The iron council

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Iron Council (English title: Iron Council ) is a science fiction novel by the British author China Tom Miéville . It is his fourth novel and the third to be set in the world of Bas-Lag . The two predecessors are Perdido Street Station from 2000 and The Scar from 2002, with whom Der Eiserne Rat shares the steampunk character. In addition, Der Eiserne Rat cites diverse elements of the classic Western .

The Iron Council first appeared in 2004 by Macmillan, London. The German first edition took place in 2005 at Bastei Lübbe , Cologne. The text was translated by Eva Bauche-Eppers .

subjects

The Iron Council is perhaps the most political book that China Miéville published up to 2004. It is permeated by the ideas of globalization critics and vehemently attacks imperialism , the corporate state , terrorism , racial hatred , exploitation , homophobia and warmongering .

The references that Miéville makes to the Jewish narrative tradition are also interesting . One of its protagonists, Judah Low ( sic ) is a powerful golemist . In his driven restlessness he recalls the myth of the eternal Jew , but without making use of any anti-Semitic prejudices .

The precise, detailed description of the transcontinental railway construction is not only a real asset for trainspotters and western fans.

Framework for action

The iron advice follows three central narrative threads, which condense in the course of the plot to the final climax. While Miéville constantly switches between the different narrative perspectives, this summary will follow the stories of the individual protagonists in a linear manner and only clarify their connections towards the end.

The novel is set in and around New Crobuzon , a city-state remotely reminiscent of 18th century London . "Around" in this case includes the outbacks within a radius of several thousand miles; the regions in which the legendary Iron Council has its temporary home.

For some time, New Crobuzon has been waging war against Tesh to secure certain shipping routes that seem essential for sea ​​trade and for supplying the new colonies . Even before the war began, the mighty TRT (Transcontinental Railroad Trust) tried to build a rail link across the continent, but failed with this project. a. had brought about the current war. With this in mind, the novel tells the fates of its three most important protagonists - Judah Low , Cutter and Ori .

Judah's story begins about 20 years before the current novel plot. Judah was hired as a surveyor for the planned transcontinental railroad line. In the course of his work, he comes into contact with a tribe of the Stiltspear , a species that lives in the swamp and is indescribable in that it can radically change its appearance as required. The Stiltspear also master a powerful golem spell, i.e. the ability to summon living creatures from inanimate matter. Judah lived with this tribe for a while, documenting their way of life and learning the basics of golem magic from them. His urgent warning of the approaching railway construction site is ignored by the Stiltspear , so that Judah has no choice but to go back to the TRT and witness how the construction site ruthlessly destroys the habitat of the Stiltspear .

Some time later, Judah has now hired himself as a railroad worker, under the leadership of the prostitute Ann-Hari and a Remade named Uzman, an uprising breaks out among the poorly paid railroad workers. Judah supports them with his golem magic. The guards and the militia manage to chase away and take over the supply train. They transform it into a moving city in which all residents live together equally. That is the hour of birth of the Iron Council . At first they are pursued by heavily armed militias from New Crobuzon , who want to recapture the train and thereby destroy the myth of the successful rebellion. You will be defeated.

By tearing out the rails behind the train and relocating them at the front, the Iron Council moves out into the deserted expanses far beyond the influence of New Crobuzon . Judah, however, returns to the city and devotes herself there very seriously to thaumaturgical studies of golem magic. The legend of the Iron Council has long since spread throughout the city. War fatigue and increasing terrorist attacks by the Tesh lead to uprisings . Twenty years later, in the present time of the novel, Judah returns to the Iron Council . He learned that Uzman is dead and that New Crobuzon has sent a new, specialized militia unit to destroy the "eternal train". He is determined to protect it with his golem magic.

Cutter , whom the reader meets at the beginning of the novel, is a friend, student, and lover of Judah Low while in New Crobuzon . After hearing that Judah has gone in search of the Iron Council , Cutter travels after him with a group of his students. The dangerous journey costs two students their lives, but ultimately they catch up with Judah and join him in searching for the Iron Council . With the help of the monk Qurabin , a coenobite and adept of the moment of lost things they meet on the way, they successfully complete their search.

