New Crobuzon

New Crobuzon is a fictional city-state created by China Miéville and located in his fictional world of Bas-Lag. It is prominently featured in both Perdido Street Station and Iron Council, and serves as a plot device and background for The Scar.

Inspiration and creation

Miéville has discussed the inspiration behind New Crobuzon:

I still find myself riffing off books from my past constantly, sometimes without remembering what I’m basing my writing on. New Crobuzon is highly influenced by Brian Aldiss's The Malacia Tapestry [1976] and Tim Powers's The Anubis Gates [1983], but they’d permeated me so deeply I was initially less conscious of them than of other influences.[1]

Several commentators have noted that New Crobuzon is reminiscent of Victorian London,[2][3][4] but sometimes note other possible influences such as modern Cairo and the Vieux Carre of New Orleans.[2]

Geography, environs and climate

New Crobuzon claims dominion over a watershed along the eastern seaboard of the Rohagi continent, on the world of Bas-Lag. The city itself is situated around the Rivers Tar and Canker, whose confluence forms the wider and more navigable Gross Tar. It is the Gross Tar that connects New Crobuzon to the Iron Bay, ten miles east of the city. The mountains that separate New Crobuzon from the rest of Rohagi are called the Dancing Shoe Mountains.

The basin occupied by New Crobuzon is vast, and its terrain varies greatly. Northwest of the city is described in The Scar as an uninhabited "expanse of scrub and marsh", ending eventually at the feet of the Bezhek Mountains. Immediately to the south lies a substantial forest called the Rudewood, beyond which is found an area called the Wetlands. Eventually, the Wetlands give way to the Mendican Hills. Beyond this is the Grain Spiral: an agricultural region that supplies New Crobuzon with much of its food.

Various tributary settlements dot the lands surrounding New Crobuzon. Most are little more than agrarian hamlets, though one, Tarmuth at the mouth of the Gross Tar River, is notable enough to earn mention in The Scar.

In terms of climate, New Crobuzon occupies a temperate zone with regular seasonal changes: autumn and winter seasons are colder than the spring and summer. New Crobuzon was capable of controlling, or at least greatly influencing, local weather earlier in its history through the use of an "aeromorphic engine." This device has not functioned for over five centuries, however.

Calendar

New Crobuzon operates on a standard day, week, month calendar. Years are denoted as Anno Urbis, and are presumably counted forward from the city-state's founding—i.e., 1,779 years after the establishment of the city is listed as "Anno Urbis 1779", or simply "1779".

Details regarding the New Crobuzon calendar are murky. The novels name seven days—Dustday, Blueday, Fishday, Dockday, Chainday, Skullday and Shunday—which loosely imply a seven-day week. The year has twelve months, but only eleven are mentioned: Lunuary, Soluary, Swiven, Chet, Melluary, Tathis, Sinn, Octuary, Rinden, Arora and Dust. Lunuary is the first month of the year (it follows New Year Eve) Chet and Melluary seem to constitute some of New Crobuzon's spring, Tathis, Sinn and Octuary are summer months, and Rinden and Arora are implied as falling within the bounds of late autumn.

History and timeline

History

The history of New Crobuzon prior to about 1500 is obscure and sparsely-detailed, but some further details are disclosed by author in the interview to Dragon magazine.[5] Though none of the novels account for the city's origins, author reveals that Crobuzon was a small village in the estuary of river Gross Tar (it is mentioned by a character in Perdido Street Station as "just plain Crobuzon"). About year 100 Anno Urbis it was completely burnt by the pirate raid and survivors moved upriver to the place where Brock Marsh is now located and founded new town called New Crobuzon. Its inhabitants kept the old timeline beginning with founding of "old" Crobuzon.[5]

The books do not give an account of the first millennium of the city's existence, or the specific relationship or transition between the New Crobuzon and the former city. The oldest documented event of New Crobuzon's past is the arrival of individual khepri traders between the years 1000 and 1100, perhaps resultant of a merchant–explorer named Seemly making contact with their homeland on the continent of Bered Kai Nev. Two centuries later, an unnatural meteorological phenomenon battered the city, prompting the construction of the weather-controlling aeromorphic engine. This event, called a "Torque storm", was presumably followed by the "Full Years"—an era of indeterminate length which a character in The Scar suggests was New Crobuzon's golden age.

