Read: The City & The City by China Mieville
I was breathless. I couldn’t stop reading The City & The City although dinnertime was nearing. The sky was already dark but I was just glued to the pages.
The City & The City was quite a surprise for me. All I knew about it was that it was nominated for the Nebula Prize and that it was written by China Mieville, whose Un Lun Dun I had quite enjoyed. So I was ready for an interesting, entertaining read but it turned out to be not just that but was also gritty, exciting and quite clever.
The City starts out like a crime novel. There’s a dead woman in the European city of Besźel. At first the police, led by Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad, think she’s a prostitute but something doesn’t add up. Borlu gets an anonymous phone call from someone in Ul Qoma, which makes things very tricky for Borlu as Ul Qoma is the other city, the one to be unseen.
Mieville reveals information about the two cities in bits and pieces. A hint here, a hint there. All rather subtly.The information crept up on me like a fog, and then I realised that I was enveloped, absorbed in this fascinating world of two cities, like and unlike, that Mieville has created.
“Who hasn’t done that at times? There were gasrooms I shouldt see, chambers dangling ads, tethered by skeletal metal frames. On the steet at least one of the passersby – I could tell by the clothes, the colours, the walk – was not in Beszel, and I watched him anyway.”
Then there’s the mysterious Breach and Orciny.
“As if that were not mystery enough and as if two crosshatched countries were insufficient, bards invented that third, the pretend-existing Orciny. On top floors, in ignorable Roman-style townhouses, in the first wattle-and-daub dwellings, taking up the intricately conjoined and disjointed spaces allotted in the split or the coagulation of the tribes, the tiny third city Orciny ensconced, secreted between the two brasher city-states. A community of imaginary overlords, exiles perhaps, in most stories machinating and making things, so, ruling with a subtle and absolute grip. Orciny was where the Illuminati lived. That sort of thing.”
Despite the weirdness and darkness of it, I very much enjoyed being in Mieville’s cities. I liked how he balanced the uniqueness of these cities with the murder mystery, never letting the explanation of one overpower the other. It was a great read.
Book provided by my library
This is my sixth read for the Sci-fi Challenge.
You make it sound fantastic! I read Perdido Street Station last year and enjoyed sections of it, but not the book as a whole. Someone told me that this was much better and so I plan to read it very soon. You’ve made me very excited about starting!
Hi Jackie,
I just read your review of Perdido Street Station. It does sound interesting (although a bit weird) so I might see if I can get hold of a copy, as I’d like to read more by Mieville. I hope you enjoy The City & The City!
Mieville always has such interesting premises. It’s a shame I haven’t actually read any of his stuff! Story of my life. Must remedy that. Am interested in Un Lun Dun, too.
Un Lun Dun was my first Mieville and I enjoyed it but read it too soon after Gaiman’s Neverwhere (they have a similar-ish setting and I kinda preferred Gaiman’s darker story at that point). But I would still recommend it, and of course The City & The City!
What a neat concept and a great cover! I’ve never read (or heard) of him before, but maybe this will introduce me to him.
Oh definitely read this book. It was a fantastic read, and I’m looking forward to more Mieville.
I loved this book and I’m so glad that you liked it! The setting was so fascinating.
It was! I actually gave it 5 stars on Goodreads, which kinda surprised myself. Heh.
That was an enjoyable book, although I thought the beginning was stronger than the end. I had to purposefully “unsee” any hints about Ul Qoma in the first few chapters since I was seriously considering breaching several chapters ahead just to learn about the other city. Very creative plot.
Hehe I like your comment!