Un Lun Dun [Hardcover]

'A modern day Alice in Wonderland, this is where the New Weird is at...' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

"Mieville's compelling heroine and her fantastical journey through the labyrinth of a strange London forms that rare book that feels instantly like a classic and yet is thoroughly modern."
-- Holly Black, bestselling author of the YA novels TITHE and VALIANT
"A book which shows the world as it truly is: full of marvels and monsters and unexpected opportunities for heroism and magic. UN LUN DUN is delicious, twisty, ferocious fun, a book so crammed with inventions, delights, and unexpected turns that you will want to start reading it over again as soon as you've reached the end."
-- Kelly Link, author of STRANGER THINGS HAPPEN and MAGIC FOR BEGINNERS

"From the Hardcover edition."

From British fantasy’s rising star comes this astonishing first novel for children.

The iron wheel began to spin, slowly at first, then faster and faster. The room grew darker. As the light lessened, so did the sound. Deeba and Zanna stared at each other in wonder. The noise of the cars and vans and motorbikes outside grew tinny . . . The wheel turned off all the cars and turned off all the lamps. It was turning off London. Zanna and Deeba are two girls leading ordinary lives, until they stumble into the world of UnLondon, an urban Wonderland where all the lost and broken things of London end up . . . and some of its lost and broken people too. Here discarded umbrellas stalk with spidery menace, carnivorous giraffes roam the streets, and a jungle sprawls beyond the door of an ordinary house. UnLondon is under siege by the sinister Smog and its stink-junkie slaves; it is a city awaiting its hero. Guided by a magic book that can’t quite get its facts straight, and pursued by Hemi the half-ghost boy, the girls set out to stop the poisonous cloud before it burns everything in its path. They are joined in their quest by a motley band of UnLondon locals, including Brokkenbroll, boss of the broken umbrellas, Obaday Fing, a couturier whose head is an enormous pincushion, and an empty milk carton called Curdle . . . and you thought a trip down the rabbit hole was a little out of the ordinary. The world of UnLondon is populated by astonishing frights and delights that will thrill the imagination.

China lives and works in London. He has written four novels for adults. He has twice won the prestigous Arthur C. Clarke Award, with Perdido Street Station and Iron Council, and is also twice winner of the British Fantasy Award, for Perdido Street Station and The Scar. Un Lun Dun is China’s first novel for younger readers.