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)

Holt Shit this is Fascinating

This is a damned good story. Do yourself a favor and just get on it!

Amazing Premise, Great Writing, Great Narration

I am not a fan of mysteries, murders or detective novels unless they are unusual in some way and also are extremely well written. AHH! Here is one and it will rank in my top favorite books of all time. I think it's brilliant. I look forward to listening to it again.

I listened to audible, plus I had a copy of the book. I knew a little bit about the premise but it took me 6-7 chapters to more fully understand these two cities.

Just as an example, back when there was a wall between East and West Berlin, what if the two cities were layered on each other so that one street or building is in East and another nearby is in West. What if you could just "unsee" the people and those buildings, streets, ambulances etc that are in the other city? Perhaps you would need a passport to cross the border to visit your next door neighbor. What happens if you cross accidently or on purpose! Breach!!! What if a dead body is discovered that was killed in one city but was discovered in the other? What if you are a detective from one city and have no jurisdiction in the other city and it's difficult for you to go there much less work on your case.

How could anyone dream up this scenario, make it believable, and then knit together so many details to make an epic novel?

A unique setting

What an interesting novel. First person narrator/protagonist is a detective. But the setting is very strange, one learns about it slowly. Mieville does a good job sticking with and using that very unique and bizarre setting. Police procedural vs. sci-fi vs. fantasy? Who can say. Kept my interest very high, a page turner worthy of its several awards. Narrator has a great voice for the protagonist and carries off the entire cast and narration flawlessly. I will look at more by this author and this reader.

Good prose, good reading, complex story

This is the first Mielville novel for me, I liked it in many ways but would have benefited from a hard copy as it is a hard read. The voice actors added value, but I really needed to be able to go more slowly in places. The overlapping city idea is very interesting, but the crime novel format means that only one character gets developed, while there’s not enough on either city to paint the rhythm of daily life and make them to feel like places where people actually live. The ending is forced, partly an expected resolution but the crime is too complex to be convincing. Still, it’s unique so received a “4” from me.

A New Classic

this is now an instant classic for me. I always had trouble sticking with Miéville before. Not now. The best way I can describe it is that it's a sci-fi dystopian-cold war mystery thriller. I'm sure there's books out there kind of fitting that but I can promise you that none are like this. The concept of parallel cities, being the same and different, and having citizens for each one individually and then a select few inbetween is mind boggling at first but the story does an excellent job walking you through everything. it's deliberate in its presentation of things but it doesn't feel forced, and its an impressive feat. I just discovered they made a show based on the book and now I'm debating if I should watch it. I honestly don't want to be disappointed. The audible experience was so great for this book that I honestly don't want to try and top it lol. Anyways, I recommend it to any Sci fi mystery fan.

Weird!

After playing Disco Elysium I stumbled upon someone recommending this for another take on a weird detective story. I was not disappointed!

Well-worth it.

Put your thinking cap on. Very interesting story. A detective story but with a very cool twist.

Interesting story, horrible narration

I really wanted to like this book and I actually think it's pretty good but the narration makes it feel like watching a brand new movie on VHS. I've listened to many books narrated by John Lee and he makes them all sound and feel the same, which sucks because he narrates some pretty good books.

Unexpected surprise

I came to this from NK Jemisin’s The City We Became and had no idea what to expect. To find a new author and a unique story, told by a great reader, who was also unknown to me was a rare treat. Sci fi? Hard boiled defective? Political thriller? You can check all the boxes

Intriguing

Good story and decent narration. It feels slow the whole way through, but it is a good mystery that will keep your attention.