Customer Reviews

Looking for Jake: Stories

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

China Mieville at last releases more pieces of his talent in this collection of fourteen stories. Some have been previously released, and if you are a die-hard fan like myself you may already have them.

'Reports of Certain Events In London' was in McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories, 'Entry From A Medical Encyclopedia' was published as 'Buscard's Murrain' in The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide To Eccentric And Discredited Diseases, and 'The Tain' is from Cities.

'Looking For Jake' did leave me slightly disappointed in some areas, namely the political undertones of 'Tis The Season' (originally published in The Socialist Review) and 'An End To Hunger', neither of which contained any real fantasy or horror, and the oddly vapid 'On The Way To The Front', an amateurish graphic piece.

There are, however, other stories in this collection that make the price worthwhile just for them.
'Familiar' is a gruesomely enchanting story of one male witch's creation run amok, 'Different Skies' takes a simple window replacement and shows us the kind of horror that can be reflected in oddness, and 'Foundation' will take you beneath the structures of everyday life and into a man's horrific ability to see the dead below them.

'Jack' is a nice addition to Mieville's 'Perdido Street Station', giving us a bit of background on his character Jack Half-A-Prayer, and 'The Tain' is a twisted tale of mirrors and what lies beyond.

If you are a rabid Mieville fan, you simply must have this book. If you are introducing yourself to Mieville, I actually recommend starting with 'Perdido Street Station' to allow yourself to fully savor this talented writer's rich offerings. Reading Mieville is like eating chocolate cheesecake, rich and satisfying and fulfilling. Enjoy!

Lately, China Mieville has been compared to none other than William Gibson with regards to the quality of his prose and storytelling. So I was looking forward to reading "Looking for Jake", hoping it would be as fine a collection of short stories as Gibson's "Burning Chrome". Alas "Looking for Jake" isn't the literary gem that "Burning Chrome" most definitely is, but there is enough here to demonstrate why China Mieville may be the finest British fantasy writer working today, using a poetic literary style which owes much to the likes of William Gibson and Neal Stephenson. If nothing else, "Looking for Jake" demonstrates Mieville's eclectic literary, political and sociological interests, ranging from a horror tale set in the aftermath of the first Gulf War (1990-1991) in the memorable "Foundation" to a giddy celebration of the Christmas season in "'Tis The Season". Fans of his Bas-Long (or New Crobuzon) novel series will find "Looking for Jake" and "Jack" replete with more of the same descriptive, poetic prose that are an important part of these novels. Without question, the best short story is "The Tain", winner of the Locus Prize for Best Novella, describing a near future London overrun by vampires and monsters. Fans of China Mieville's work will truly enjoy this fine collection of short stories.

Short fiction usually comes down to either "loved it" or "hated it" because unlike a novel, the short story can't throw much at a reader beyond a single plot and a character or two. The individual stories in this collection will either work for you or they won't. If you're a fan of Mieville's Bas=Lag novels, then "The Tain" and "Jack" will grab you. If you're a fan of his politics, then "'Tis the Season" and "An End to Hunger" will strike you as some of the best satire since Max Barry's "Jennifer Government." If you like his brooding good looks--which aren't my cup of tea--then I guess you'll like the moody "Looking for Jake"--which wasn't my cup of tea either and in my opinion the weakest piece in the book.

If you're a fan, buy this book. You'll surely find something in it for you. If you are looking for an introduction to Mieville's work, I'd recommend jumping right into "Perdido Street Station," or buying LFJ, reading nothing other than "The Tain," then reading "Perdido" and the rest of Mieville's fine novels.

Whether you are an absolute sci-fi fan or just wanting your first taste of sci-fi/fantasy, you'll want to get China Mieville's book, Looking for Jake. Already an acclaimed award-winning author, Mieville continues to please with his thirteen stories and one novella in this volume.

The title story is also the first story and previews the flavor of the rest of the collection by causing the reader to wonder what's going on underneath the obvious and what could possibly happen next.

"The Ball Room" takes the familiar (the playroom that retail establishments furnish to entertain children while their parents shop) to a new plane of things not being as they seem. You'll feel the fun--and the tension--that awaits in the ball room.

While each of a the stories brings its own appeal ranging from intense visions to paranoia, every one of them contains the author's powerful voice and tempts the reader to see things with new eyes.

Just when you think the writing reaches the top, you come to the novella, "The Tain," and experience "The Looking Glass" in a way Lewis Carroll couldn't imagine.

Armchair Interviews says: Looking for Jake: Stories delights sci-fi and fantasy fans--new and old. Get the book, read the stories, and prepare to turn your imagination on full blast.

I am a huge fan of "Perdido Street Station" and "The Scar." I didn't really care for "Iron Council," although it was still better than 99% of the fantasy published that year. I enjoyed all of the stories in "Looking for Jake," but two knocked me off my feet and had me scrambling to order the UK hardcover edition: "Familiar" and "Jack."

"Familiar" is the story of a hedge wizard's attempt at creating a familiar, and how it evolves when left to its own devices. This is one of the darkest and most enjoyable short stories I've read in a long time and is my pick for story of the year!

"Jack" is a short tale concerning Jack Half-a-Prayer, and is a glorious return to form for Mieville. It is set in New Crobuzon, and if you liked the first couple of Bas Lag books, this story is essential.

Overall, a strong collection. I would have given it 5 stars, but really wanted to see more Bas Lag material. Maybe next collection...

