First published in 2002, China Mieville’s The Scar was the second in a sequence of novels set in the fictional universe of Bas-Lag.

The Scar is a novel of the sea—of the people, ships and cities that live on the surface, and the creatures that live beneath. It tells the story of an ill-fated voyage from New Crobizon, the primary setting of Perdido Street Station, to the fledgling colony of Nova Esperium. That voyage will encompass piracy, floating cities, transformative magic, sea creatures, and the threat of impending war. It will lead, in the end, to a region known only as The Scar, where quotidian reality breaks down and new possibilities proliferate.