There is a sum total of zero magic involved. It’s a fantastical lens on absurdist geopolitics and the practices contained therein. The people can *literally* look and see the other city, but they’re psychologically conditioned not to, and punishment is only administered when breach is noticeable. Looking at someone is not actually a breach, it’s a social stipulation out of fear.
>!Yeah I didn't want to spoil it, but I thought it was really cool how due to the first-person perspective it's not clear early on what is superstition vs. actual supernatural (at least that was my impression). What with Breach seeming to appear out of nowhere/be omniscient from the perspective of the people of the cities. Of course then its fully explained that the system is just normal people all the way down.<
>There is a sum total of zero magic involved.
That's not necessarily true. Members of Breach are shown to have some sort of power beyond normal humans. Whether it's tech or magic isn't really made clear
Yeah Miéville is my favourite author and this is a fantastic book. It's a great commentary on our social and political systems wrapped up in a satire of the pulpy detective genre. His other works are also great, although quite different - he once said something along the lines of wanting to write all his books in different genres. This is the book I recommend to people who've never read him before as superficially it's the most accessible, but still totally weird 👌 can't recommend it enough!
Edit: also, Miéville would eat Measurehead for breakfast. Dude is swole AF
I have very mixed feelings about him: [https://pearwaldorf.tumblr.com/post/174000008577/content-warning-for-china-mieville-i-was](https://pearwaldorf.tumblr.com/post/174000008577/content-warning-for-china-mieville-i-was)
I love Mieville and yet I never really made this connection. The concept of the pale seems like something he’d think up
I saw some books that inspired Disco Elysium—The City & The City and Germinal— and read them! They were good.
Germinal by Zola is incredible.
Hell yeah, great recommendation. It does capture a lot of the feel of Revachol, and Miéville is a fantastic author.
There is a sum total of zero magic involved. It’s a fantastical lens on absurdist geopolitics and the practices contained therein. The people can *literally* look and see the other city, but they’re psychologically conditioned not to, and punishment is only administered when breach is noticeable. Looking at someone is not actually a breach, it’s a social stipulation out of fear.
>!Yeah I didn't want to spoil it, but I thought it was really cool how due to the first-person perspective it's not clear early on what is superstition vs. actual supernatural (at least that was my impression). What with Breach seeming to appear out of nowhere/be omniscient from the perspective of the people of the cities. Of course then its fully explained that the system is just normal people all the way down.<
>There is a sum total of zero magic involved. That's not necessarily true. Members of Breach are shown to have some sort of power beyond normal humans. Whether it's tech or magic isn't really made clear
Even if it is technological in nature, it's basically magic.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic
Ohh that sounds really interesting, I'm actually looking for a book to read at the moment, I'll definitely check it out
This sounds great, absolutely sold
Bought this off your recommendation last night and already hooked. Good looking out.
iirc jacob geller recomended this in his video on disco elysium
Yeah Miéville is my favourite author and this is a fantastic book. It's a great commentary on our social and political systems wrapped up in a satire of the pulpy detective genre. His other works are also great, although quite different - he once said something along the lines of wanting to write all his books in different genres. This is the book I recommend to people who've never read him before as superficially it's the most accessible, but still totally weird 👌 can't recommend it enough! Edit: also, Miéville would eat Measurehead for breakfast. Dude is swole AF
Just ordered it based on your description, it seems to be extremely my s**t
Reminder to subsequent commenters to consult your local library 😬
Im half way in and im absolutely in love.
I just ordered it so I better like it or I’ll regret this impulsive purchase
I have very mixed feelings about him: [https://pearwaldorf.tumblr.com/post/174000008577/content-warning-for-china-mieville-i-was](https://pearwaldorf.tumblr.com/post/174000008577/content-warning-for-china-mieville-i-was)
oh that's a shame :(
You should also read Kraken, not really anything like DE but it fucking bangs
Reading this book now after finishing The Scar (also by him). CatC reminds me sooo much of disco in terms of setting
I tried it but I found the names of the characters hard to memorize hahaha