Tolkien was (like me) a philologist in his day job, and when he wrote Lord of the Rings, he used his skills to invent fully-fledged languages for his characters to speak. In Embassytown, Mieville goes one better. Never before have I seen the semiotic nature of language used as a plot point. 
 And the plot in question certainly isn't dry or academic, as such a concept might suggest, although it does start quite slowly. I found both the narrator, Avice, and the narrative style, a little annoying in the beginning - but I got used to the style, and Avice grew on me as I continued reading. To go into much more detail would be to spoil the beautiful unfolding of events, but suffice it to say that if you love to think about language - what it is and what it could be - I think you'll enjoy this book.