Un Lun Dun by China Miéville
I recently finished Un Lun Dun, by China Miéville. It's been a while since I sat down to read a book of fiction, and since I was going to be spending hours in a flight to China, I decided to take a book along to fill the void. I had picked up Un Lun Dun sometime ago, and its been sitting on my bookshelf, calling to me.
Un Lun Dun is a fantasy novel, set in an alternate London -- unLondon, as it were. Miéville sets out to write an unfantasy novel. The setup has been used many times by fantasy authors. There's usually a prophecy of an outsider who travels to a far off land to save it from a menace. There is a quest. There are trials that will test the mettle of the hero. Lessons will be learned; sacrifices will be made. The hero will be fair -- the blonde-haired, blue-eyed type. The villain will be evil. The hero will triumph just in time, and there will be a happy ending.
Forget the usual however. In Un Lun Dun, the hero is a heroine, and is not the one that has been destined to save Un Lun Dun. The heroine actually starts out to be the sidekick, and she's anything but fair and heroic. She's probably East Indian and is on the pudgy side. She is not into the hero-thing, rather being there out of necessity -- because there is no one else to save the day. She'll take on the quest -- and it will be dangerous. There will be deaths.
Miéville takes everyday London an adapts it to Un Lun Dun. It's a bit whimsical, but geared towards a younger audience. It doesn't distract, but it will probably take a little time to get used to it. As a fantasy novel for younger readers, Un Lun Dun delivers and kept this adult reading it to the end. It's engaging, but not demanding. It generated enough interest in me to read the other Miéville book on my shelf, King Rat.
Un Lun Dun is a fantasy novel, set in an alternate London -- unLondon, as it were. Miéville sets out to write an unfantasy novel. The setup has been used many times by fantasy authors. There's usually a prophecy of an outsider who travels to a far off land to save it from a menace. There is a quest. There are trials that will test the mettle of the hero. Lessons will be learned; sacrifices will be made. The hero will be fair -- the blonde-haired, blue-eyed type. The villain will be evil. The hero will triumph just in time, and there will be a happy ending.
Forget the usual however. In Un Lun Dun, the hero is a heroine, and is not the one that has been destined to save Un Lun Dun. The heroine actually starts out to be the sidekick, and she's anything but fair and heroic. She's probably East Indian and is on the pudgy side. She is not into the hero-thing, rather being there out of necessity -- because there is no one else to save the day. She'll take on the quest -- and it will be dangerous. There will be deaths.
Miéville takes everyday London an adapts it to Un Lun Dun. It's a bit whimsical, but geared towards a younger audience. It doesn't distract, but it will probably take a little time to get used to it. As a fantasy novel for younger readers, Un Lun Dun delivers and kept this adult reading it to the end. It's engaging, but not demanding. It generated enough interest in me to read the other Miéville book on my shelf, King Rat.
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