New Crobuzon's fortunes waned during the final decades of the 15th century, and it is from this point that the city-state's history becomes more detailed. The Full Years ended around 1500 with the construction of Bas-Lag's most magnificent and ineffectual warship, the Grand Easterly. Shortly thereafter, New Crobuzon found itself embroiled in an epic military campaign referred to as the Pirate Wars, during which the Grand Easterly was captured by the pirate-city called Armada. New Crobuzon emerged from the Pirate Wars victorious in 1544, after obliterating the rival city-state of Suroch with "Torque bombs." It was around this time that the Weaver assumed residency beneath the city and the aeromorphic engine ceased working properly.

A hundred years after emerging from the Pirate Wars, New Crobuzon's government dispatched a small scientific expedition to the ruins of Suroch. Many of the expedition died, in horrible and bizarre fashion, as a result of the still-prevalent fallout. The scene was so horrific that one of the expedition's men felt the public should know of the damage wrought by Torque weaponry. He published his reports and heliotypes, against the wishes of the mayor and Parliament, and thus sparked the Sacramundi Riots of 1689, which a protagonist in Perdido Street Station claims "damn-near brought the government down."

More-or-less concurrent with this event was the khepri forced-migration to New Crobuzon. Their homeland had been devastated years before by a mysterious disaster referred to as the "Ravening", prompting an exodus to continents unknown. For over two decades, khepri arrived in New Crobuzon's ports, eventually settling into ghettos where they were relatively safe from persecution.

Perdido Street Station begins and ends in the summer of 1779. The Scar opens some five or six months later, and concludes in 1780. New Crobuzon is plagued with troubles throughout the span of those two years: labor strikes, civil unrest, an epidemic of nightmares spawned by exotic moth-creatures, and an abortive war with Armada, to name but a few.

The events of The Scar and Iron Council are separated by a span of almost thirty years—the latter opens in 1805 and closes the following year. During the elapsed decades, New Crobuzon's problems grow exponentially. An effort by one of the city's private corporations to build a railway across the width of Rohagi fails, the city violently purges itself of its previously-clandestine population of sentient machines, economic depression sets in, and hostility towards the government increases. At some point between 1780 and 1804, New Crobuzon entered into a war against the nation of Tesh; war ended in 1806 with unclear outcome. By the end of Iron Council, civil unrest had grown to the point that martial law was necessary to keep the reigning government in power.

Timeline

0 AU (anno urbis; lat. for year of the town): Founding of the original village of Crobuzon at the junction of the river Gross Tar, an area that would much later be known as Brock Marsh.[5]

c. 100: Crobuzon is razed by the pirates; survivors abandoned ruins, moved upriver and founded New Crobuzon.[5]

c. 1000–1100: The merchant-explorer Seemly makes contact with the khepri of Bered Kai Nev. Khepri traders begin to arrive in New Crobuzon.

c. 1300: New Crobuzon is battered by a Torque storm; the aeromorphic engine is constructed.

c. 1300–1500: The "Full Years." New Crobuzon is at the height of its militaristic, economic, and technological might.

c. 1500: The completion of the Grand Easterly marks the official end of the Full Years.

c. 1500–1544: The Pirate Wars. The Grand Easterly is captured by Armada.

1544: New Crobuzon obliterates the rival city-state of Suroch with "Torque bombs", thereby ending the Pirate Wars. The Weaver assumes residency beneath New Crobuzon.

c. 1644: The New Crobuzon government sponsors a scientific expedition to the ruins of Suroch.

1689: One of the Suroch-expedition's survivors, named Sacramundi, publishes his photographs and notes without government approval. The public is so horrified that riots break out throughout New Crobuzon.

c. 1689–1709: The khepri migrate to New Crobuzon from their home continent in the wake of the Ravening.

