China Miéville, Three Moments of an Explosion ****

I read Perdido Street Station many years ago and still remember how impressed I was by Miéville's world-building. I picked up Three Moments of an Explosion to see how he might apply that skill in short bursts in a story collection.

As varied as they are, the stories all take place in variations on our own world. Nonetheless, Miéville's sociological acuity shines though. It often takes a while before the fantastical element of the story kicks in, by which time I was fully invested in the setting and character psychology. His prose is far more artful than is typical for the science fiction and fantasy genres. The therapeutic jargon in "Dreaded Outcome," the island life in "In the Slopes," the romantic getaway in "Säcken": they're all totally convincing and wouldn't be out of place in a more literary setting.

I wasn't a fan of every story –– has that ever happened? –– but I really enjoyed a majority of them, and the book has an impressive range.

There are a couple of big bookshops in town which stock a bunch of [specialist magazines]... Me and Mom would stand together and pick up some publication, the only rule being that it had to be about something neither of us had any interest in or knowledge of. ... Within seconds of browsing we were learning the jargon and terminology, we had a sense of the big controversies, the pressing issues, even the micropolitics of a hobby. ... I'd become a firm supporter of one side or other in a debate the existence of which I'd had no clue of seconds before.  –– "The Bastard Prompt"