The City & The City

By: China Mieville

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling author China Miéville delivers his most accomplished novel yet, an existential thriller set in a city unlike any other, real or imagined.

When a murdered woman is found in the city of Beszel, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks to be a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad. But as he investigates, the evidence points to conspiracies far stranger and more deadly than anything he could have imagined.

Borlú must travel from the decaying Beszel to the only metropolis on Earth as strange as his own. This is a border crossing like no other, a journey as psychic as it is physical, a shift in perception, a seeing of the unseen. His destination is Beszel's equal, rival, and intimate neighbor, the rich and vibrant city of Ul Qoma.

With Ul Qoman detective Qussim Dhatt, and struggling with his own transition, Borlú is enmeshed in a sordid underworld of rabid nationalists intent on destroying their neighboring city, and unificationists who dream of dissolving the two into one. As the detectives uncover the dead woman's secrets, they begin to suspect a truth that could cost them and those they care about more than their lives.

What stands against them are murderous powers in Beszel and in Ul Qoma: and, most terrifying of all, that which lies between these two cities.

Casting shades of Kafka and Philip K. Dick, Raymond Chandler and 1984, The City & The City is a murder mystery taken to dazzling metaphysical and artistic heights.

• Hugo Award, Best Novel, 2010

©2009 China Mieville (P)2009 Random House

Critic reviews

"Daring and disturbing...Miéville illuminates fundamental and unsettling questions about culture, governance and the shadowy differences that keep us apart." (Walter Mosley, author of Devil in a Blue Dress)

"Lots of books dabble in several genres but few manage to weld them together as seamlessly and as originally as The City and The City. In a tale set in a series of cities vertiginously layered in the same space, Miéville offers the detective novel re-envisioned through the prism of the fantastic. The result is a stunning piece of artistry that has both all the satisfactions of a good mystery and all the delight and wonder of the best fantasy.” (Brian Evenson, author of Last Days)

"Mr. Miéville's novels - seven so far - have been showered with prizes; three have won the Arthur C. Clarke award, given annually to the best science fiction novel published in Britain…. [H]e stands out from the crowd for the quality, mischievousness and erudition of his writing…. Among the many topics that bubble beneath the wild imagination at play are millennial anxiety, religious cults, the relationship between the citizen and the state and the role of fate and free will." (The New York Times)

A murder mystery set in a surrealist background

China Mieville is such an interesting writer. This is the second book of his that I've read, and I just love his imaginative world building ideas. This book is a murder mystery, set in a city that is two cities (or is it three?) that overlap. Its not clear whether the two cities are in two dimensions visible to one another, or if the city itself is a single physical entity but citizens of one city only develop the ability to see those parts that are in their city while ignoring the other. In any case, the two cities are vastly different. And if one city's citizens do interact with the other city in any way, a third independent entity steps in with dire consequences to the violator. It makes for a thought provoking backdrop, and creates a number of scenarios that explore this idea in detail, which I found fascinating and fun to think about.

The story itself is a very good murder whodunit, with implications that go beyond the murder itself. I found this book very entertaining, and I think John Lee's narration is perfectly suited to the author's unique voice and characterizations. I really enjoyed this book.

Wonderful

I was turned on to this through the Disco Elysium boards. What an amazing and weird world Mievelle has built in this gem. I wanted something to sate my appetite for the weirdness of DE and I came away with something special in its own right. It’s obviously not going to be for everyone, but if you love weird fiction and police procedurals, it’s a match made in heaven. I want more. The protagonist is wonderful as well. Inspiring work.

a murder mystery in an absurd world

what I love so much about this story is how it show how absurd the political realities of our own world are yet we all recognize them. they exist anyway. simply because they're absurd doesn't make them go away or make them less real

The only Miéville book I have been able to finish

I know people love Miéville, but I find his books so very hard to get into. This one also started slowly, but around chapter 5 it picked up, and then it was great. Unusual and provocative story, great narrator.

Brilliant, exciting, metaphysical slightly SF noir

Whether you like China Mievlille or not (I often find him a bit prolix and a bit excessive), this novel is stand-alone great. This book is based on an amazing idea which Mieville completely pulls off -- the two Balkan cities sharing the same geography but studiously careful not to acknowledge each other, so that the Berlin or Nicosia Wall that divides them is completely internalized -- a great first-person noirish narrator, who sustains comparison with Chandler's Marlowe and even Hammett's Continental Op, a wonderful story and a perfect ending. And John Lee's performance is perfect.

excellent

I blazed through this while illustrating posters and painting signs. Perfectly engaging. I listed in the car, at home and at the studio. never read this author before but will def. snag another title.

Makes your brain think and pulse race

The gimmick of this tale -- two nations occupying the same physical city but not acknowledging each other -- works better than most gimmicky novels because the author fills this gimmick world with interesting characters and a mystery that don't dwell only on the gimmick; they have real substance themselves. John Lee is, as always, impeccable, if not charismatic.

How you can be two places at once!

Our world has had divided cities, Berlin wih it's wall, Jerusalem pre 1967, etc. In this novel there is a divided city split on quantum physics (That is my guess as i's never really fully explaned) where people in one can see those in the other, but are trained not to. It's as if there are two city maps one on top of the there, at some places they are the same, at others totally distinct. Once you get this premise down it is just a detective story, but set in a very different type of location. The novelty and writing skill come in making this seem plausible and in making the story utilize the uniqueness of this enviornment. I thought it was very well done. I also liked Perdido Street Station by the same author very much.

Fantastic.

One of my favorite books by a favorite author. It takes a bit to wrap your head around what is going on, but it well worth it. Reader is dead on perfect.

Not what I expected but very good

Naration was very clear and easy to follow for me. I enjoyed Perdido station from same author and was glad that this book did not disappoint.