On the other side of London is UnLunDun, where umbrellas and dustbins have lives of their own and where the Smog has come back with destruction in mind. Good stuff from Meiville, I'd much prefer that he wrote more in the Perdido Street world, but this will do for now.

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Taking to Leeds Bookcrossers

I'd wanted to read this for a while as I was interested to see what his 'Childrens' book would be like. I enjoyed it but again prefer his normal sci-fi.

Picked up at Leeds Meetup

Didn't really float my boat, unfortunately.


WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Taking this to the Leeds Meetup

Picked up at the Leeds meetup. Looks intriguing...

Finished! I enjoyed this immensely. Alternative, fantastical versions of London almost inevitably invite comparisons with Neverwhere, and oh yes, there it is, mentioned in the Acknowledgements. But (*whispers*) I think this is better than Neverwhere. Now, it might be just that I read an Americanised version of Neverwhere, and the juxtaposition of words like sidewalk and sneakers next to very British characters and situations sounded like this to me: CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! On the other hand, I found Un Lun Dun a *lot* more inventive and surreal. Here is a non-exhaustive list of stuff I liked:

1. The thing about cats. Heh, heh, take that, feline fanciers.
2. "We're being chased by flies and nutters."
3. The giraffes. I actually found them quite scary, but then I'm a wuss.
4. Towering Bridge, which I think might have been inspired by the old Thames TV ident, with Tower Bridge being reflected in the river.
5. The politics in Chapters 59 and 60.

The previous journal entries mention that his stuff for adults is better, so I will definitely keep an eye out for that.

Right, enough waffle. This will be on its way to CdnBlueRose in the US soon, hopefully tomorrow.

Edited 28/07/2009: sent today by surface mail.

Received today, thanks!!!