I came across this book a few months ago while browsing my wife's library. We had recently been to London, and the flap copy, describing an adventure set is some sort of fantasy mirror of the real London, sounded intriguing. My wife gave it a thumbs up, so I put it on the "to read" list. It took me a little while to get around to it, but a recent beach vacation provided the perfect opportunity.

Zanna and her friend Deeba find themselves mysteriously transported to "UnLondon," an alternate London where Zanna is greeted as the "Shwazzy"—the choosen one predicted by a prophecy to come from London and save UnLondon from the evil Smog---an intelligent malevolence formed from the smoke and fumes generated by the city.

So far, this sounds like the plot of yet another good-vs-evil, heroic quest novel. But that's where the real fun starts. Author China Miéville deliberately sets up many of the plot conventions of standard fantasy novels, only to unexpectedly take the story off in completely unexpected directions.

UnLondon is described as the place that unwanted and broken objects from London go. Houses are built from old television sets, broken umbrellas flap and fly about the city, a discarded milk carton becomes a pet, etc. In addition, strange mirrors of London landmarks appear in UnLondon. The city is built around the river Smeath (Thames spelled backwards, sort of). The UnLondon-I is a gigantic water wheel. There is an adventure at Webminster Abbey, etc.

But most of all, UnLondon is a canvas for Miéville's endless creativity and imagination. All manner of people inhabit UnLondon. There are fighting garbage cans, a tailor with a pin cushion head, a bird with a rather remarkable cage, and more. Throughout it all clever puns abound.

The plot is highly episodic, consisting of one small adventure after another, often with the larger story arc—the quest to defeat the villainous Smog and the heroines efforts to return to London—moving into the background. Combined with the division of the book into nearly 100 bite-sized chapters, I think this would make Un lun dun great read-aloud book. There are lots of easy stopping points where a young lister won't feel that she is being left hanging in suspense. That said, I haven't actually tried reading it to our daughter... yet.

This was a wonderful book filled with quirky and interesting characters. I liked how Mieville played with descriptions and turned London into UnLondon. I especially admired Deeba's courage and her insistence that sometimes prophecies may not come true exactly as written. ( )

This is an example of one of my favourite genres in fiction, what I like to think of as liminal mythology. This is a brilliant example continuing a long line of books fascinated by the question of what’s in the back of the wardrobe or down the rabbit hole or through the looking glass; the world that lies alongside ours. China Mieville takes us on a journey through an alternative London where the broken and lost exist; not easy to reach but possible to find. This is a brilliant, surreal world full of dark and dangerous things and also a quest to protect Un Lun Dun and London from the Smog. Quirky illustrations and characters bring this world to life. Well worth reading. ( )

This is one of the weirdest (in a good way) books I've read in a long time. UnLondon is a parallel world of sorts. It is whacky and full of MOIL (Mildly Obsolete In London) objects come to life. As such, it influences as London and London influences it. The nearness yet farness of the "real world" is what makes UnLondon so sinester for Deeba. That and the fact that is is reduced to the role of Zanna's sidekick while they're there. And though there is definitely a bad guy (sentient Smog in fact), the sinister feeling is short-lived as Deeba is drawn into her task and drawn to the UnLondoners around her.

The attitudes of each world towards the other gave the whole book a feeling very much like that in Corpse Bride - the Upstairs (living) vs. the Dead feeling. Zanna's predestined role in the whole thing, and the way everyone seems to know about it but her, was a lot like when everyone finally gets to Narnia in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. And all the UnLondoners gave the whole thing a distinct Alice vibe (a guy with a birdcage for a head and a fleet of ninja trashbins, just for starters).

Also, a glossary of things British people say that American people don't say is included (hence the trashbins). It's hilarious.

Overall, this was a really fun read. Really fun. ( )

A very clever and entertaining book, Mieville has a brilliant imagination. ( )