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jgintrovertedreader's review against another edition
5.0
Strange things start happening around best friends Zanna and Deeba. A fox appears on the edge of the playground, watching Zanna. They come across graffiti saying “Zanna For Ever!” A woman they don’t know approaches Zanna in a café and tells her what an honor it is to meet her. It all culminates one night when the girls are having a sleepover and notice a broken umbrella hanging off a window, spying on them. They follow the umbrella and eventually find themselves in a place…not London. UnLondon, in fact.
I loved this! Loved it. The author acknowledgments should give you an idea as to what to expect. China Miéville writes, “As always, I’m indebted to too many writers to list, but particularly important to this book are [a:Joan Aiken|12075|Joan Aiken|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1205348188p2/12075.jpg], [a:Clive Barker|10366|Clive Barker|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1200469782p2/10366.jpg], [a:Lewis Carroll|8164|Lewis Carroll|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1192735053p2/8164.jpg], [a:Michael De Larrabeiti|211036|Michael De Larrabeiti|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1207161536p2/211036.jpg], [a:Tanith Lee|8694|Tanith Lee|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1218895130p2/8694.jpg], [a:Walter Moers|34878|Walter Moers|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-M-50x66.jpg], and [a:Beatrix Potter|11593|Beatrix Potter|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1201022492p2/11593.jpg]. Particular thanks are due [a:Neil Gaiman|1221698|Neil Gaiman|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1234150163p2/1221698.jpg], for generous encouragement and for his indispensable contributions to London phantasmagoria, especially [b:Neverwhere|14497|Neverwhere|Neil Gaiman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1256043709s/14497.jpg|16534].” Miéville chose some big footsteps to follow and he absolutely pulled it off.
This mostly reminded me of Alice in Wonderland, with a little side of Neverwhere. The sense of totally unpredictable fun that pervades Alice was alive and well in Un Lun Dun. There was crazy word play (Binjas! Gotta love ‘em!), fantastical creatures, and a world where the impossible has become the everyday. But underneath all the fun, there were subtle messages about loyalty, friendship, doing your best, having faith in yourself, standing up for what’s right, and even a little dash of environmentalism. None of this is at all heavy-handed though, so it really can be read as a fun adventure story.
Miéville illustrated the book himself, and I loved the illustrations. They added a perfect note of whimsy to an already-whimsical book. My favorite picture is probably the one of UnLondon’s giraffes. You’ll have to read it to find out why.
I also liked that they didn’t “dumb down” the American edition. Sure, there are plenty of British words that the average American 12-year-old isn’t going to understand, but give little readers some credit—they can understand a lot in context. And if they can’t, there’s a glossary at the back.
This is a tiny little thing, but I’ll mention it anyway. The section headings always made me blink a little because the big, heavy Roman numerals always reminded me of those Saw movies. I haven’t seen any and I have no desire to see any, so that association always took me aback for a second.
If you want to read a book that takes you back to the first amazing time you read Alice, pick this up. Those feelings are all within these pages. If you know any younger readers, do them a favor and make sure they read this. It’s just magic.
I loved this! Loved it. The author acknowledgments should give you an idea as to what to expect. China Miéville writes, “As always, I’m indebted to too many writers to list, but particularly important to this book are [a:Joan Aiken|12075|Joan Aiken|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1205348188p2/12075.jpg], [a:Clive Barker|10366|Clive Barker|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1200469782p2/10366.jpg], [a:Lewis Carroll|8164|Lewis Carroll|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1192735053p2/8164.jpg], [a:Michael De Larrabeiti|211036|Michael De Larrabeiti|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1207161536p2/211036.jpg], [a:Tanith Lee|8694|Tanith Lee|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1218895130p2/8694.jpg], [a:Walter Moers|34878|Walter Moers|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-M-50x66.jpg], and [a:Beatrix Potter|11593|Beatrix Potter|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1201022492p2/11593.jpg]. Particular thanks are due [a:Neil Gaiman|1221698|Neil Gaiman|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1234150163p2/1221698.jpg], for generous encouragement and for his indispensable contributions to London phantasmagoria, especially [b:Neverwhere|14497|Neverwhere|Neil Gaiman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1256043709s/14497.jpg|16534].” Miéville chose some big footsteps to follow and he absolutely pulled it off.
