Good thing I searched for Thompson's name before posting - he was the
first person I thought of when I read the title for the article.

 @avclub-b0dae075785888267fc19871f3e7dab7:disqus  Heh, fair enough. I really should know better than to say things like "you can't avoid".
 I read and often like both the comic and the blog. My problem is that for him to accuse someone of being smug - of rubbing one's own literary smarts on other people's faces… well,…

If I remember correctly, that Cthulhu-looking thing in the cartoon is actually meant to be Cthulhu (iirc, they didn't change the name or anything, and mentioned Lovecraft by name)
 I listen to both Om and High on Fire, but never heard of Sleep before. Looks like I need to correct that quickly.

It starts out a bit slow and low key, but after a few twists the book gets incredibly, exhilaratingly bizarre.

No one's mentioned Crank 2 yet?
 Don't make me bust out the CAPS LOCK!

There's a ton of elements of the book that I loved - The Sea Embassy, trap streets, origami (shudder), and yes, Goss and fucking Subby (though I did find them a bit too distractingly similar to Croup and Vandemar - the rest of the book, not so much).

I adore Perdido Street Station, but the description of the sea on the first few pages of The Scar may be my favorite thing of his. I know it puts a lot of people off, but I find his prose -particularly on the Bas Lag books- incredible.

Exactly. It's impossible to read the blog post for the comic (http://penny-arcade.com/201… and avoid the impression that he's indulging in exactly the same thing that he accuses Mieville of doing… just with a slightly more populist tack.
 (And I actually read them every now and then)

@avclub-d9788dca1673b499692fc7ab062e283f:disqus - Or they'll just pull a Spaceballs: "You fools - you got his body double!"

That "Death of Xander Cage" is almost hilariously artless, even for an ill conceived, cheaply-made DVD extra. It looks like bad TV show satire.
 What I'm saying, is yeah, I also now want to see this.

I liked Kraken just fine, but it felt a bit strained for me, a bit too forced.
 The bit where someone makes his way back from the underworld, though, makes it all worth it; so extremely bad-ass.

Depends on what you're after. When this came up before, most people (including the author himself) suggested City & the City - a noir with a pretty awesome metaphysical twist.
 I'm partial to his short stories, collected under Looking for Jake and other stories.

As others said, Un Lun Dun is wonderful and very definitely Mieville-esque. The imagination and playfulness on display is staggering…

And why the switch from Delight to Delirium? (other than to keep the series dark)

After life is such a beautiful, perfect little film. I need to see more from this director.

Patience.
Pe-shenz
Patience.
Pe-shenz
Patience.
Pe-shenz
Patience.
Pe-shenz
Patience.

Yeah, it does. Also, I know it's been said before, but it's so great to see the reviews more fleshed out like this.

I'm hoping it'll be more deadpan than straight. I mean, that tree-chopping bit kind of gives it away (I hope).

Thanks all - I could have sworn he used the in-mouth cam in more than one movie, but maybe I'm thinking of a knock-off.

Don't torture a duckling?