Status
Available
Call number
Publication
New York : Del Rey, 2008.
Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "Endlessly inventive . . . [a] hybrid of Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, and The Phantom Tollbooth."--Salon What is Un Lun Dun? It is London through the looking glass, an urban Wonderland of strange delights where all the lost and broken things of London end up . . . and some of its lost and broken people, too-including Brokkenbroll, boss of the broken umbrellas; Obaday Fing, a tailor whose head is an enormous pin-cushion, and an empty milk carton called Curdle. Un Lun Dun is a place where words are alive, a jungle lurks behind the door of an ordinary house, carnivorous giraffes stalk the streets, and a dark cloud dreams of burning the world. It is a city awaiting its hero, whose coming was prophesied long ago, set down for all time in the pages of a talking book. When twelve-year-old Zanna and her friend Deeba find a secret entrance leading out of London and into this strange city, it seems that the ancient prophecy is coming true at last. But then things begin to go shockingly wrong. Praise for Un Lun Dun "Miéville fills his enthralling fantasy with enough plot twists and wordplay for an entire trilogy, and that is a good thing. A-."--Entertainment Weekly "For style and inventiveness, turn to Un Lun Dun, by China Miéville, who throws off more imaginative sparks per chapter than most authors can manufacture in a whole book. Mieville sits at the table with Lewis Carroll, and Deeba cavorts with another young explorer of topsy-turvy worlds."--The Washington Post Book World "Delicious, twisty, ferocious fun . . . so crammed with inventions, delights, and unexpected turns that you will want to start reading it over again as soon as you've reached the end."--Kelly Link, author of Magic for Beginners "[A] wondrous thrill ride . . . Like the best fantasy authors, [Miéville] fully realizes his imaginary city." --The A.V. Club "Mieville's compelling heroine and her fantastical journey through the labyrinth of a strange London forms that rare book that feels instantly like a classic and yet is thoroughly modern."--Holly Black, bestselling author of The Spiderwick Chronicles… (more)
Media reviews
A Son Of The Rock
This is Miéville’s first book for younger readers. It is also copiously (and well) illustrated by the author. In it Zanna and Deeba, two of a group of normal young teenagers in London, are beset by strange occurrences. They are attacked by smoke tendrils, freaked out by an ambulatory umbrella
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and Zanna is addressed as Shwazzy several times during different chance encounters in one of which she is given a card naming her as such.
Soon they are both transported to a strange place where the sun is too large - and doughnut shaped - weird and colourful characters abound and telecommunications work through the medium of what can only be described as carrier wasps. Zanna is revealed as the choisi - chosen – the girl who will save the abcity of Un Lun Dun (unLondon) from the menace of the Smog. She is presumed to know the details of the Armets and their secret weapon the Klinneract which saved real London and drove the Smog to Un Lun Dun. (This parallel existence also contains other abcities such as Parisn’t, Lost Angeles, Sans Francisco and Hong Gone.)
The book which contains the Shwazzy prophecy - and which speaks morosely a la Eeyore or Marvin - turns out to be wrong, though, and Zanna is unable to help. She is incapacitated by the Smog whose attack is only driven off by using specially slit and treated unbrellas made by Mister Brokkenbroll to ward off the smog’s projectiles. With this apparent victory Deeba and the still far from well Zanna return to London. But Deeba cannot forget her experiences, realises that not all may be well in Un Lun Dun and so makes her return. On her quest to find a weapon to defeat the Smog she is accompanied by the aforementioned Book of Prophecy, Bling, a silver furred locust, Diss, a brown bear cub, a four-armed, four-legged, many-eyed man called Cauldron, a half-ghost, half-normal boy called Hemi, and Curdle, an animated milk carton Deeba adopts as a pet.
There are some nice coinages - mostly portmanteau words like smombies, Propheseers and smoglodytes. Mister Brokkenbroll - the Unbrellissimo - is a particularly redolent case. There are also glazed, wooden framed, eight legged things called Black Windows. These are just a few examples of Miéville's playful linguistic invention.
There is more than a hint of Alice in Un Lun Dun though generally Through The Looking Glass rather than Adventures In Wonderland. This is underlined on page 296 when the Speaker of Talklands echoes Humpy Dumpty by saying, “WORDS MEAN WHATEVER I WANT.” We also have a pair of Tweedledum/Tweedledee-ish mitre-wearing clerics, in white and deep red robes respectively, who only move in zig-zags. There are parallels too with THE CITY & YTIC EHT Miéville’s recent adult novel.
