La cicatriz (Bas-Lag, 2)

Aboard a great ship travels a grotesque human cargo, bound for exile. They are all prisoners and slaves, struggling to reshape their own bizarre bodies. New Crobuzon—the pirate city that traverses the oceans—awaits them. Among them is Bellis Coldwine, a linguist fleeing a terrible punishment. This is the story of a quest to find the island of a forgotten people, the most astonishing beast of the seas, and a fabled location—an immense wound in reality, a source of unimaginable power and danger... A ship is besieged by pirates; the officers are executed, and the survivors are taken to Armada—a new, landless realm governed by "The Lovers." Yet, only certain shadowy figures hold the answers to their questions.