1779–1780: The events of Perdido Street Station take place during the summer. Between six and eight months later, the events of The Scar take place.

c. 1780–1804: New Crobuzon goes to war with the rival city-state of Tesh.

1793: The Construct Wars. New Crobuzon purges itself of its automaton population.

1805–1806: The events of the Iron Council take place.

Government and politics

The New Crobuzon government styles itself a parliamentary republic, but in actuality it is a "ruthlessly mercantilistic" and "corrupt"[6] authoritarian oligarchy with colonialist ambitions.

Executive branch

At the helm of the New Crobuzon's political machine is the mayor. In Perdido Street Station and Iron Council, the mayor is depicted as possessing powers bordering on the dictatorial. In Perdido Street Station, for example, Mayor Bentham Rudgutter orders the abduction and torture of suspected dissidents without restriction, and entirely on his own initiative.

Known mayors

Legislative branch

New Crobuzon's elected Parliament ostensibly holds legislative authority, though it is characterized as stagnant and feckless in Perdido Street Station, much like the Roman Senate after the rise of the Empire. Parliament is divided among a handful of political parties, which the protagonists in both Perdido Street Station and Iron Council consider nothing more than an old boy network.

Known political parties

Four political parties are mentioned in Perdido Street Station, with another, the New Quill Party, appearing in Iron Council.

Judicial branch

As in the real world, New Crobuzon's judiciary concerns itself primarily with hearing disputes and passing sentence upon transgressors. The judges of New Crobuzon are referred to as "Magisters", and all operate under false names to protect themselves from possible retribution. It is implied that they wear masks while holding court.

Punishment at the hands of the New Crobuzon justice system is a harsh and terrifying affair. Crimes ranging from petty theft to murder are almost invariably punished with lengthy prison sentences and Remaking—a grotesque, painful process whereby a person's body is intentionally mutilated.

Suffrage and elections

Suffrage in New Crobuzon is not universal. Those who pay sufficient tax (this is not a Poll tax, rather an automatic qualification) gain suffrage automatically. Anyone else seeking the vote must enter their name into a "Suffrage Lottery", the winners of which are permitted to cast their ballot. Left-wing groups and seditionist cells believe this system is highly corrupt.

Armed forces

The Militia acts not only as New Crobuzon's police force, but also as its standing army and an intelligence-gathering operation. In Perdido Street Station, the Militia resembles "secret police", maintaining order not through uniformed enforcers but rather through double agents, paid informants, blackmail and above all fear. Thirty years later, in Iron Council, they patrol the streets of New Crobuzon openly and are employed as soldiers against the rival nation of Tesh, the City of the Crawling Liquid. At all times, the Militia is hooded or masked.

The Militia has several specialized branches. One division known as the Clypean Guard is responsible for protecting the Mayor. When the Mayor leaves the security of Parliament on Strack Island and visits a location within the city proper, the Clypeans accompany him or her and temporarily take over for the regular Militia posted at that area. The oath the Clypeans are required to swear is "I see and hear only what the Mayor and my charges allow me to." Members have a reputation for being utterly incorruptible, although during Iron Council this is shown to be not entirely true. Another division of the Militia is the Perdidae, which provides dedicated security for Perdido Street Station.

New Crobuzon also maintains a navy, which in times of peace serves to protect the city-state's shipping interests. In The Scar, about half of the New Crobuzon Merchant Navy is deployed against Armada, and though it loses the engagement it is nevertheless described as a fairly intimidating force that inflicts substantial damages on the pirate-nation.

Seditious groups

An illegal newspaper entitled Runagate Rampant is portrayed as New Crobuzon's primary source of opposition and dissent in Perdido Street Station. The staff of the Double-R, as it is colloquially known, operates through a cell structure, so as to best evade government capture.