Un Lun Dun is an enjoyable romp. For its target audience I would have thought it might be more than a touch too long, though its young readers may welcome a long immersion in Miéville’s skewed world. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member GingerbreadMan
I remember reading “The Neverending Story” at age nine or so. Brimful of fantastic detail, tons of engrossing strangeness of a sort I didn’t even know existed in books, a nail-biting fairytale motored adventure that had the pages turning themselves. And at the same time a book so thick that
Chine Miéville isn’t known for holding back on ideas. And here, making the transition into children’s literature (because it is. There’s nothing YA about this, the way I understand that tricky label), with a nod on the head to the proud British word-punning tradition that urban fantasy for all ages tends to love, he lets it all out. In the parallel abcity of UnLondon, where Zinna and her friend Deeba find themselves, there’re feral rubbish piles. Extreme librarians. Wandering bridges. Transhbinjas. Brokenbroll, the boss of the broken umbrellas. Electric conductors. A half-ghost street urchin. Webminster Abbey. A impenetrable jungle inside a regular brick building. A book of prophecy with an identity crisis. A silent, friendly giant in a diver’s suit. Rebel words. And a cloud of Smog with evil plans of taking over everything – UnLondon and London alike. And some trademark Miéville nasties to top it off, of course: lions with earthworm heads. Smombies. Carnivorous giraffes which flay the skins of their prey, waving it like flags…
This is wall to wall adventure, of the “impossible to put down” variety, with a neat feel of unpredictability to it. True, at the bottom of this story is the rather standard young fantasy theme of “I know nothing about this strange land, but I’m Chosen to save it”. But if you bear with it, it becomes more and more apparent Miéville knows exactly what he’s doing with that, too. Still, the overall story is not quite as original as the details. But I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this to anyone over the age of ten.
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it truly seemed neverending. I even recall how I felt after finishing it: a mixture of immense pride looking at the size of the tome, and a hollow emptiness that the adventure was over. I think that, for the right young reader, Un Lun Dun could be such a book.Chine Miéville isn’t known for holding back on ideas. And here, making the transition into children’s literature (because it is. There’s nothing YA about this, the way I understand that tricky label), with a nod on the head to the proud British word-punning tradition that urban fantasy for all ages tends to love, he lets it all out. In the parallel abcity of UnLondon, where Zinna and her friend Deeba find themselves, there’re feral rubbish piles. Extreme librarians. Wandering bridges. Transhbinjas. Brokenbroll, the boss of the broken umbrellas. Electric conductors. A half-ghost street urchin. Webminster Abbey. A impenetrable jungle inside a regular brick building. A book of prophecy with an identity crisis. A silent, friendly giant in a diver’s suit. Rebel words. And a cloud of Smog with evil plans of taking over everything – UnLondon and London alike. And some trademark Miéville nasties to top it off, of course: lions with earthworm heads. Smombies. Carnivorous giraffes which flay the skins of their prey, waving it like flags…
This is wall to wall adventure, of the “impossible to put down” variety, with a neat feel of unpredictability to it. True, at the bottom of this story is the rather standard young fantasy theme of “I know nothing about this strange land, but I’m Chosen to save it”. But if you bear with it, it becomes more and more apparent Miéville knows exactly what he’s doing with that, too. Still, the overall story is not quite as original as the details. But I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this to anyone over the age of ten.
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LibraryThing member Magus_Manders
It's been said before, but I see no reason not to say it again: When a book is labeled as being "for younger readers", that is in no way a prohibition against the more elderly ones. Some of the finest works of fantasy of the last few years have been written with the young adult audience in mind,
I came across Un Lun Dun mere weeks after I had finished Miéville's most famous work from 2000, Perdido Street Station. As the story of Un Lun Dun gets underway, it seems in many ways to be a New Crobuzon for kids. The magical city of UnLondon, existing kind of parallel but not quite to our more familiar English capital, a strange and marvelous place where the spectacularly outlandish is pedestrian, is in may ways reminiscent of the sprawling steampunk metropolis featured in his earlier books. The bizarre and ever present horror of the antagonist falls in the same vein as the previous work's monstrous villains. Even Miéville's willingness to kill significant characters in a series of disturbing false climaxes creates the effect of tying the two books together.
Though it holds some very real similarities to his earlier work, Un Lun Dun does more than enough to stand up on its own as a fantasy novel and a fantastic story for both young and old. The adolescent heroes, drawn from a common schoolyard in London and nearly inexplicably thrown into a strange new world exhibit both the trepidation and panache that young teenagers harbor by the bucketful. The people, critters, and very structure of UnLondon is completely bizarre, but the disparate bits seem to fit together so well that the reader can accept when buses fly and trashcans are trained in ancient mystical martial arts. Even if there were no hero-quest to drive the story along, one could be perfectly content to read about the happenings of a single street corner for a hundred pages. Thankfully, we are given the chance to see much more of this stunning "abcity" as it falls under siege by a beast of its own making in a war that binds together both their and our London under threatening clouds. As mentioned above, Miéville is one of the few fantasy writers I know with the courage to let people die in the immensely dangerous situations that fill this story, and has a knack at teasing us with failure the likes of which we know so well and most storybook heroes know not at all. He also exhibits an excellent working knowledge of the structure of such stories, which allows him to deftly undermine their very workings and twist common motifs into new, real-feeling events and characters.
The characterization in Un Lun Dun is relatively simple and the language such that a clever young person (whom I think exist more often than not, if we give them some credit) should have no problem following along. If these are to be seen as flaws, then they are more than made up for by a complex, subversive plot and marvelously strange sights that fill most every page of this hefty and satisfying book. For ever twist you see coming, there's at least one more that will hit you out of left field and leave both the young readers, and the readers who are old enough to know that the young have better taste than they sometimes admit, salivating for more stories of the uncanny UnLondon and its heroes.