After Judah , Cutter and the rest of the troops have given the Iron Council the warning of the approaching militias, the council no longer decides to flee, but to return to New Crobuzon . In the uprisings that flared up there, he hopes to be the decisive factor that could bring about the final victory of the insurgents. Judah and Cutter accompany the long return journey for a while, but then return to New Crobuzon to announce and prepare for the arrival of the Iron Council . Back in town, they find that the uprisings have been put down and that the militia are awaiting the "eternal train" with a large contingent. Judah sends Cutter back to the council to prevent him from returning. Cutter's warnings go unheard. The dramatic climax of the novel is approaching. When crossing the city limits, shortly before the militia can strike, the time golem that Judah has conjured up wakes up and removes the entire train of the Iron Council from the present. Frozen in time as a kind of public sculpture and memorial , The Iron Council remains until the golem loses its power. Because of this high-handed act, Judah is shot by Ann Hari . Cutter returns to the New Crobuzon Underground and re-issues the Wildfire Resistance Gazette .

The fate of Ori , a young, dissatisfied revolutionary who has had enough of endless discussions in the circles of the wildfire committees, runs largely simultaneously with the previous events . Led by Spiral Jacobs , an old, semi-insane homeless man , Ori comes into contact with the militant gang of Toro . By means of robbery , robbery and murder, they get the money to finance their largest project, the murder of Mayor Stem-Fulcher . The coup succeeds, but it turns out that this act was ultimately a private act of revenge by the leader Toro . Ori , confused and disoriented, flees to the insurgents who now control large parts of the city under the name Das Kollektiv . After several weeks of bitter resistance, the collective is smashed. At this time, Judah and Cutter also return to town. Together with Ori (this is the only joint action of the three protagonists) they bring down Spiral Jacobs , who turns out to be a powerful magician from Tesh . He tries to summon the Phasma Urbomach , the city butcher who is able to completely destroy New Crobuzon . With the help of Qurabin , the monk of the lost moment, the Tesh magician is successfully rendered harmless, but Ori dies in the process.

Relevant species

  • Stiltspear , semi- aquatic swamp dwellers, are literally indescribable because they can change their appearance almost at will, have a powerful golem magic, are driven away and exterminated by the transcontinental railroad.
  • Remade , convicted New Crobuzon criminals whose flesh has been reshaped by science and thaumaturgy as punishment for any wrongdoing.
  • Khepri , insectoid swarming people , communicate using pheromones and sign language, use their glands to create collective works of art from Khepri-Spei, live mainly in the Kinken district.
  • Cactus people, vegetable, cactus-like bipeds, organized in tribes according to the cactus law, they live mainly in the so-called glass house - a gigantic glass dome in the Riverskin district or in the slums around it. They are mainly employed in heavy work or as soldiers.
  • Vodyanoi , aquatic, panhumanoid sea people, have a special water structure to temporarily solidify and shape liquids, work mainly in the harbor and at the locks.
  • Wyrms , about 40 kilos heavy, human-like, barrel-shaped but airborne creatures. Their intelligence is somewhat above that of monkeys, which enables them to run small errands for a fee, feed mainly on the waste of city dwellers, live and die on the roofs of New Crobuzon.

Action characters

  • In the final countdown, Judah Low , land surveyor, rail laying company, Golem summoner, hands over the Iron Council to a powerful time golem and thus prevents the massacre that the militia had planned for the council.
  • Editor , student, friend, and lover of Judah Low.
  • Ori , a young revolutionary from New Crobuzon, helps assassinate the mayor and is friends with Spiral Jacobs.
  • Ann-Hari , mistress of Judah Low, prostitute during the construction of the railway, leader of the construction workers' revolt, spokeswoman for the Iron Council, shoots Judah because of his arbitrary decision.
  • Uzman , Remade, friend of Judah Low, leader of the construction workers' revolt, chief spokesman for the Iron Council.
  • Spiral Jacobs , an old, homeless stray who paints everything possible with filigree spirals, friend of Ori, in reality a powerful magician from Tesh who tries to conjure up a demon destroying cities with the help of the spirals. Eventually neutralized by the Qurabin.
  • Qurabin , adept of an archaic Tesh religion, monk of the Order of Lost Moments , reveals what is hidden, loses part of his personal memory with each disclosure.

Awards

In 2005, The Iron Council won the Clarke and Locus Awards. In the same year the novel was nominated for the Hugo and the World Fantasy Award. In 2006 the book was awarded the Kurd-Laßwitz Prize .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 2005 Award Winners & Nominees . In: Worlds Without End . Retrieved on July 25, 2009.
  2. ↑ KLP 2006 Prize Winner . Retrieved on May 25, 2016.

Web links