China Miéville
is the kind of writer who can take really absurd situations and
characters and make them not only believable but sympathetic. The
world of UnLondon, and all it's strange and surreal characters and
places are so far from anything in this world, born out of an
amazing, dream-like imagination. And yet the story easily sucks you
in, and soon you are not questioning how and why, but cheering on
your favourite characters, and hoping they make it through to the
end.
Zanna and Deeba are best friends who
live in an English housing estate. But Zanna is the Shwazzy, the
chosen one, the one who will defeat the smog and save UnLondon. But
when things don't go according to prophecy, it is Deeba, the unchosen
one, who must step in.
What do I love about this novel? I love
that Deeba is just a normal girl like the rest of us, someone who
thinks she is not special, knows she is not chosen, but does what she
has to to proetect her friends and family. This makes her a real
hero. It's one thing to be talented and special and fight when it's
easy, it's another to do it when it's hard.
I love the surreal world of UnLondon, a
kind of twin city to London, but utterly different. It's a place
where all the unwanted things of London, the trash and treasure,
come. Houses are made of junk (A.K.A. moil), there is a tree of
fireworks from Guy Fawkes day, and even a town of ghost people from
both London and UnLondon. There is so much else...including
giraffes...
One of the things that helps with this
strange world is the little illustrations throughout the book, drawn
by China Miéville
himself, which help visualise the strange houses and creatures that
fill his world. He creates such a complete world, it's hard to not
believe that it might not actually exist, only waiting for us to find
a hidden path to it. And apparently there are others of these
'abcities' all around the world.
Among all the other wonderful people
and creatures, I really loved the Extreme Librarians or Bookaneers,
who work in a gigantic tower of books. It is a dangerous job,
searching for books in trips that can take weeks on end. One of them
was once even lost and never found again.
Un Lun Dun, like it's namesake, really
needs to be experienced to be believed! It is an amazing, totally
immersive experience, and one that I enthusiastically recommend!