Un Lun Dun by Chine Mieville
An incredibly crafted children’s story set in London, or rather, Un-London. With various wordplay and inventions it’s an incredibly clever tale. Almost too much so. If I were into clever, I would have never gone to school in Utah (bum-dum-dum).
I wonder if all of Mieville’s work is like this. I had wanted to try more of his novels which is normally geared toward adults, but this is my first delve into his work. I like his style overall but if it’s all so overly-stylized in turning words and ideas around I could see it getting tiresome in a Piers Anthony kind of way rather quickly. And if it’s one thing a fantasy author should strive for it’s being the Anti-Anthony.
July 17th, 2007 at 9:19 am
Interesting review. I have added your review to my blogroll on my new blog 🙂 It was on bookiemonster that I found your site!
July 30th, 2007 at 1:40 am
“I wonder if all of Mieville’s work is like this.”
The answer to this is yes. Or, more precisely, no. But maybe.
I love Miéville, but I wasn’t wild about this book – it’s a fairly fun read, but (or maybe therefore) it’s unlike anything else he has written. His adult novels are gritty, uncompromising, and often gloriously painful to read. They are also engrossing, mind-blowing and jaw-droppingly imaginative. At least, that’s my contradictory take on them.