Un Lun Dun
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 prophesied long ago, set down for all time in the pages of a talking book.When twelve-year-old Zanna and her friend Deeba find a secret entrance leading out of London and into this strange city, it seems that the ancient prophecy is coming true at last. But then things begin to go shockingly wrong.From the Hardcover edition.
Themes & atmosphere
What you might want to know about Un Lun Dun
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Two London girls, Zanna Moon and her best friend Deeba Resham, follow a strange umbrella into a basement laundry room and out the other side into UnLondon, a broken twin city built of London's discarded objects.
It is middle grade, though it has crossover adult appeal as China Mieville's most accessible novel. It is illustrated with his own pen drawings.
It has eerie creatures and a creeping fog antagonist, but the tone is adventurous and witty rather than horror.
Un Lun Dun was written by China Miéville, published in 2007 by Pocket.
Un Lun Dun is 520 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Un Lun Dun takes most readers 8 to 11 hours to finish.
Un Lun Dun is a standalone novel by China Miéville, not part of a series.
Un Lun Dun is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.