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Just finished Embassytown. Anyone else ever read any Mieville?

Hmmm... I've never even heard of it. What is it about?

Alien linguistics.

Hmmm... sounds interesting.

The aliens are sort of empaths. For them, words aren't "sounds which are a symbolic representation of a thing," words are "the thought/belief of the thing/the thing itself."

The aliens literally cannot say something that is a lie, anymore than a human could believe something they knew to be a lie. (although humans can say lies.)

If they want to make a simile, they have to create a concrete occurrence of the thing being described.

Oh cool. I think I may look into this. It sounds like a fun read.

Another of his books that I really liked was "The City and The City."

From Wiki:

"The City & The City takes place in the cities of Besźel and Ul Qoma. These two cities actually occupy much of the same geographical space, but via the volition of their citizens (and the threat of the secret power known as Breach), they are perceived as two different cities. A denizen of one city must dutifully 'unsee' (that is, consciously erase from their mind or fade into the background) the denizens, buildings, and events taking place in the other city — even if they are an inch away. This separation is emphasized by the style of clothing, architecture, gait, and the way denizens of each city generally carry themselves. Residents of the cities are taught from childhood to recognize things belonging to the other city without actually seeing them. Ignoring the separation, even by accident, is called "breaching" - a terrible crime by the citizens of the two cities, even worse than murder."

The book is actually a murder mystery, that happens to take place in Besźel. Or maybe Ul Qoma.

Oooo... also sounds interesting. I think I might just go down to the library and see if they have a copy of either of these books. :D