At first I found myself thinking that this was quite underwhelming compared with Perdido Street Station. However, The Scar gets much better as it goes on. The first 50 pages or so feel a little bit detached but shortly thereafter interesting secrets and subplots make themselves known. I would say that this is most likely more enjoyable for people that are a fan of Call of the Cthulhu Or other Maritime/Naval horror stories. Personally, I’m not really into that thematically and I found myself less interested in the environment here than I was with the environment in Perdido Street Station. But again, that’s just my personal preference. Overall, this book is much more layered and politically dense than the first Bas-lag book but in the best possible way. I only wish Miéville had sent more time on the world building as I wanted to hear more about the layout and cultures of Armada.