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)

Slow but steady

I enjoyed the story very much, but so much time was spent on world building. It took a good six chapters for me to really get into the story. So just prep yourself to push on for the really good stuff.

Again and Again

Fifteen times I’ve listened to this book. Each time The City and the City become more real. I want Ty to come for a “pick pick” supper and talk of seeing and unseeing.
John Lee hits all the right notes in his reading.
Mieville has beautiful, well crafted, well chosen words, phrases, sentences, thoughts.
Yeah, I’ll listen again.

Just buy it.

A heady read that makes you savor every minute of this story and wish you could read it again and again. A bit confusing at the beginning but definitely worth the wait. Be prepared for some active listening though because you'll be sad to miss any second of this masterpiece.

Too slow/too fast

The story started out quite slowly, built up gradually and ended too quickly. Perhaps the lack of a detailed ending is an invitation to a sequel- I'd RSVP in the negative.

The "science" aspect of the fiction is odd and inadequately explored. I never quite got the significance or origin of the coexistence of 2 cities occupying the same physical space.

Mostly this is a murder mystery with the fantasy serving only an important piece of background.

Overall an adequate listen and fairly short, so nothing lost.

John Lee is my favorite narrator and did not disappoint.

Sci Fi Detective Mystry

China Mieville is my favorite new author. I'm still trying to get familiar with his work, but he is an excellent writer and so far, I am not always sure what I am getting into when I'm reading his materials. "The City & The City" is a sci fi detective story that is so well play. Many of the main characters are easily identified and liked. This is my second title from this author and from what I'm noticing in his work, the reader has no idea what they are getting into until a few hours into his books and this is why I am favoring his work. One of the best novelist that I have ever read and I can't wait to read more. I can't really think of one genre for "The City & The City". It is a mixture of genres, including cyber punk. If you read his Wiki, you can see where he gets his thought process.

The city and the City

Great book but takes a bit to get going. I found the first third a little tough going cause he tried to explain in too many words about the politics and everyday living required of the citizens of the weird City. However, it picked up quite a bit about halfway and zipped along to an excellent outcome. China Miéville tells quite an ordinary plot in a brilliant way. I would definitely read more of his

Difficult read but worth it

This was recommended by Chris Hayes. Being a big fan, I had to get it. It begins somewhat slow and difficult, as is common for books that require significant “world building”. It picks up pace in the second half.

Overall, it is satisfying, entertaining, and truly impressive. I look forward to a second read.

Enthralling

Very well read by John Lee, this audiobook will not only keep you interested through brilliant suspense, but will also tickle your intellect with its fascinating forays into anthropology and the power of human beings to shape themselves to fit their environment -- even when they've made that environment themselves.

Way more fun than reading Foucault, but much more interesting than your average suspense novel.

It's so full of interesting words, however, I really wish I could see how they were spelled...

not for me

I'd listened to Perdido Street Station and absolutely loved it - what I liked about it were the broad variety of characters, how they developed and interacted, and also the characters, creatures and stories apart from the main plot that sketched out Mieville's fantastic world. In comparison to that, The City & The City is very minimalistic and plot driven, qualities I don't much enjoy. The two cities never really came alive for me, the way Bas Lag did. I'm sure it is a great listen for people who like detective novels, but it wasn't for me.

A mildly odd detective story and no more

The strange premise of the novel amounts to no more than a well-enforced bit of bureaucracy that complicates a murder investigation no more than any other murder across an international border.

Once you understand the bureaucracy, it’s just that. There’s no deeper exploration of nationhood or belief or a dozen other things that the book hints at; clearly knowing those ideas are there, but having nothing to say about them.

In the end, it’s a competent mystery novel, but no more.