Un Lun Dun by China Mieville

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By every indication, Zanna seems to be the Chosen One, the girl who is destined to set things in order and lift the evil smog. Even foxes and umbrellas pay her tribute. So when Zanna and her friend Deeba are magically transported to another realm, Un Lun Dun seems headed toward the moment of her triumph. But then, as readers of China Miéville may have already suspected, things happen that were not mentioned in prophecy -- and suddenly, 12-year-old Deeba is thrust into a world-saving situation.

From the Publisher

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.

The Washington Post - Michael Sims

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. Miéville is acclaimed for adult novels such as King Rat. In his first book for a younger audience, he provides verbal paradoxes worthy of Norton Juster's Phantom Tollbooth and humor reminiscent of, if not quite equal to, Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. Miéville's heroine, young Deeba, proves a courageous and resourceful companion -- exactly what we need in a tale of nonstop adventure.

The New York Times - Dave Itzkoff

…one of the most imaginative young adult novels of the post-Potter era. [Mieville's] "UnLondon," discovered in the book by two schoolgirl heroines named Zanna and Deeba, is a tempting, carefully plotted rebellion against the cotton-candy elsewheres offered up by most children's novels…Beyond its abundant charms, Un Lun Dun never misses an opportunity to undermine the tiresome plot devices and tedious moralizing of traditional fantasy…Most of all, Un Lun Dun is the work of an author fascinated by language, and one who rewards any reader who cares about it half as much as Mieville does.

Publishers Weekly

Miéville (King Rat) presents a remarkable bit of world-building. London teenager Zanna (short for Susanna) starts to experience odd occurrences: clouds that resemble her, strangers who call her the "Shwazzy," and graffiti that reads "Zanna For Ever!" Zanna, it turns out, isthe Shwazzy (choisior "chosen one") of the people of UnLondon (the Un Lun Dun of the title), a surreal mirror-image of London ("Abcities have existed at least as long as the cities," a book of prophecy tells her, "Each dreams the other"). Together, Zanna and her friend Deeba wind up in UnLondon, a Gaiman-esque wonderland of ghosts, zombies, walking garbage cans and sentient umbrellas. (Its people have a sense of humor, describing how they disposed of pre-euro currency, and other parallel "abcities" such as "Parisn't" and "No York"). The Smog, a beast borne of London's "smoke from chemicals and poisons" haunts UnLondon, and it seems that Zanna is the one designated to defeat the Smog. But a twist of fate unleashes unforeseen events and the UnLondoners wind up pinning their hopes on Deeba. Miéville employs a few tricks from the experimental novelist's bag (five-words-long chapters, others that end mid-sentence, puns and wordplay galore) but by and large relies on his formidable storytelling skill for this lengthy yet swift-moving tale that, with a wink and a nod, cuts through archetypal notions of fate and prophecy. Highly recommended for Neil Gaiman and Clive Barker fans especially. Ages 12-up. (Mar.)

Children's Literature

Twelve-year-old Deeba never imagined where she would end up the night she accompanied her best friend, Zanna, into the basement of the housing complex. But things had been getting stranger and stranger for her friend, with wild animals bowing to her, total strangers greeting her with reverence, and her name showing up in bridge graffiti. With the turn of a wheel Zanna and Deeba are transported to a fantastical world made up of all the things that are broken or discarded by the inhabitants of their former hometown, London; it is the shadow city, unLondon, where none of the rules of their previous lives apply. Animate milk cartons become pets, specially trained rubbish bins are soldiers, double-decker buses fly, words become creatures, and people dress in clothes made from the pages of books. Your best friends may not be fully human, like half-ghost-half-boy Hemi. Although Zanna is the Chosen One described in the prophecy book, the Smog has stolen her memory and it is left to Deeba to save unLondon from being taken over by evil forces. In his first young adult novel, Mieville creates a wildly imaginative setting and story on a par with Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series. This hefty work has a serious message about pollution and the mindset of disposability, but it's also a good adventure—with intrepid young male and female protagonists—that will appeal to fantasy fans of both genders.

VOYA

Two London girls have discovered a secret: If one climbs the right bookcase, twists the right handle, and follows the right umbrella, one can slip into the dark shadow of London, into the city where lost gloves and useless typewriters take a second shot at life. There Zanna and Deeba meet a half-ghost, a conductor of more than public transport, and the oddest tailor ever. Together they will face one of London's forgotten monsters, a creature that has spent decades nursing its hatred. To save London, these girls will have to fight for its twisted mirror image: Unlondon. At a time when the market is glutted with rehashes of fair, young, chosen ones marching to victory, each of them guaranteed success by reassuring, vaguely narcissistic prophecies, this accomplished author's first young adult novel is a wonderful surprise. Instead of minting kings or saviors, Mieville imagines a tween who wins because she outthinks prophecy. The novel is stuffed with imagination, and its vivid, tangible setting is patrolled by bizarre, even funny monsters. The creatures and puzzles represent serious challenges, and success over them always has a cost. The climactic scenes are rendered with real gravity; although the solutions to the friends' struggles are always within the logic of the magical world, things look very hopeless indeed right up to the moment of victory. The plot is driven by the threat of becoming one more forgotten thing in the eclectic streets of Unlondon, but the tone is brightened by the small kindnesses and sincere friendships forged amidst-and sometimes with-the rubbish. The result is a dark, charming, robust, comical adventure played according to new rules.

Library Journal

Though it's being marketed as a YA title, Mieville's (The Scar) latest will appeal to his adult fans as well as other adult sf readers. It begins with a conventional fantasy framework: a young person is pulled into another world, turns out to be the hero who's been prophesied, and triumphs over great adversity to save the day. However, it's not long before the conventions are set on their collective ear. The hero is struck down, and the friend once relegated to the role of comic sidekick must take the reins. Other prophecies turn out to be wrong as well, and the enemy's reach spans both the fantasy world and the real London that a 12-year-old named Deeba calls home. Mieville displays his usual flair for creating completely original settings and creatures, including a pet milk carton and some terrifying giraffes. His only nod to the YA audience has been to tone down the eroticism evident in his other works. The characters are well realized and the book has a fair amount of sociopolitical subtext, mostly about questioning the status quo and thinking for oneself. Recommended for most adult sf collections. (Illustrations by the author not seen.)-Narl G. Siewart, Hardesty Regional Lib., Tulsa Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

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Un Lun Dun

Del Rey

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