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and it is in these books that the most innovative new ideas are presented.I came across Un Lun Dun mere weeks after I had finished Miéville's most famous work from 2000, Perdido Street Station. As the story of Un Lun Dun gets underway, it seems in many ways to be a New Crobuzon for kids. The magical city of UnLondon, existing kind of parallel but not quite to our more familiar English capital, a strange and marvelous place where the spectacularly outlandish is pedestrian, is in may ways reminiscent of the sprawling steampunk metropolis featured in his earlier books. The bizarre and ever present horror of the antagonist falls in the same vein as the previous work's monstrous villains. Even Miéville's willingness to kill significant characters in a series of disturbing false climaxes creates the effect of tying the two books together.
Though it holds some very real similarities to his earlier work, Un Lun Dun does more than enough to stand up on its own as a fantasy novel and a fantastic story for both young and old. The adolescent heroes, drawn from a common schoolyard in London and nearly inexplicably thrown into a strange new world exhibit both the trepidation and panache that young teenagers harbor by the bucketful. The people, critters, and very structure of UnLondon is completely bizarre, but the disparate bits seem to fit together so well that the reader can accept when buses fly and trashcans are trained in ancient mystical martial arts. Even if there were no hero-quest to drive the story along, one could be perfectly content to read about the happenings of a single street corner for a hundred pages. Thankfully, we are given the chance to see much more of this stunning "abcity" as it falls under siege by a beast of its own making in a war that binds together both their and our London under threatening clouds. As mentioned above, Miéville is one of the few fantasy writers I know with the courage to let people die in the immensely dangerous situations that fill this story, and has a knack at teasing us with failure the likes of which we know so well and most storybook heroes know not at all. He also exhibits an excellent working knowledge of the structure of such stories, which allows him to deftly undermine their very workings and twist common motifs into new, real-feeling events and characters.
The characterization in Un Lun Dun is relatively simple and the language such that a clever young person (whom I think exist more often than not, if we give them some credit) should have no problem following along. If these are to be seen as flaws, then they are more than made up for by a complex, subversive plot and marvelously strange sights that fill most every page of this hefty and satisfying book. For ever twist you see coming, there's at least one more that will hit you out of left field and leave both the young readers, and the readers who are old enough to know that the young have better taste than they sometimes admit, salivating for more stories of the uncanny UnLondon and its heroes.
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LibraryThing member cajela
Ostensibly this is a kids' book, but older readers will enjoy this very much too. Featuring a girl hero and any number of truly strange companions (don't call them sidekicks!), it's an account of a quest to save the world. Or perhaps two worlds.
Un Lun Dun is a world parallel to and offset from
Just for a taste: those jumping bins on the cover are the binja, fierce fighters and protectors of the realm. Un Lun Dun has houses made of giant apples, or that contain entire large jungles, and anything from a piece of rubbish to a school of fish can be a person. There are Extreme Librarians, a sentient book of prophesies, and a half-a-ghost. And there are Evil Giraffes! Someone tell Eddie Izzard at once!
Un Lun Dun is a world parallel to and offset from
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London, with its oddities and dangers reminiscent of Hieronymous Bosch crossed with Neil Gaiman, with a helping of Monty Python. It's lighter, funnier and easier going than Mieville's adult books, but his extraordinary imagination is still on full blast.Just for a taste: those jumping bins on the cover are the binja, fierce fighters and protectors of the realm. Un Lun Dun has houses made of giant apples, or that contain entire large jungles, and anything from a piece of rubbish to a school of fish can be a person. There are Extreme Librarians, a sentient book of prophesies, and a half-a-ghost. And there are Evil Giraffes! Someone tell Eddie Izzard at once!
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LibraryThing member bragan
Two girls make their way to UnLondon, London's supernatural companion city, the place where everything that becomes obsolete and discarded in London ultimate ends up. There, they learn that one of them is the chosen one, destined to face down a terrifying enemy that threatens UnLondon. But not
This one is written for a younger audience than Miéville's other books. (Or most of them, anyway. I haven't yet read Railsea, but I gather that one falls somewhere in the YA category.) It's every bit as weird and wonderful and endlessly inventive as his adult fiction, though, and although it started out a bit slow, by the end the story had me utterly enthralled, and I finished it up with a great big grin on my face. I particularly like the way Miéville takes so many of the usual fantasy tropes about prophecies and Chosen Ones and quests and turns them neatly on their heads. This one's definitely recommended for both adults and kids.
Also, I will never, ever look at an empty milk carton the same way again.
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everything goes according to plan...This one is written for a younger audience than Miéville's other books. (Or most of them, anyway. I haven't yet read Railsea, but I gather that one falls somewhere in the YA category.) It's every bit as weird and wonderful and endlessly inventive as his adult fiction, though, and although it started out a bit slow, by the end the story had me utterly enthralled, and I finished it up with a great big grin on my face. I particularly like the way Miéville takes so many of the usual fantasy tropes about prophecies and Chosen Ones and quests and turns them neatly on their heads. This one's definitely recommended for both adults and kids.
Also, I will never, ever look at an empty milk carton the same way again.
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LibraryThing member amandabock
Oh the weirdness. The blurbs say it's a modern [book: Alice in Wonderland], and I agree- I like it and hate it for all the same reasons. It reads very much like those old nonsense fantasy adventures, which is fine, if you like that sort of thing.
I did like the alternate London that Mieville
The disconnected nonsense of it all, which reminds me of such classics, also makes it very hard to read. I didn't always remember which character was who (or what their idiosyncrasies were), and didn't really care.
