input: [0] checkbox [#] position 26 [cover] cover [title] title The City & the City [author] author Miéville, China * [isbn] isbn 0330493108 [isbn13] isbn13 9780330493109 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 373 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.90 [num ratings] num ratings 27,374 [date pub] date pub 2009 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Jan 01, 2010 [rating] Michael's rating 5 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender Kim [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 7 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started Sep 13, 2011 [date read] date read Sep 17, 2011 [date added] date added Jan 15, 2011 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Paperback [29] actions view (with text) [review] 
output: review If Raymond Chandler and Philip K Dick wrote a book together it would be very similar to The City & the City (if you throw a little George Orwell i If Raymond Chandler and Philip K Dick wrote a book together it would be very similar to The City & the City (if you throw a little George Orwell into the mix). China Miéville calls his novels fantasy/weird fiction and this is no different, though I think I would consider it more Science Fiction. There is a complex plot full of twists and turns in an even more complex couple of cities. These cities are confusing and very hard to navigate, you feel like a complete alien in them and China doesn’t help you along with this part of the journey; in this aspect it can be a very hard book to read. But stick to it! The City & The City has a lot to offer; a complex mystery in a homage to Chandler, a foreign country with strike rules (Orwell) and the science fiction style that leaves you pondering about life and our world (Philip K Dick). This book is brilliant and I would recommend it to anyone that is a fan of mysteries or fantasy or sci-fi. You won’t be disappointed; if you can make it past the first few chapters, which is the hardest part of the book to read. ...more