I am like the girl who was hurt in darkness and ate what was given her. 
 I don't normally read science fiction, I'm more of an epic fantasy kind of girl. I really wanted to read something by China Mieville, though, and Embassytown was at the library just waiting for me. 
 When I finished this book, my first thought was: "Holy crap, I can't believe I did it!" The first quarter of this book was very difficult for me to get into, mainly because it was so dense. Once the characters, species, language, setting, etc. were explained and the story got back on track it really started to pick up. 
 Until then, hang in there. 
 Mieville took this brilliant idea, of Language so complex that it could change everything, and yet so simple that a small lie could bring it crashing down, and he wrote it in such a way that it seems so believable. How could there possibly be any other answer? 
 I feel (view spoiler)[like a Language addict, begging China Mieville to whisper in my ear. (hide spoiler)] Ok, that was a little weird... 
 This is what good books do to me, I get an extra dose of the crazy. 
 The story was amazing and well thought out, with the perfect amount of conflict thrown in. It is more plot than character-based, which suited the story perfectly, IMO. I'd recommend anyone who has the stomach for science fiction to read it. It might be slow going through the first quarter, but the rest of the story more than makes up for it.