If you like meandering, episodic, and clever fantasy, and if you're a very patient reader, then give it a try.
I did like the alternate London that Mieville
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created. It's very clever and reminds me of Wonderland and the world of [book: The Phantom Tollbooth]-it's nonsensical and disconnected. Each plot development opens the door to another fantastical microcosm, which has nothing to do with the previous or next ones. I also like the twist on the prophesy. We've gone a little mad with the prophesies in children's fantasies lately, and this one address the issue of self-fulfilling ones.The disconnected nonsense of it all, which reminds me of such classics, also makes it very hard to read. I didn't always remember which character was who (or what their idiosyncrasies were), and didn't really care.
If you like meandering, episodic, and clever fantasy, and if you're a very patient reader, then give it a try.
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LibraryThing member clfisha
I feel I add too many caveats to my reviews but I must say I don’t really read much YA nor usually enjoy it and this is the main reason I only mildly enjoyed this book.
It's certainly got the Mieville touch when it comes to fantasy ideas, man eating giraffes? ninja rubbish bins? roaming bridges?
The story is simpler then I am used to, and tends to run from one set piece to other but that’s certainly not a bad thing. I was worried at first as it did seem to be a kids fantasy by numbers, with the heroine, who everyone loves going on a series of quests with her convenient helpers but don’t worry this trope is nicely subverted quite soon into the story. The characters are ok, a bit on the chirpy side for me and a bit flat but the bad guy suitably malevolent and they all bounce off each other to keep the interest going. The plot races on at a fair old pace too and it’s interspersed with some great action (when’s the film?)
It fun and engaging enough to recommended to YA lovers or those who find Mieville’s other books a bit too baroque and the over the top. I did enjoy it but I do prefer Mieville at full tilt ;)
It's certainly got the Mieville touch when it comes to fantasy ideas, man eating giraffes? ninja rubbish bins? roaming bridges?
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It’s hugely rich on neat ideas, but ones which don't tend to overwhelm the story and whilst Mieville only uses his linguistic creativity to name things he doesn't dumb down the words he uses either (quiddity being my favourite)The story is simpler then I am used to, and tends to run from one set piece to other but that’s certainly not a bad thing. I was worried at first as it did seem to be a kids fantasy by numbers, with the heroine, who everyone loves going on a series of quests with her convenient helpers but don’t worry this trope is nicely subverted quite soon into the story. The characters are ok, a bit on the chirpy side for me and a bit flat but the bad guy suitably malevolent and they all bounce off each other to keep the interest going. The plot races on at a fair old pace too and it’s interspersed with some great action (when’s the film?)
It fun and engaging enough to recommended to YA lovers or those who find Mieville’s other books a bit too baroque and the over the top. I did enjoy it but I do prefer Mieville at full tilt ;)
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LibraryThing member lunacat
Strange things have been happening around Zanna and Deeba. A graffiti, far out of the reach of humans, reads 'Zanna For Ever'. Animals appear to bow to her (well, except the cats), and three squirrels come and offer acorns at her feet. But then there is a more alarming development when a car
What they discover is astonishing. They emerge in UnLondon, a place all the lost and broken things of London fall too, and are efficiently utilised by the inhabitants of the city. But they're also emerged at a bad time, as there are mutterings and threats in the air, and when the citizens begin to show an unusual amount of attention towards Zanna, the girls find they must flee to safety.
The following excerpt gives some idea as to the nonsensical and fantastical found within the pages:
"From these heights, Deeba could see the UnLondon-I, the flickering of Wraithtown, the dark tiles of the Roofdom. She could see the glimmer of the river bisecting the city, the two enormous iron crocodile heads squatting on either side of it.
The night sky crawled with moving stars. A flying bus cut across the front of the loon. ... In the midst of the roofscape of mixed-up architecture, of huge tiger paws and apple cores and weirder things that served as houses alongside more conventional structures, was a darkness."
Binjas (ninja dustbins), murderous giraffes, Slaterunners and Webminster, everything within UnLondon is weirder and more wonderful than that above, but as the threat from the Smog grows, it falls to an unlikely source to save the city.
The acknowledgements at the end mention Neil Gaiman as a source of encouragement and inspiration, and there are more than a few similarities here to Neverwhere, which is surely a ringing endorsement for those who love this kind of bizarre and eccentric fantasy. Mieville has the same love of the strange and twisted, and each new creature spawned from his imagination is a wonder to behold. The occasional illustrations dotted through the book are a pleasant surprise, and the story twists and turns with a plot that makes you eat up the pages and never guess what might be coming next.
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accident seems aimed at Zanna. Finally, the girls follow a broken umbrella that hangs outside Zanna's window before it creeps back underneath a tower block.What they discover is astonishing. They emerge in UnLondon, a place all the lost and broken things of London fall too, and are efficiently utilised by the inhabitants of the city. But they're also emerged at a bad time, as there are mutterings and threats in the air, and when the citizens begin to show an unusual amount of attention towards Zanna, the girls find they must flee to safety.
The following excerpt gives some idea as to the nonsensical and fantastical found within the pages:
"From these heights, Deeba could see the UnLondon-I, the flickering of Wraithtown, the dark tiles of the Roofdom. She could see the glimmer of the river bisecting the city, the two enormous iron crocodile heads squatting on either side of it.
