Now, if you know me well you will be aware that I am a great admirer of mr. Mieville. He writes a style of sci fi that is both unique and captivating, and has a knack for creating worlds that are fantastical yet also very believable.
The City and The City differs from his more recent fayre as it takes place in a more true to life setting. That being a city somewhere in (Eastern?) Europe. There are no mythical beasts or strange creatures here, merely a city torn apart by politics.
The story is told from the perspective of one Inspector Borlu; a hard boiled detective from the Extreme Crimes Squad. A murder has taken place and the body of a young woman has been found in a childrens playground. With no apparant suspect or motive Borlu is forced into the very bowels of the city, finding himself dragged deeper in to a web of int...yeah I know it sounds cliche but its actually very good.
The factor that sets it apart is the clever setting; The city in question has been divided into 2 parts, a lot like Israel for all you politically aware types. Only diofference being the 2 cities crosshatch one another, so you could technically be in either city at any given time and not know which one, oh, and to acknowledge any of the citizens or archeitecture of the rival city is a felony.
I wont go too far into the plot but I can easil;y say it is the best China has written in quite some time, there are no boring segways that occur without rhyme or reason, nor are there any heavy character background stories..*glares at Judah*..so is a lot easier to breeze through.
So yeah, in all I would say its a good book (not as if I havent said that enough already.)
John.
