Reviews

LonNiedyn by China Miéville

timinbc's review against another edition

5.0

I'll read this book again every few years. I like all of Mieville's work, and I was wondering what he'd do for a younger audience. I wondered that about Neil Gaiman too, and his "Coraline" was great. "Un Lun Dun" is equally great. How can you not like a book in which a lead character has a pet milk carton? It's wildly imaginative, but follows the basic rule of SF/fantasy: assume whatever you like, but after that be consistent and follow the rules you just invented. There are some wonderful characters, and things are often not what they seem. Drama is mixed with laugh-out-loud fun as each new idea appears.

trin's review against another edition

2.0

A sort of kiddie [b: Neverwhere|14497|Neverwhere|Neil Gaiman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348747943s/14497.jpg|16534] (and Miéville does indeed credit [a: Neil Gaiman|1221698|Neil Gaiman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1234150163p2/1221698.jpg] in the intro), this is one of those books that’s packed with cleverness—and really, really aware of it. I like some of Miéville’s attempts to turn the typical quest-y fantasy on its ear—The Chosen One turns out to be fairly useless! The “tasks” one must complete to defeat the bad guy are highly skippable!—but UnLondon never felt like a real place to me, or its denizens real people. I’m still really not sure who Deeba was supposed to be—she was just the girl who was in this story. (And whose relationship with grammar was most puzzling—why is she portrayed as wildly articulate and proper one minute, and all dialect-y the next?) Likewise, the journey from one look! look! how clever! bit of UnLondon to the next didn’t help build a portrait of the character of the city—it just felt self-conscious.

I read Neverwhere when I was eleven or twelve, and wasn’t wildly traumatized by it—quite the opposite, in fact. I think kids are much better off just reading that. (Though I did like Miéville’s illustrations.)

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?