The night sky crawled with moving stars. A flying bus cut across the front of the loon. ... In the midst of the roofscape of mixed-up architecture, of huge tiger paws and apple cores and weirder things that served as houses alongside more conventional structures, was a darkness."
Binjas (ninja dustbins), murderous giraffes, Slaterunners and Webminster, everything within UnLondon is weirder and more wonderful than that above, but as the threat from the Smog grows, it falls to an unlikely source to save the city.
The acknowledgements at the end mention Neil Gaiman as a source of encouragement and inspiration, and there are more than a few similarities here to Neverwhere, which is surely a ringing endorsement for those who love this kind of bizarre and eccentric fantasy. Mieville has the same love of the strange and twisted, and each new creature spawned from his imagination is a wonder to behold. The occasional illustrations dotted through the book are a pleasant surprise, and the story twists and turns with a plot that makes you eat up the pages and never guess what might be coming next.
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LibraryThing member janeajones
I enjoyed this children's fantasy mostly set in the alternative Un Lun Dun, where all the discards from London end up and which is peopled with an array of creatures that reminded me of those in The Wizard of Oz.. There's a strong environmental message which resonated particularly with me at this
Two things bothered me about this novel. First, I didn't get the function of the Zanna story. She fails to save Un Lun Dun, the two girls are returned home, Zanna remembers nothing, and essentially disappears from the story. It's Deeba, the unchosen one, whose adventures make up most of the novel. OK, the idea that she's unchosen and still succeeds may be intriguing, but the first sections of the book seem extraneous to the rest.
Second, and this is English teacher in me -- I don't know why Deeba sometimes lapses into subject/verb disagreement. I know children sometimes speak this way, but it made me shudder every time she said something like "She don't know anything."
Quibbles aside, I think most kids (of any age) who like fantasy ala Harry Potter and The Wizard of Oz would thoroughly enjoy Un Lun Dun.
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time as we've been experiencing the horrific oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Zanna and Deeba, best friends from a property estate in London are magically transported into Un Lun Dun, and Zanna is declared "the Shwazzy" -- the chosen one, chosen to save Un Lun Dun from the smog. But it is Deeba who becomes the heroine of the story.Two things bothered me about this novel. First, I didn't get the function of the Zanna story. She fails to save Un Lun Dun, the two girls are returned home, Zanna remembers nothing, and essentially disappears from the story. It's Deeba, the unchosen one, whose adventures make up most of the novel. OK, the idea that she's unchosen and still succeeds may be intriguing, but the first sections of the book seem extraneous to the rest.
Second, and this is English teacher in me -- I don't know why Deeba sometimes lapses into subject/verb disagreement. I know children sometimes speak this way, but it made me shudder every time she said something like "She don't know anything."
Quibbles aside, I think most kids (of any age) who like fantasy ala Harry Potter and The Wizard of Oz would thoroughly enjoy Un Lun Dun.
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LibraryThing member PghDragonMan
If I had not read Neil Gamin’s Neverwhere, I would probably be more impressed with Un Lun Dun by China Mieville. The concept was not entirely original and Mieville’s style is nowhere near as captivating as Gaiman’s, yet I never felt bogged down in the story. It did not quite captivate me
Before starting Un Lun Dun, I knew it was targeted at a much younger audience than Perdido Street Station, my previous exposure to Mieville. This work shows the author’s versatility, yet something was missing from making this a full fledged success.
For one thing, I felt the theme was a little too heavy handed for the Juvenile Fiction readers this book seems aimed at. If he had aimed a little higher with his target audience, maybe making the main characters a little more into their teens, he could have created a successful Young Adult novel instead of a mediocre Juvenile Fiction story.
Gaiman was light with his geographic puns (Earl’s Court being a real court of an earl), but Mieville is beating us over the head with a villain named Smog that is made of noxious fumes. The anagrams were too obvious for older readers and the better puns too obscure for the younger readers.
Despite this, I was carried along to the story’s conclusion without the need for forcing myself to stay with it. The book does have a nice flow to it, somewhat like The Phantom Toll Booth, but nowhere near as classic in its appeal.
If you are a fan of Mieville, try this to see another side of the author. If you are looking for some light reading that may be interrupted by another book, or sporadic reading between other things, this could be for you. While above average, I would hardly consider this a great read. It is worth trying, though.
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either.Before starting Un Lun Dun, I knew it was targeted at a much younger audience than Perdido Street Station, my previous exposure to Mieville. This work shows the author’s versatility, yet something was missing from making this a full fledged success.
For one thing, I felt the theme was a little too heavy handed for the Juvenile Fiction readers this book seems aimed at. If he had aimed a little higher with his target audience, maybe making the main characters a little more into their teens, he could have created a successful Young Adult novel instead of a mediocre Juvenile Fiction story.
Gaiman was light with his geographic puns (Earl’s Court being a real court of an earl), but Mieville is beating us over the head with a villain named Smog that is made of noxious fumes. The anagrams were too obvious for older readers and the better puns too obscure for the younger readers.
Despite this, I was carried along to the story’s conclusion without the need for forcing myself to stay with it. The book does have a nice flow to it, somewhat like The Phantom Toll Booth, but nowhere near as classic in its appeal.
