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A review by emmalthompson85
Un Lun Dun by China Miéville
5.0
One day, Zanna and Deeba somehow end up in Un Lun Dun, which is much like London only entirely not. They find out that Zanna is the chosen one, and she must destroy the smog...only Zanna doesn't want to so they hand over to the citizens of Un Lun Dun, go home and Zanna's memories are taken. But something doesn't make sense and Deeba can't stop thinking about what's happening in Un Lun Dun.
I found this book wonderfully vivid and imaginative, a great read and it would no doubt make a great movie as it has a good number of visual elements that would work well like that. The opening is a little dull and predictable, we have all the traditional fantasy setup of the chosen one, the evil one who needs defeating, the sidekick, the mentors...and then it all goes to pot and it gets interesting.
Deeba is a wonderful, likeable character who grows a lot during the novel and really comes to find herself. The backdrop for the story is wonderful and imaginative, it made me want to explore Un Lun Dun. I was expecting kind of a city below like Neverwhere but Un Lun Dun is a city beside, I suppose. Kind of like an alternate dimension where it's kind of like London but at the same time very much not. As it's primarily a young adult book the villain is a little flat sometimes, though to it's credit it has reasons for doing what it does beyond "Muwhahaha I'm evil" which is as far as some fantasy gets. The side characters and charming and memorable, like Curdle the milk carton and Bling and Couldron the words. I got to relaly care about a whole host of them and that's another good thing about the book, it isn't afriad to make you feel things.
Deeba as a character is endearing not only in that she's positioned from the outset at the underdog, Zanna's sidekick, but in that she's adorably teenaged. She uses slang like bling and innit and at times just talks like a teenager and wants the things that teenagers want.
So, yeah. The book is aborable, endearing, and has characters you will remember and care about. The world is vivid and interesting. My only big annoyance was I worked out the end reveal about two chapters too early and ended up having to skim read those two chapters, thuogh the fact that once I'd worked it out it made me actually nervous and so full of energy and concern I had to skim read ahead to make sure Deeba worked it out and it was of is a testement to the book. Also, given it's a young adult book my getting the point early isn't unexpected...but yeah. IT's good. Go read it now.
I found this book wonderfully vivid and imaginative, a great read and it would no doubt make a great movie as it has a good number of visual elements that would work well like that. The opening is a little dull and predictable, we have all the traditional fantasy setup of the chosen one, the evil one who needs defeating, the sidekick, the mentors...and then it all goes to pot and it gets interesting.
Deeba is a wonderful, likeable character who grows a lot during the novel and really comes to find herself. The backdrop for the story is wonderful and imaginative, it made me want to explore Un Lun Dun. I was expecting kind of a city below like Neverwhere but Un Lun Dun is a city beside, I suppose. Kind of like an alternate dimension where it's kind of like London but at the same time very much not. As it's primarily a young adult book the villain is a little flat sometimes, though to it's credit it has reasons for doing what it does beyond "Muwhahaha I'm evil" which is as far as some fantasy gets. The side characters and charming and memorable, like Curdle the milk carton and Bling and Couldron the words. I got to relaly care about a whole host of them and that's another good thing about the book, it isn't afriad to make you feel things.
Deeba as a character is endearing not only in that she's positioned from the outset at the underdog, Zanna's sidekick, but in that she's adorably teenaged. She uses slang like bling and innit and at times just talks like a teenager and wants the things that teenagers want.
So, yeah. The book is aborable, endearing, and has characters you will remember and care about. The world is vivid and interesting. My only big annoyance was I worked out the end reveal about two chapters too early and ended up having to skim read those two chapters, thuogh the fact that once I'd worked it out it made me actually nervous and so full of energy and concern I had to skim read ahead to make sure Deeba worked it out and it was of is a testement to the book. Also, given it's a young adult book my getting the point early isn't unexpected...but yeah. IT's good. Go read it now.