Un Lun Dun
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Zanna and Deeba inadvertently enter UnLondon, an alternative London inhabited by the flotsam and jetsam of normal life, which is threatened by Smog - a living poisonous cloud - and which is awaiting a leader in the Shwazzy. Although one of the girls appears to be the chosen saviour, it is the other who finally saves the city.
Miéville presents an absorbing, funny but frightening world, which exists below the surface and outside of normal time; everything is slightly bizarre and off-axis, and misheard or misunderstood language has been interpreted as new and terrifying threats to life in UnLondon, and ultimately to London itself. Within the fantasy, readers will find many issues of direct relevance to their own lives.