Words have power. But imagine if you belonged to a species where words are thoughts, people can be part of language, and you can even get high on vocals. 
 Such is the idea behind "Embassytown," which easily takes the prize for the weirdest science fiction novel in... well, awhile. China Mieville (who is known for writing really bizarre dark fantasy) set his sights on other planets in this book, and it's an intelligent, multilayered tale whose aliens are truly, complete, utterly ALIEN. The problem? The underwhelming main character. 
 After many years as an immerser, Avice Bennon Cho and her new husband Scile return to her home city of Embassytown. Embassytown is a place where humans coexist with the exot species known as the Hosts (or Ariekei), and because the Hosts need two voices working in tandem to communicate, genetically-engineered twin "doppel" Ambassadors have been bred to speak to them. 
 However, something strange and sinister is happening in Embassytown with the arrival of EzRa, a new Ambassador. Scile practically vanishes from Avice's life as he pursues his linguistic obsessions, a strange new cult appears, and a conspiracy arises. Soon the entire planet is dying from a deadly addiction that cripples the Ariekei, and there may be no way of saving Embassytown... 
 Giant multimouthed coral/horse/fish/tree "exots," umbrellas and purses literally growing on trees, and mind-linked twins who are regarded as one person. Even the social norms of the future are what we think of as unconventional with open bisexual marriages being the norm, and children in Embassytown being raised via a gang of "shift parents." 
 Yeah, China Mieville has a dazzlingly weird imagination, and he has definitely come up with a science fiction story that kicks aside the genre cliches. He spends the first half of the book carefully setting up the disastrous events, and then spends the SECOND half dealing with the disastrous fallout. And he doesn't give it a pat convenient "back to normal" solution, but brings in some truly unexpected, weird plot twists. 
 The major problem is Avice herself. It's like Mieville just needed a pair of eyes to observe everything in Embassytown, and didn't feel the need to really flesh her out. She feels very remote and distant, and Mieville has a bad tendency to just TELL us what she feels or experiences rather than SHOWING us. Why is she even the narrator? 
 It's a shame, because there are a LOT of interesting characters in it -- the increasingly fanatical and ultimately tragic Scile, Spanish Dancer, CalVin, EzRa, the "split" Ambassador Bren, and countless others. You really feel their emotions, even the exots who are too weird to understand. 
 "Embassytown" is a science fiction book by China Mieville, which tells you basically everything you need to know. Weird, inventive and wildly intriguing, but not for casual readers or fans of fluff sci-fi.