Andréa, Canis Lanonbinary

been reading The City & the City by China Mieville and something i really appreciate is that it always explains its fantasy terms, but never on the first time they're used. it'll introduce a new term or phrase -- "grosstopically, crosshatched, topolganger, Breach" -- in the middle of a sentence with just enough context to grasp at the edges of its meaning, then, one or three uses later, actually give a definition within an aside. it's a writing technique which trusts the reader to make logical leaps, letting them step into a near-completely alien society, but is still self-aware enough to provide the facts after a bit of grasping on the reader's part. it feels like a very appropriate way to meter out information, especially in the context of a mystery novel