New York Times bestselling author China Miéville delivers his most accomplished novel yet, an existential thriller set in an enthralling city that is unlike any other—real or imagined
When the body of a murdered woman is found in the extraordinary, decaying city of Beszel, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks like a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad. But as he probes, the evidence begins to point to conspiracies far stranger, and more deadly, than anything he could have imagined. Soon his work puts him and those he cares for in danger.
Borlú must travel to the only metropolis on Earth as strange as his own, across a border like no other. It is a journey as psychic as it is physical, a shift in perception, a seeing of the unseen, a journey to Beszel’s equal, rival, and intimate neighbor, the rich and vibrant city of Ul Qoma.
With 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.
What begins as a murder investigation turns into a tale of two cities--Beszel and Ul Qoma--which overlap the same physical space, separated by different reality realms. John Lee guides listeners through the intricate urban structures, cultures and taboos, and the "crosshatch" areas where citizens catch sight of--but scrupulously "unsee"--one another, and even "unsmell" tantalizing aromas drifting through the tenuous membrane separating them. Staring into the "other" world risks "breach," an offense subject to harsh punishment. Lee's voice draws listeners into China Miéville's wonderfully surreal cityscapes, and their complex languages, people, and politics. Meanwhile, back at the murder, Lee embodies police Inspector Tyador Borlœ's dilemma as his investigation grows dangerously close to unearthing government secrets. Is there a third city? Strange and fascinating listening. S.J.H (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
Los Angeles Times, on The Scar...
"[Miéville] has a gift . . . and a polished style."
Neil Gaiman...
"[Miéville] uses the tools and weapons of the fantastic to define and create the fiction of the new century."
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