About this episode

Neil McRobert interviews China Miéville about his monumental book 'The Rouse' and its themes of war and ghosts.

There are big books and big books. This week we cover a HUGE book. China Miéville is the guest. The award-winning author of Perdido Street Station, Embassytown, The City & the City, and other modern speculative classics – and he’s back with a book two decades in the making.   The Rouse is an epic of true proportions, a 1300-page saga of the twentieth century, rife with war, atrocity, tragedy, and a secret war fought with ghosts?? That’s the premise but it barely touches the sides of this ginormous undertaking.   This is not just a conversation, it’s a search for answers – in which we plumb the personal, political, and supernatural influences behind this story of shady military conspiracy and ghosts of many strange kinds.   I hope you enjoy, ‘cos I worked my ass off for this one!   Other books mentioned: King Rat (1999), by China Miéville The City & The City (2009), by China Miéville Ducks, Newburyport (2019), by Lucy Ellman Gravity’s Rainbow (1973), by Thomas Pyncheon Against the Day (2006), by Thomas Pyncheon House of Leaves (2000), by Mark Z. Danielewski “The Ash Tree” (1904), by M.R. James A Dark Corner (1971), by Celia Dale   Support Talking Scared on…

People in this episode

Host: Neil McRobert

Guest: China Miéville

Topics covered

• China Miéville
• The Rouse
• ghosts
• military conspiracy
• epic literature
• 20th century history

Keywords

• China Miéville
• The Rouse
• ghosts
• military conspiracy
• epic literature
• 20th century
• speculative fiction

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Perdido Street Station, Embassytown, The City & the City, The Rouse, King Rat, Ducks, Newburyport, Gravity’s Rainbow, Against the Day, House of Leaves, The Ash Tree

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