Language is everywhere, it infects everything about who we are. China Miéville holds nothing back as he sets out to explore this topic in what is his first full length novel within a science fiction setting; and he achieves it with spectacular grace.

Miéville has never been an average author, he creates images and scenes unlike anything I've read from other sci-fi/fantasy authors; he is truly unique. Here he creates a world on the edge of the known universe, where there are beings who's speech is different from anything man has ever encountered in his exploration of space. And what that speech means to them, and how it can effect them is at the heart of this plot.

If you've never read any of Miéville's books, this may not be the one you want to start with, but it is worth the effort once you start it. Linguists will probably get the most out of the explorations this book invites. The book is as intoxicating as language is to the Hosts and I had a difficult time putting it down.