If you are a fan of Mieville, try this to see another side of the author. If you are looking for some light reading that may be interrupted by another book, or sporadic reading between other things, this could be for you. While above average, I would hardly consider this a great read. It is worth trying, though.
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LibraryThing member phoebesmum
Sprawling, ambitious, overlong YA fantasy that owes a (happily, acknowledged) lot to 'Neverwhere', to name but one. Parallel-London is a fairly commonplace concept, but this managed to be reasonably inventive and original. The writing style is much flatter than I'd expected from this much-hyped
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author, and the irritations were manifold: his insistence on 'yoof' speak ("Innit?" grated badly and will mean the book ages in no time), and the repeated use of 'alright' made me want to spork both Mr M and his editor in the eye. Show Less
LibraryThing member -Eva-
If it were possible, I'd like to visit the inside of China Miéville's head - it must be a wondrous place to be. The creativity is seemingly limitless and with every turn of the page, there are more extraordinary creatures to get acquainted with - everything from binjas (ninjas in the shape of
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trash bins) to evil giraffes (a very clever nod to Eddie Izzard). Un Lun Dun is like texts from Neil Gaiman, Jasper Fforde, and Lewis Carroll all mixed together and reinvented with quite a few twists. Underneath all the action and the wordplay there is an ecological message, but it's not too overbearing - even to an advanced/adult reader - and, with all the puns and wittiness, it's easily forgiven. I'd be very surprised if this doesn't stand the tests of time to become a true classic. Show Less
LibraryThing member lalalibrarian
Wow! UnLundun (unlondon) is connected to real London and is absorbing all the Smog, but in UnLundun the smog is intelligent and it has an evil plan... Deeba and her friend Zanna are drawn into UnLundun b/c of a prophecy, but then things go completely wrong, but not really. This book was very
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Wonderland-like and was a bit too clever at times, but overall I really loved the funky setting, the fun plot and everything else. The illustrations were awesome, too! Show Less
LibraryThing member kyleburley
China Mieville is a major figure in contemporary adult fantasy so I was interested to read this, his first foray into YA literature.
Following several curious encounters with animals and a near fatal incident involving a mysterious black cloud, two London girls, Zanna and Deeba find themselves
The premise is familiar and seems derived from equal parts "Alice in Wonderland", "Neverwhere" and "The Phantom Tollbooth" but gradually, Mieville is able to subtly subvert some of the cliches and conventions of this kind of tale. There is a particularly gratifying twist regarding the story's central character that I won't spoil here.
It took me a while to get into this book and I was, at first, turned off by the heavy-handedness of the environmental message and the author's unfortunate tendency towards pun names ("Binjas", "Smogladytes", "Webminister Abbey", which is full of "Black Windows"). However, at about the halfway point the story really kicks in and proceeds rapidly to a satisfying climax.
Lots of colourful creatures, a strong heroine and an exciting last act allow me to recommend this book to any readers of YA fantasy, and I haven't even mentioned the carniverous Giraffes.
Un Lun Dun received the 2008 Locus award for best Young Adult Book.
Following several curious encounters with animals and a near fatal incident involving a mysterious black cloud, two London girls, Zanna and Deeba find themselves
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thrust into a strange adventure. They stumble upon an entrance to Un Lun Dun, a bizarre anti-London where the people believe Zanna is the "Schwazzy" a heroine phrophesied to deliver them from the threat of "The Smog".The premise is familiar and seems derived from equal parts "Alice in Wonderland", "Neverwhere" and "The Phantom Tollbooth" but gradually, Mieville is able to subtly subvert some of the cliches and conventions of this kind of tale. There is a particularly gratifying twist regarding the story's central character that I won't spoil here.
It took me a while to get into this book and I was, at first, turned off by the heavy-handedness of the environmental message and the author's unfortunate tendency towards pun names ("Binjas", "Smogladytes", "Webminister Abbey", which is full of "Black Windows"). However, at about the halfway point the story really kicks in and proceeds rapidly to a satisfying climax.
Lots of colourful creatures, a strong heroine and an exciting last act allow me to recommend this book to any readers of YA fantasy, and I haven't even mentioned the carniverous Giraffes.
Un Lun Dun received the 2008 Locus award for best Young Adult Book.
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LibraryThing member extrajoker
first line (of the prologue): "In an unremarkable room, in a nondescript building, a man sat working on very non-nondescript theories."
first line(s) (of the first chapter): "There was no doubt about it: there was a fox behind the climbing frame. And it was watching."
From the cover art (somewhat
first line(s) (of the first chapter): "There was no doubt about it: there was a fox behind the climbing frame. And it was watching."
From the cover art (somewhat
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reminiscent of Dave McKean's style) to the back-cover synopsis, I was expecting Un Lun Dun to be something of a Neverwhere For Kids. Indeed, one author blurb states that it should appeal to fans of Neil Gaiman and Clive Barker. I agree...mostly because it's like Neverwhere in theory, but reads rather like Abarat. Still, I wouldn't call Mieville's book derivative; it definitely has its own flavor. I love the wordplay (of course), and the fact that it turns the idea of the one chosen hero, destined to save the world as we know it on its head. And Kudos to Mieville for turning an empty milk carton into a sympathetic character, and for creating a believable, effective, and genuinely likeable heroine. Show Less
LibraryThing member peterannis
Its many years since I have read on my own behalf a book clearly designed for those under 15. I am reminded by Un Lun Dun why this is so. Hidden in all the verbiage is a story and possibly even a message. Both are well hidden and the concocted voice of the Un Lun Duners hides both even more. If I
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were asked for an opinion I would have to say that the book is an insult to the intelligence of readers in its target market. Show Less
LibraryThing member Phantasma
Think Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere meets Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth and you've got Un Lun Dun. This book was a fantastic epic adventure. If I said any more, I'd say too much. Very, very good.
