The Philadelphia Inquirer raves about "a verbal acuity so playful it could only be British." What is Un Lun Dun? It is London through the looking glass, an urban Wonderland of strange delights where all the lost and broken things of London end up . . . and some of its lost and broken people, too -- including Brokkenbroll, boss of the broken umbrellas; Obaday Fing, a tailor whose head is an enormous pin-cushion, and an empty milk carton called Curdle. Un Lun Dun is a place where words are alive, a jungle lurks behind the door of an ordinary house, carnivorous giraffes stalk the streets, and a dark cloud dreams of burning the world. It is a city awaiting its hero, whose coming was prophesied long ago, set down for all time in the pages of a talking book. When twelve-year-old Zanna and her friend Deeba find a secret entrance leading out of London and into this strange city, it seems that the ancient prophecy is coming true at last. But then things begin to go shockingly wrong.
In a recent interview, Mieville talks of possible future work: I like the universe that is invented in this world and the idea of the abcities [flipsides of places we already know] — you could write a different book for each abcity, these sort of twisted dreamland versions of our cities ...
Salon reviewed it: "Un Lun Dun" begins as the story of two 12-year-old friends, Zanna and Deeba, who live in a London housing project. Zanna has lately become the object of strange tributes -- animals that study her worshipfully, graffiti that sings her praises, bus drivers who approach her in cafes saying, "Just very exciting to meet you!" So when the two girls spot what appears to be a broken but animated umbrella trying to climb up Zanna's window sill, they give chase. The umbrella leads them to an alternate London -- an "abcity," as the residents call it -- furnished by all the cast-off junk of the original London. (Other abcities include Lost Angeles, No York and Parisn't.) UnLondon isn't a benign junkyard -- the first thing the girls encounter is a roving gang of menacing garbage -- but it has its shabby consolations; Deeba acquires a pet milk carton (she names it Curdle) that proves to be as affectionate and devoted as any pooch.
Un Lun Dun, by China Mieville | 