Excellent collection of stories. This is my first exposure to Mieville's work, and I'm very impressed. These are not "light" stories; they require your full attention while reading them, or you will miss something. Some of them are somewhat uncomfortable, and a couple of them made me look at some pretty commonplace things in a whole new light! Only 4 stars because there were a few places in some of the stories that I felt the author was being intentionally tortuous in order to hide the twist that came at the end.

While most of the short stories here are far less complex than Mieville's stupendous Bas-Lag novels, they are still eminently readable and thought-provoking displays of Mieville's emerging literary talents. Granted, a few of the tales here are a bit too simplistic and merely offer limited development of quirky ideas, like "The Ball Room," "Entry Taken from a Medical Encyclopedia," and particularly "'tis the Season," which is a funny but totally typical slab of modern corporate satire. However, this collection is perfectly rewarding overall, thanks to Mieville's abilities in creating richly visual settings and subversive social philosophy, and to blend the elements of fantasy and horror. Also, there is a noticeable running theme of paranoia in many of the stories here, as freethinkers find themselves oppressed by society's strictures in "Looking for Jake," "Go Between," and "An End to Hunger." Mieville also utilizes fairly common horror archetypes in several tales, but extends them into new realms of creepiness that are far superior to the forbidden love obsessions of today's mainstream horror. Great examples here of Mieville's true skills with psychological dread include "Foundation," "Details," "Different Skies," and the intriguingly odd "Reports of Certain Events in London." This collection is most useful in proving that Mieville is capable of literature that is both more laidback and more stylistically expansive than his deservedly famous novels. [~doomsdayer520~]

Ok, before I get any flak from the legions of Mieville fans out there, I have to mention that I love China's Bas-Lag books (Perdido Street Station, The Scar, Iron Council) and I will use this review to plug them to the best of my ability, but Looking for Jake just isn't the Mieville I know. The stories contained herein are formulaic and repetitive at best, as if they hail from the author's experimental phase when he was still trying out new ideas and writing techniques. By no means bad, this collection is a must-have for die-hard fans, but it's just not what I expected. I had hoped that it would contain stories that were written after China established his unique style consisting of arcane descriptions and the use of self-made terminology featured in his Bas-Lag novels, but I was sorely disappointed. Sure, there are a few stories that were written after he attained publishing success, but these are not what I expected and they bored me. If you are looking for the brilliant characterization and nightmare inducing monstrosities Mieville is good at creating they will not be found within these pages. I realize short stories make it hard to build on character but these tales felt like reading someone trying to write Stephen King and failing. After reading Looking for Jake I realized that I much prefer Neil Gaiman's short fiction. Nevertheless, there were three tales that stood out, and which I quite enjoyed beyond the norm. One is "Familiar", a story about a warlock who creates a familiar and then tries to get rid of it, "Details" a Lovecraft inspired story about sentient patterns in a wall, and "The Tain," a novella about an invasion from the world beyond mirrors. The other stories (even the sole New Crobuzon story "Jack," which I badly wanted to love) are poor fare at best, and are definitely not as engaging as his novels. Give Looking for Jake a try if you are a Mieville junkie, but don't expect anything on par with his Bas-lag books.

I came into this book not really knowing Mieville's style. These stories were all dark and several had a post-apocalyptic feel. Not necessarily a feel-good series of short-stories but not all books should be. Since the subject was not light and airy I will admit it took me longer to get through this book than others.

Mieville is a very good writer but his sentences are complicated (had to re-read phrases several times to get the imagery) and he uses SAT-worthy words (thank goodness my Kindle has a built-in dictionary). Again, not a bad thing but sometimes it got a bit heavy, especially since all but one story were like this.

Some of my favorite stories are Looking for Jake, The Ball Room, Reports of Certain Events in London, 'Tis the Season (the lightest one & only humorous one), Go Between and Jack (one of the darkest stories but well written).

There was also an illustrated story - On the Way to the Front - which I struggled to understand and the longest and last story called The Tain that frustratingly was not as developed in my opinion as it should have been despite the story dragging on.

This collection includes fourteen stories, mostly short, by China Miéville. Most have his trademark strangeness, with the dark, oozy feel of Bas-Lag--although only one is set in that world. There isn't a shallow, cheerful tale in the lot.

My three favorites:

"The Ball Room" brings a creepy uncomfortableness to our experiences with those kids' play areas filled with plastic balls. They seem contained and safe, but... anything could be happening under there.

"Reports of Certain Events in London" explores the wild streets of London. They appear and disappear, hunt and hide from each other, and are mostly indifferent to the world of humans. Walking down a street ought to be safe and uneventful. Sometimes it is.

"The Tain" is the most like Miéville's longer fiction. It chronicles the precipitating events and the lingering aftermath of an invasion by "imagos" from mirrors and other reflective surfaces. There are strange settings, fantastic characters, and a complex plot. It's the good old weird stuff his fans love.

These stories prompted some reflection about why I enjoy Miéville's writing. His longer pieces work for me, not just for the imaginative strangeness, but for the multiple interwoven subplots, the abundance and diversity of strange ideas, and the creeping progress through fantastic landscapes.

In contrast, many of these short stories take on a single idea and exhaust it. The ideas are good: a pane of glass that looks somewhere different than the others, Christmas with all of the trappings trademarked, threatening presences in the fine patterns of cracks and shadows around us--good stuff! But most of these stories just stay with one idea. There is no community of strangeness with its members writhing together, competing for the reader's attention. I miss this.

Read these stories--you will be rewarded. But if you are a Miéville fan, you may feel disquieted just a bit. And not in a good way.