Despite the initial and mutual lack of understanding, the humans and Ariekei have created ways to live together without incident for several decades. For example, Cho was incorporated into the language as the symbol for “the girl who was hurt in the dark and ate what was given to her.” Their main form of entertainment consists of throwing frequent “Festivals of Lies” centered on games where Ariekei struggle to tell lies to each other, an incredibly difficult feat given the constraints of their language. The Ariekei language is based on complex allusions to events performed by individuals. The Ambassadors are a hybrid species that were bred to facilitate communication between the Ariekei and humans. For example, the Ariekei language, referred to merely by the proper noun “Language,” is spoken by uttering two words at once it is biologically impossible for humans to speak. Ariekei society has some mystifying norms and traditions that the humans have had to integrate. Her integration into their enigmatic language mirrors her intimate position in the Ariekei society she is accepted by them and feels like one of them. Although Cho cannot speak the language, during her childhood, she became a figure of speech in their language.

In their community on Arieka, they are the sole humans in a sea of indigenous aliens whose language they cannot speak with the exception of a few human ambassadors.

The book is situated in the far future after humanity has started colonizing deep space. Though both species try to preserve peace, they inevitably experience cultural loss as integration forms fractures and erasures in two initially distinct groups and their languages. Most of the story centers on the central figure Avice Benner Cho, a native of the settlement, which is bordered on all sides by the Ariekei city. Set in a human colonial community called Embassytown on a distant planet called Arieka, it concerns the human colonists’ interaction with mysterious beings called the Ariekei. Embassytown is a novel by British science fiction author China Miéville.

Embassytown book