Dissatisfaction with the existing government is so widespread by the time of Iron Council that numerous other seditionist groups have formed. Though factious and disparate, these groups attempt to coordinate their activities through a loose alliance called the Caucus. The staff of Runagate Rampant, meanwhile, is portrayed as having devolved into an ineffective gaggle of leftist intellectuals, content to spend their nights complaining about New Crobuzon's government but never actually taking action.

Other notable anti-government forces include:

City districts

Science, technology and magic

New Crobuzon's technological capabilities are decidedly steampunk/clockpunk: difference engines, advanced clockwork "constructs", helium-balloon airships, firearms, primitive photography and coal-powered trains and ships all abound in the three Bas-Lag novels. Yet despite all this, the citizens of New Crobuzon seem, by the 18th century, to merely be utilizing the inventions left to them by their ancestors. They apparently do not have the knowledge necessary to repair the city's aeromorphic engine, for example, and widespread fear of artificially-intelligent machines prompts the New Crobuzon government to destroy its population of constructs between 1780 and 1805. New Crobuzon seems to be limping along in terms of scientific and technological achievement, having devolved significantly since its heyday hundreds of years prior. Occasionally, a new technology may be rediscovered, and it is suggested in Iron Council that the phonograph and neon lighting may be examples of this.

Where science fails, however, magic steps in. New Crobuzon harbors a large population of magic-users—broadly referred to as "thaumaturges"—who are capable of earning a substantial living from their craft. The Militia utilizes thaumaturges, as does organized crime and private industry. Bio-thaumaturges often find work as ReMakers; their skills allow them to do virtually any transplant or alteration without causing lethal trauma to the victim, potentially making them master surgeons. Such a practitioner is yet to be seen, however, and the post seems to attract sadistic psychopaths who relish the opportunity to inflict a fate worse than death on sentenced criminals. In the pirate city of Armada, though, there exist Remakers whose craft is not used for punishment but for bodily augmentation. The arcane is treated like a science, with courses available on the subject at New Crobuzon's eponymous university; senior members of the faculty are often tied to the higher level of government.

Following the purge of constructs, golemetrists—thaumaturges specialising in the construction of golems—have risen in demand. Golems in New Crobuzon and Bas-Lag can be made of any substance or abstract concept. In Iron Council there are golems made of (among other things) water, light, sound, corpses, railway tracks, stone and even time. A somewhat similar brand of magic is the ability to summon and control elementals, performed by thaumaturges called elementarii. Some of the more bizarre types seen in Bas-Lag include moonlight and flesh elementals.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Gordon, Joan (November 2003). "Reveling in Genre: An Interview with China Miéville". Science Fiction Studies 30 (3). Retrieved November 17, 2010.
  2. 1 2 Carl Freedman (2008). "To the Perdido Street Station: The Representation of Revolution in China Mieville's Iron Council". In Donald M. Hassler; Clyde Wilcox. New boundaries in political science fiction. Univ of South Carolina Press. p. 259. ISBN 1-57003-736-1.
  3. ↑ Henry Farrell (2008). "Socialist surrealism: China Mieville's New Crobuzon novels". In Donald M. Hassler; Clyde Wilcox. New boundaries in political science fiction. Univ of South Carolina Press. p. 275. ISBN 1-57003-736-1.
  4. ↑ Mark Bould (2009). Fifty Key Figures in Science Fiction. Taylor & Francis. p. 158. ISBN 0-203-87470-6.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Dragon issue #352 (February 2007), "Guide to Perdido Street Station & The World Beyond"
  6. ↑ Henry Farrell (2008). "Socialist surrealism: China Mieville's New Crobuzon novels". In Donald M. Hassler; Clyde Wilcox. New boundaries in political science fiction. Univ of South Carolina Press. p. 275. ISBN 1-57003-736-1.
  7. ↑ Henry Farrell (2008). "Socialist surrealism: China Mieville's New Crobuzon novels". In Donald M. Hassler; Clyde Wilcox. New boundaries in political science fiction. Univ of South Carolina Press. p. 278. ISBN 1-57003-736-1.
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