The Scar & Iron Council by China Mieville

First published in 2002, China Mieville’s The Scar was the second in an extraordinary sequence of novels set in the fictional universe of Bas-Lag. The first Bas-Lag novel, Perdido Street Station, is widely regarded as a classic of modern fantasy. The Scar is every bit its equal.


First published in 2004, Iron Council was the third and final volume in China Mieville’s acclaimed Bas-Lag sequence, after Perdido Street Station and The Scar. Like its predecessors, it was published to immediate acclaim, and went on to win both the Arthur C. Clarke and Locus Awards for Best SF Novel of the Year. As with so much of Mieville’s work, it’s not hard to understand why.