LibraryThing member ohioyalibrarian
A modern Alice-in-Wonderland in which two girls end up in the "adcity" of Un Lun Dun, where everything is zany. They must fight the "SMOG", a living monster determined to rule both the abcity and it's sister-city, London. The creatures, characters, and plays on words are all extremely inventive.
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For readers who loved the early Harry Potter books. Show Less
LibraryThing member marnattij
Though this book starts out with the intriguing premise of two girls (one of them a "chosen one") finding their way to "UnLondon" where things seems like our own world but just slightly off-kilter, the word play and slow pacing quickly become tiresome.
LibraryThing member specialibrarian
Deeba Resham is the first runner-up of, her best friend, the Swazzy (chosen one) who gets her mind erased and is left behind when the moil hits the fan.
The cast of characters are unusual in this not so subtle, but refreshing, story of enviromental impact. In her quest to defeat the Smog,
As in all hero stories she has her doubts and fears, but a true hero wins in the end. I would have loved this book to have begun after the true Swazzy went back to real London. More judicious editing would have helped make this book shorter and kept the anticipation high. As is, the book tends to build and build, momentum is lost and the reader puts the book down because it just goes on and on and on.
For those intrepid enough to plow through all of the chapters to the last 5, the story has a grand climax and denoument.
The cast of characters are unusual in this not so subtle, but refreshing, story of enviromental impact. In her quest to defeat the Smog,
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personified and scenciant cloud of poison, Deeba meets some steadfast friends and wiley foes. As in all hero stories she has her doubts and fears, but a true hero wins in the end. I would have loved this book to have begun after the true Swazzy went back to real London. More judicious editing would have helped make this book shorter and kept the anticipation high. As is, the book tends to build and build, momentum is lost and the reader puts the book down because it just goes on and on and on.
For those intrepid enough to plow through all of the chapters to the last 5, the story has a grand climax and denoument.
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LibraryThing member SelimaCat
22. [Un Lun Dun] by [[China Miéville]]
A poor man's [Neverwhere]. I'll admit that I stopped reading after 115 pages.
I read several glowing reviews of this, saying it was going to rescue us in this, the time of no-more-harry-potter. And lookee! It has female protagonists! But no. A typical
a) It is, at least in the first 115 pages, entirely plot-driven. I know nothing about what separates the two main characters from one another--they're both young girls from London, and other than physical differences, they talk alike and seem to think alike. The other characters are defined for you; they do not have characters and backstory, they just are. Sometimes their "properties" and abilities are defined, but that's about it. The 115 pages I read were propelled entirely by one plot point after another. One of the great things about [The Golden Compass] series is that the characters are so rich and familiar--there is love and compassion and yearning--those are what drives the narrative.
b) Sadly, I think this book suffers from "sci-fi syndrome". Given that I have no personalities to sink my teeth into, I need to be able to grab onto some part of this world. In many sci-fi books--and this is no exception--the author is so busy cleverly creating new creatures, new worlds, and new vocabularies, that they don't notice they've given readers a whole lot of homework. When a paragraph contains 5-6 made up words describing scenery, characters, or the quest, the reader (me) gets bogged down. I felt like I was slogging through a foreign language.
[[Neil Gaimen]]'s [Neverwhere] treads similar territory--London, but not--and does it in a much more character-driven, riveting, terrifying way. If you're looking for an un-London experience, go read that instead.
A poor man's [Neverwhere]. I'll admit that I stopped reading after 115 pages.
I read several glowing reviews of this, saying it was going to rescue us in this, the time of no-more-harry-potter. And lookee! It has female protagonists! But no. A typical
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adventure/sci-fi premise: someone from our world gets transported to a different world and must save something/do a quest. a) It is, at least in the first 115 pages, entirely plot-driven. I know nothing about what separates the two main characters from one another--they're both young girls from London, and other than physical differences, they talk alike and seem to think alike. The other characters are defined for you; they do not have characters and backstory, they just are. Sometimes their "properties" and abilities are defined, but that's about it. The 115 pages I read were propelled entirely by one plot point after another. One of the great things about [The Golden Compass] series is that the characters are so rich and familiar--there is love and compassion and yearning--those are what drives the narrative.
b) Sadly, I think this book suffers from "sci-fi syndrome". Given that I have no personalities to sink my teeth into, I need to be able to grab onto some part of this world. In many sci-fi books--and this is no exception--the author is so busy cleverly creating new creatures, new worlds, and new vocabularies, that they don't notice they've given readers a whole lot of homework. When a paragraph contains 5-6 made up words describing scenery, characters, or the quest, the reader (me) gets bogged down. I felt like I was slogging through a foreign language.
[[Neil Gaimen]]'s [Neverwhere] treads similar territory--London, but not--and does it in a much more character-driven, riveting, terrifying way. If you're looking for an un-London experience, go read that instead.