This mostly reminded me of Alice in Wonderland, with a little side of Neverwhere. The sense of totally unpredictable fun that pervades Alice was alive and well in Un Lun Dun. There was crazy word play (Binjas! Gotta love ‘em!), fantastical creatures, and a world where the impossible has become the everyday. But underneath all the fun, there were subtle messages about loyalty, friendship, doing your best, having faith in yourself, standing up for what’s right, and even a little dash of environmentalism. None of this is at all heavy-handed though, so it really can be read as a fun adventure story.
Miéville illustrated the book himself, and I loved the illustrations. They added a perfect note of whimsy to an already-whimsical book. My favorite picture is probably the one of UnLondon’s giraffes. You’ll have to read it to find out why.
I also liked that they didn’t “dumb down” the American edition. Sure, there are plenty of British words that the average American 12-year-old isn’t going to understand, but give little readers some credit—they can understand a lot in context. And if they can’t, there’s a glossary at the back.
This is a tiny little thing, but I’ll mention it anyway. The section headings always made me blink a little because the big, heavy Roman numerals always reminded me of those Saw movies. I haven’t seen any and I have no desire to see any, so that association always took me aback for a second.
If you want to read a book that takes you back to the first amazing time you read Alice, pick this up. Those feelings are all within these pages. If you know any younger readers, do them a favor and make sure they read this. It’s just magic.
mimiecherry's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
spitzig's review against another edition
4.0
This was a LOT like Neverwhere-it was mentioned in the thing at the end.
Very creative how the UnLunDun world was created. The world was stranger than Neverwhere, though. This was definitely a DIFFERENT place, while Neverwhere was still in London. I'd be curious to know whether the geography of UnLunDun world corresponds to London at all.
There was one main character. She was well done and developed as an individual. The other characters were ok.
Usually, I don't like books for kids, but I did like this one.
Very creative how the UnLunDun world was created. The world was stranger than Neverwhere, though. This was definitely a DIFFERENT place, while Neverwhere was still in London. I'd be curious to know whether the geography of UnLunDun world corresponds to London at all.
There was one main character. She was well done and developed as an individual. The other characters were ok.
Usually, I don't like books for kids, but I did like this one.
valodniece's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I love the characters here in Un Lun Dun, but the settings and the puns could have used some work. In the obvious comparison to Neverwhere, I would like to see a fusion of the two worlds - Gaiman's Neverwhere's London Below shines more as a setting, but Miéville's characters here in Un Lun Dun are better than Neverwhere's (with the exception of the Marquis, of course).
eliathereader's review against another edition
4.0
Okuyabileceğiniz en ilginç karakterler ve aksi bir dünya bu kitapta
bluestarfish's review against another edition
4.0
There's a nice twist to the chosen trope of so many YA books, and some great word play. As with Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere I wonder if I got more out of the jokes on names as I've lived in London, but it's a cracking story regardless. The illustrations were great too.
tea_tales_tomes's review against another edition
5.0
This story and China Mieville's writing was described in another review as a combination of Alice in Wonderland and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, which is not untrue even though I hate describing one book using other books. Sometimes it can't be helped. I will go further and say that it is like all the best bits of Neil Gaiman, Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton and J.K. Rowling all came together in a wonderful symphony. Un Lun Dun has the best elements of 'story' from unconventional characters (un-heroes and un-chosen ones), weird and wonderful words (like the 'through the looking glass cities' of UnLondon, Parisn't, Baghdidn't, Sans Francisco, Lost Angeles etc.), completely crack characters (like the nunchuck toting bin-warriors i.e.,binjas) and an underlying although not at all preachy environmental message (I think this really was an accidental by-product of the story). Best of all, Mieville is not a lazy author who masks incomprehensible plot twists, underdeveloped characters and bad endings as 'deep' writing. He builds this world that is so complete that you cannot help but become lost in it and at the same time, allows room for your imagination to run away with you.
suttonaw's review against another edition
3.0
What a strange book! Aimed at probably about 10 to 12 year olds, a story about falling into un-London, where the villain is the Smog. Written by a Communist, with all of the critique of government that implies. I enjoyed it, and I feel like I need to recommend it to my colleagues who work on air quality modeling and mitigation.