely prescient like "The Bastard Prompt" where an actress acting out symptoms for medical students suddenly goes off script and her made up illnesses suddenly start to appear in the public. There were some stories that I didn't "get" but the majority were so fantastic, I assume it is me that is the one deficient here. Regardless, by not limiting himself to known scientific laws, Miéville creates a strange, wonderful, eerie, and disturbing world. By reading them, I felt like an invisible door opened to a myriad of possibilities.

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When we bounce from song to nonsense to meme, we might be eavesdropping on arguments between images.