China Mieville, Un Lun Dun

China Mieville (author of "The Scar" and "Iron Council") always does a good job making his books readable and highly fascinating for adults, especially those who remember their younger, happy days of fantasy & adventure. His prose is unique in this genre and his imagination a milestone in the fiction literature. Mieville's newest book should be seen as a revival of everybody's childhood's fantasies: a lot of adventures with characters that are vividly portrait in a world full of monsters

Of course there are, as often in Mieville's book, some central moralities such the questioning of authorities and the brotherhood ideal (i.e." if we work together a better world is possible"). However, what I missed in this book was the kind of prose he used in his earlier works. Some might find this a plus, I would have rather seen more of it. I reckon that it would have made the plot a lot nicer.

Moreover, although the book is a great read (despite the 400 pages) - for both young and old -, there are also some more downsides. The characters I somewhat rather flat as they don't seem to develop so much throughout the story. Also the book's initial unpredictability becomes eventually predictable. I started to foresee plot after page 250 and at page 360 I stopped reading as even the climax became predictably boring. This book would have been much better as a movie or perhaps even as a cartoon. It is a pity because I really loved his other books.

To round things up, "Yes it is a nice book, but it should have been a lot shorter". I sill consider "The Scar" to be his best".

Marijn

Love for three Oranges

Un Lun Dun

China Mieville

Del Rey, March 2007, $17.95, 425 pp.

ISBN: 0345495160

London is connected to Un Lun Dun through a variety of ways including climbing up the shelves of a library to turning on a tap. Deeba and Zanna know nothing about this other realm until they find a way of reaching it. When she arrives there Zanna is welcomed as the chosen to defeat the very sentient smog. Unfortunately, she is knocked unconscious when she inhales it. To the rescue comes Brokenbroll, Un Lun Dun's greatest defender with umbrellas that blow away the smog. His friend Instable is working on a method of getting rid of the sentient smug paranormally.

Zanna recovers and she and Deena are sent home to their world. Zanna has no memory of all the wonders and trials and tribulations she experienced. Deeba remembers and returns to Un Lun Dun where she finds her sentient milk carton Curdle waiting for her. The smog is spreading and growing more powerful and it is now up to Deeba to find a way to stop it. A sentient book says the only thing the fog is afraid of is the UnGun so she and her allies go to Webminster Abbey where they fight horrible monsters guarding the weapon. If she doesn't find it then Un Lun Dun will be a city of slaves to the smog.

Cross Alice Threw The Looking Glass with the Xanth series and reader will have some idea of what Un Lun Dun is all about. Written for a young adult audience, it will be enjoyed by adults who find the Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter charming reading experiences. The heroine is a very special young lady with the heart of a warrior and the dedication of Mother Teresa. The characters are very special and unusual including sentient umbrellas and words made incarnate.

Harriet Klausner