Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Alice had it Easy
Book Review: Un Lun Dun
China Mieville has sailed from the genre-busting borders of Bas Lag and turned his craft back to London, the setting of his debut novel, King Rat. In Un Lun Dun, Mieville's first book for YA readers, the London we know soon gives way to the twisted titular city, a bizarre amalgamation of flickering houses, animate trash, carnivorous giraffes, and monsters both fair and foul, where two girls from our world collide with the Smog, an entity of nefarious filth.
Many books revolve around heroes who struggle to save the world, and Un Lun Dun is no exception. But Zanna and Deeba, the two main protagonists, embark on a quest that is far from ordinary, teaming up with a half-ghost, a milk carton, and other, stranger characters as they navigate the crazed streets of Un Lun Dun, subverting fantasy expectations at every turn.
The book's one shortcoming is, in places, the mild disappointment experienced by those making comparisons to the prose found in Mieville's previous works. While effective, the writing in Un Lun Dun sometimes lacks the dark baroque music of Perdido Street Station or Iron Council's knotty poetry. This is ironic, considering the story's frenetic pace, outlandish settings, and utterly weird characters.
But it's important to remember that Mieville's primary goal--one he achieves with great success--is to shock readers with the sheer force of his imagination, to keep them turning the pages of a novel that brims with wit, adventure, and some of the most outrageously fun monsters in children's lit. A few locations: Wraithtown, complete with ghostsickness and the afternet; a warped Tower Bridge made from alligator heads set snout to snout; Webminster Abbey, crawling with Black Windows; and a metaphysical tower of books that spans two worlds.
In terms of sales, this will probably be Mieville's biggest book yet. He's in new territory but his voice is unmistakable. Un Lun Dun will introduce cutting edge fantasy to many teenagers, who might then make contact with Bas Lag, a great launching platform for discovering more examples of mind-bending speculative fiction. But Un Lun Dun stands firmly on its own, a mosaic of wonderful impossibilities, one that will leave readers pondering what innovative, demented world Mieville will conjure up next.
Drew
Book Review: Un Lun Dun
China Mieville has sailed from the genre-busting borders of Bas Lag and turned his craft back to London, the setting of his debut novel, King Rat. In Un Lun Dun, Mieville's first book for YA readers, the London we know soon gives way to the twisted titular city, a bizarre amalgamation of flickering houses, animate trash, carnivorous giraffes, and monsters both fair and foul, where two girls from our world collide with the Smog, an entity of nefarious filth.
Many books revolve around heroes who struggle to save the world, and Un Lun Dun is no exception. But Zanna and Deeba, the two main protagonists, embark on a quest that is far from ordinary, teaming up with a half-ghost, a milk carton, and other, stranger characters as they navigate the crazed streets of Un Lun Dun, subverting fantasy expectations at every turn.
The book's one shortcoming is, in places, the mild disappointment experienced by those making comparisons to the prose found in Mieville's previous works. While effective, the writing in Un Lun Dun sometimes lacks the dark baroque music of Perdido Street Station or Iron Council's knotty poetry. This is ironic, considering the story's frenetic pace, outlandish settings, and utterly weird characters.
But it's important to remember that Mieville's primary goal--one he achieves with great success--is to shock readers with the sheer force of his imagination, to keep them turning the pages of a novel that brims with wit, adventure, and some of the most outrageously fun monsters in children's lit. A few locations: Wraithtown, complete with ghostsickness and the afternet; a warped Tower Bridge made from alligator heads set snout to snout; Webminster Abbey, crawling with Black Windows; and a metaphysical tower of books that spans two worlds.
In terms of sales, this will probably be Mieville's biggest book yet. He's in new territory but his voice is unmistakable. Un Lun Dun will introduce cutting edge fantasy to many teenagers, who might then make contact with Bas Lag, a great launching platform for discovering more examples of mind-bending speculative fiction. But Un Lun Dun stands firmly on its own, a mosaic of wonderful impossibilities, one that will leave readers pondering what innovative, demented world Mieville will conjure up next.
Drew
 |
