Could you read
Best Served Cold in a vacuum? Sure. But you'd probably be wondering who/what some of these other people and events they keep referring to are. Same with
The Scar (I assume you mean Mieville?). You
can read it alone, but it's enhanced by reading it in between the other two Bas Lag books (
Perdido Street Station and
Iron Council).
They "stand alone," sure... but they have a little hitch in their gait without their predecessors, if you ask me.
Very nice list, BTW, BenG.
