Annalee Newitz at IO9 has a review of China Miéville’s next upcoming novel, called Embassytown. I want to read this, for the SF and for the linguistic, although I am afraid I’m likely to struggle with suspending disbelief, as I did for the linguisticky bits of Snow Crash.
From the review:
Avice doesn’t quite realize how much of a wonderland it is until she becomes an immerser – an immer pilot -and meets her husband Scile, a linguist who is fascinated by the completely unique properties of Areikene language, known only as capital-l Language. Unlike every other species with language, the Areikei don’t distinguish between language and reality. To them, Language isn’t symbolic – it is one with the things it describes. For this reason, they have no writing (too symbolic) and can’t lie (that would be describing something that isn’t).
See the whole review.
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