Un Lun Dun
by China Miéville · first published 2007
75% recommend25% neutral
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 prophesi
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…Rising). Garth Nix's Old Kingdom, starting with Sabriel. While China Mieville is very much not a children's author (really! don't buy a random mieville book for your young niece/nephew, really don't!), Un-Lun-Dun is an amazing book in this genre.
on “Writing books is not really a good idea” ↗Besides The City & The City I really enjoyed Kraken and Un Lun Dun by China Miéville. Kraken is the hunt for a giant squid after it vanished from a London museum. Un Lun Dun is a young adult story of two friends who end up in a whimsical version of London.
on “Ask HN: What is the best thing you read in 2022?” ↗I'm somewhere in Un Lun Dun by China Mieville right now. I cannot recommend his imaginative writing enough. (Un Lun Dun is a children's book in the same way the Potters are children's books).
on “Ask HN: What books are you reading” ↗"I do not believe the presence of moisture in the air is sufficient reason to overturn society's usual sensible taboo against wielding spiked clubs at eye level.” China Mieville - Un Lun Dun
on “The Public Shaming of England’s First Umbrella User” ↗