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LibraryThing member librarymeg
Anyone who's ever read Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth will have some idea of what to expect from this exciting, creative and funny book. It takes place in modern-day London, where two teenagers, Zanna and Deeba, are beginning to notice strange things. When they accidentally end up in a
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parallel city known as UnLondon, they find out that Zanna is the Shwazzy. She's the chosen one prophesied to defeat the horrible Smog and save UnLondon. But when the Shwazzy's first battle against the Smog ends in defeat, everyone must reconsider the prophecy and the people they had always seen as allies. Deeba, in particular, feels obligated to continue where her friend was unable to succeed. Un Lun Dun is filled with clever puns and plays on words, and each character is more remarkable and exciting than the last. I was particularly taken with Skool, a large voiceless character who wears an old-fashioned deep sea diving suit, Obaday, a tailor who makes clothes from the pages of books and has a pincushion where his hair should be, and Curdle, Deeba's pet milk carton. Yes, a pet milk carton. This may all sound too bizarre to enjoy, but trust me: if you're able to suspend your disbelief long enough, the author will take you on one of the most enjoyable rides you've ever had! I adored this book! Show Less
LibraryThing member penwing
I love China Mieville's Bas Lag books, but this didn't grab me the same. Maybe it's the "young adult" audience which feels every so slightly patronising. Maybe it's that I felt that similar ideas of another London of the forgotten had been done so well previously by Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. Maybe
Having said that, it is not a bad book. It's central villain - pollution taken form and intelligence - is a worthy adversary for the book this is. The twists are suitable to ask questions of our own consumption and effect on the environment highlighting how our actions can affect others closer or further away.
Overall, a good book, but I was the wrong audience.
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it was the attempts at twisting names was just a bit... meh - 'Binjas'? 'Unbrellas'? Having said that, it is not a bad book. It's central villain - pollution taken form and intelligence - is a worthy adversary for the book this is. The twists are suitable to ask questions of our own consumption and effect on the environment highlighting how our actions can affect others closer or further away.
Overall, a good book, but I was the wrong audience.
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LibraryThing member mzonderm
What do you do if you're the Chosen One's sidekick (and, no, we're not talking Buffy this time) but the Chosen One has forgotten that she's Chosen? If you're Deeba Resham, you declare yourself the Unchosen One, save the day anyway, and tell the prophecies to go stuff themselves.
When Deeba first
So she does, and along the way must convince not only the denizens of UnLondon that even if she's not the Chosen One, she can still be their champion, but she must also convince herself. Combining elements of Alice and Wonderland and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, Mieville gives us quite the no-nonsense heroine.
And, as one of her companions asks her, "Where's the skill in being a hero if you were always destined to do it?"
When Deeba first
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goes to UnLondon, she is simply following her friend Zanna, who is the prophesied Chosen One. But it turns out that the prophecies are kind of, well, wrong. When the battle that is foretold to end with Zanna victorious ends instead with Zanna unconscious and returned to London with no memory of UnLondon, Deeba realizes that it's up to her to find a way back to UnLondon to defeat the Smog.So she does, and along the way must convince not only the denizens of UnLondon that even if she's not the Chosen One, she can still be their champion, but she must also convince herself. Combining elements of Alice and Wonderland and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, Mieville gives us quite the no-nonsense heroine.
And, as one of her companions asks her, "Where's the skill in being a hero if you were always destined to do it?"
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LibraryThing member CirclesNStacks
Zanna and Deeba find themselves trapped in another kind of London, and un-London, made up of all the best bits of trash that have been discarded by the "real" London.
The characters are fantastic creations: an old milk carton that acts like a puppy... broken umbrellas that move on their own...
The buildings are also fantastic creations, and the action, well, it's a fast-paced race to see if the Schwazzy (that's Zanna) can save unLondon from the Smog that threatens to eat everything. A terrific read, from beginning to end. And great little sketches by the author to illustrate his bizarre creations. Cool book.
The characters are fantastic creations: an old milk carton that acts like a puppy... broken umbrellas that move on their own...
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Skool, an old-fashioned sea-diving suit that holds a school of fish and walks about on land... a talking book of prohphecies... the Binja: ninja trashbins that defend the bridge whose entrance always moves...The buildings are also fantastic creations, and the action, well, it's a fast-paced race to see if the Schwazzy (that's Zanna) can save unLondon from the Smog that threatens to eat everything. A terrific read, from beginning to end. And great little sketches by the author to illustrate his bizarre creations. Cool book.
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LibraryThing member greatsafety
A treat for fantasy & sci-fic readers. Un Lun Dun is another London coexisting with the one we know. Two young girls find a secret entrance to this strange city and their help, foretold in prophecy, has been anticipated by forces for good & evil. Smog, while apparently under control in our world,
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is alive and naturally evil with the malvolent intent of killing & taking over both Londons. Clever wordplay, imaginative & zany descriptions, intelligent writing. A fun read. Show Less
Awards
Locus Award (Finalist — Young Adult Novel — 2008)
Seiun Award (Nominee — 2011)
Prix Elbakin.net (2010)
Best Fiction for Young Adults (Selection — 2008)
Language
Original publication date
2007
Physical description
461 p.; 25 inches
ISBN
0345458443 / 9780345458445