Un Lun Dun
core novel 2007 Un Lun Dun
Record
| First published | 2007 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.83 (19,613 ratings, collected 2026-09-14) |
| Page count | 432 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780345495167 |
Synopsis
Un Lun Dun follows two London schoolgirls, Zanna and Deeba, who discover a hidden passage into UnLondon, a strange mirror-city assembled from London's broken umbrellas, lost objects, and discarded ideas, inhabited by talking animals, sentient rubbish, and other odd residents. The city's inhabitants recognize Zanna as the "Shwazzy," a prophesied chosen one destined to defeat the Smog, a sentient cloud of pollution that has long menaced UnLondon and now threatens to spread further. When the prophecy takes an unexpected turn and events do not unfold as the city's Propheseers predict, it falls to Deeba, previously overlooked as the hero's ordinary sidekick, to take on a larger role in protecting UnLondon. Blending inventive world-building with satire of chosen-one fantasy conventions, the novel follows the girls as they navigate UnLondon's bizarre geography, factions, and dangers while searching for a way to save the city.
Where it sits
- Universe: Un Lun Dun
- Series: not part of a registered series (standalone work within its universe)
- Author: China Miéville
Awards (verified)
- Locus Award (Best Young Adult Book), 2008: won
Notes
- A standalone YA novel, confirmed via Wikipedia to be unrelated to Mieville's Bas-Lag/New Crobuzon setting (already admitted) -- a wholly separate fictional world (a surreal mirror-London, "UnLondon").
Sources
← Un Lun Dun dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.