Reviews

Un Lun Dun by China Miéville

thor's review against another edition

adventurous funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

peach_haze's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A reread of my favorite childhood book. An un-tale of a heroine(?) destined to save a fantastical, quirky, and backwards-upside down-inside out version of London with living smog, animate trash, and carnivorous giraffes. Or…not?

sam_vimes_75's review against another edition

3.0

I struggled through about the first 1/3 of the book because it was very conventional: unlikely hero is the chosen one who will save the fantastic kingdom. Fortunately through some twists and turns, the book finally comes into its own perspective. Fun (and sometimes frustratingly obvious and too much) wordplay throughout the novel and interesting characters help carry the reader along to the end.

santilopez024's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

This book is stupidly good. Annoyingly good.

So creative and wondrous, similar in some ways to Neverwhere, but longer and more whimsical. If you want to read a story wherein there is a man with a birdcage for a head UnLunDun is for you.

Also, really great main character and an inventive use of the chosen one trope.

There is also an empty milk carton that acts like a dog. Make of that what you will.

evspekkie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

rmaff's review against another edition

2.0

Ugh this book. It felt like a less creative knockoff of Neverwhere, which-unfortunately for Mieville-is one of my favorite books. Did I read the whole thing? Yes, because I was about halfway through when I began to wonder if I was even liking it and decided I should finish. But did I enjoy it? Not really.

I will give the author credit-i like the idea of UnLondon and other abcities existing just outside our reality. I loved the Wordhoard Pit and climbing the bookcase into UnLondon. I liked Hemi and Deeba's relationship. But overall, it felt like it needed some editing.

tomgenue's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

timna_wyckoff's review against another edition

5.0

I would give this more than five stars if I could! Read for fourth grade book club, after reading Mieville's "Perdido Street Station". In this book, Mieville's amazing, creatively twisted imagination is slightly tempered for a younger audience, and then peppered with REALLY clever wordplay (arachnofenestranauts?!?!?!). I hope the ending is suggesting that there might be a sequel?

subparcupcake's review against another edition

4.0

3.5 stars. I liked this one more than I thought I would, but I think that has a lot to do with timing. I had been wanting to read something lighter for a while, and when this became available at the library I figured I'd give it a shot. I'm glad I did, I enjoyed it enough that I think I'll eventually read more by the author. There were definitely highs and lows in the story, things I liked and things I didn't like at all.. But overall I did enjoy reading it, and that counts a lot towards my rating.

songwind's review against another edition

4.0

China Mieville is a noted writer of dark steampunk fantasy. When I learned that he had written a YA novel, I was curious how well he would accomplish it, and if it would still be recognizable as his.

The answers are: Just fine, and Yes.

Un Lun Dun revisits one of the major themes of [b:King Rat|68498|King Rat|China Miéville|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170692699s/68498.jpg|1870961]: an second London, existing alongside the first. However, instead of King Rat's world of the lost and downtrodden, UnLondon is a world made up of many types of people, some of whom are indigenous, and technology that has become obsolete in London.

Zanna and Deeba are school girls who end up in UnLondon, and in the middle of a conflict that has been brewing for years. How they affect the course of the conflict and the people of UnLondon is the focus of the book.

The prose is clearly Mieville's. Though accessible for younger readers, he still imbues it with his obvious love for words. Words even play a role in the course of the story more than once.

I also liked the fact that the US version of the book did not Americanize the text. Instead, the author included a dictionary of English usage and slang to help the reader with any idiomatic terms that might be unfamiliar.