The Scar
core novel 2002 Bas-Lag / New Crobuzon
Record
| First published | 2002 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.19 (35,594 ratings, collected 2026-09-14) |
| Page count | 578 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780333781746 |
| Internal chronology | 2 |
Synopsis
The Scar is the second novel in the Bas-Lag series, following directly after the events of the earlier book Perdido Street Station though centered on new characters. A ship carrying the linguist Bellis Coldwine away from New Crobuzon toward a colonial outpost is seized by pirates and forced to join Armada, a vast floating city built from thousands of vessels lashed together and governed by its own strange society. Bellis and a convict named Tanner Sack, among others, must find their place within Armada's factions, where the city's enigmatic rulers, known as the Lovers, are pursuing an ambitious and secretive plan tied to a legendary sea creature called the avanc. As Bellis is drawn deeper into Armada's politics through unexpected alliances, she comes to realize that the Lovers' plans could carry consequences reaching far beyond the floating city itself.
Where it sits
- Universe: Bas-Lag / New Crobuzon
- Series: Bas-Lag core; position 2 of 3 in the series' recorded order
- Author: China Miéville
Awards (verified)
- British Fantasy Award (Best Novel), 2003: won
- Hugo Award (Best Novel), 2003: nominated
Notes
- From the series record (Bas-Lag): Core Canon = all 3 novels (Macmillan/Del Rey, 2000-2004). Each is an independent standalone story set in the same world of Bas-Lag (no shared protagonist, no direct continuation) rather than a conventional trilogy -- registered as one continuous sequence by shared setting, this canon's existing pattern for same-world independent-story sequences. No further Bas-Lag novel has been announced as of 2026-08-11; Mieville's short fiction set in Bas-Lag (the collection Looking for Jake contains at least one Bas-Lag story) was not researched and is not registered.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series Bas-Lag: position 2 of 3: previous Perdido Street Station (2000) · next Iron Council (2004)
Sources
- Wikipedia: Perdido Street Station
- Wikipedia: The Scar (novel)
- Wikipedia: Iron Council
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bas-Lag
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