About this title: When the body of a murdered woman is found in the extraordinary, decaying city of Bes el, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks like a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlu 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. Borlu must travel to the only metropolis on Earth as strange as his own, across a border like no other. With shades of Kafka and Philip K. Dick, Raymond Chandler and 1984 , "The City & The City" is a ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Del Rey Books
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780345497512ISBN:0345497511
Description: New in new dust jacket. Signed by author. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 336 p. Audience: General/trade. Signed by the author on the title page. Brand New and Unread. Second Printing. Ships bubble wrapped and in a box. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Del Rey
Date Published: 2009-05-26
ISBN-13:9780345497512ISBN:0345497511
Description: NEW. Hardcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780345497512. read more
Edition: US First Edition, First Printing Hardcover
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Del Rey
Date Published: 26-May-09
ISBN-13:9780345497512ISBN:0345497511
Description: Fine in Fine jacket. Mystery Protected in clear Mylar cover. Bubble wrapped and shipped in a box. read more
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Del Rey Books
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780345497512ISBN:0345497511
Description: New in new dust jacket. Signed by author. SIGNED**by China Mieville on Title Page. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. Full # line. FREE USPS tracking w/book shipped in a box for U.S. buyers. DJ in clear mylar cover. Stored in smoke-free environment. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 312 p. Audience: General/trade. SIGNED** by China Mieville on Title Page. 1st/1st. FREE Certificate of Authenticity for author signature available if requested at time of purchase. Email seller for COA and ... read more
Description: Fine in Near Fine jacket. Signed Limited edition, #254 of 500, of author's noir crime novel. We hope this is a first of more in this world by Mieville, an author of staggering imagination. Slight crimping to head and tail of dustwrapper spine keep this from being F/F. Will probably look fine under our archival jacket protector. All of our first editions are first printings. Dustwrappers are protected with clear archival wraps. We ship via UPS whenever possible-please select 'expedited' ... read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Del Rey / Ballantine, New York
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780345497512ISBN:0345497511
Description: As New in As New jacket. Signed by Author Signed by author on title page-signature only Dated 9/6/09 First edition, First printing. With corresponding number line. Book is in Fine condition. Boards are clean, not bumped. Fore edges are clean. Interior is clean and legible. Not remaindered. Dust Jacket is in Fine condition. Not chipped or crinkled. Not price clipped. Is covered by Mylar Brodart. All-ways well boxed, All-ways fast service. Thanks. read more
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Subterranean Press
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781596062788ISBN:1596062789
Description: Chong, Vincent. New in new dust jacket. Signed by author. 325 p. 1st Limited Edition hardcover from Subterranean, 2009. SIGNED BY CHINA MIEVILLE! 1 of 500 such numbered copies. NEW IN DJ. Vincent Chong jacket art. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Del Rey
Date Published: 2009-05-26
ISBN-13:9780345497512ISBN:0345497511
Description: Fine in Fine jacket. Signed first US edition of author's noir first crime novel, dated day of publication and NYC. Very cool placement of the city in the city. Mieville's work always oversteps the boundaries of what has come before-this one is no exception. Lovely & original (and we hope there's more to come). All of our first editions are first printings. Dustwrappers are protected with clear archival wraps. We ship via UPS whenever possible-please select 'expedited' shipping. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Subterranean Press, Burton, MI
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781596062788ISBN:1596062789
Description: New in New jacket. Signed First edition/first printing. Number 400 of 500 copies signed by the author. Book is in fine (unread) condition with a fine unclipped dustjacket protected in a Brodart wrapper. An Attractive Copy! Please feel free to ask me for pictures or more information, Thanks. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Subterranean Press, Burton, MI, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781596062788ISBN:1596062789
Description: As New in As New jacket. Signed by Author Special Signed limited edition # 362 of 500 numbered copies. First edition, First printing. With corresponding number line. Book is in Fine condition. Boards are clean, not bumped. Fore edges are clean. Interior is clean and legible. Not remaindered. Dust Jacket is in Fine condition. Not chipped or crinkled. Not price clipped. Book is covered by Mylar Brodart. All-ways well boxed, All-ways fast service. Thanks. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Del Rey
Date Published: 2009-05-26
ISBN-13:9780345497512ISBN:0345497511
Description: Fine in Fine jacket. We are so excited for the release of this book. It is his first mystery, and Mr. Mieville just dropped by the store to give us a special few that are signed, with the publication date, and lined with different takes on our own fair city: "The delusive streets of NYC". We're quite chuffed. All of our first editions are first printings. Dustwrappers are protected with clear archival wraps. We ship via UPS whenever possible-please select 'expedited' shipping. read more
Binding: Hardback
Publisher: Random House Inc
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780345497512ISBN:0345497511
Description: "New York Times"-bestselling author Mieville delivers an existential thriller set in a city that is unlike any other, real or imagined--a murder mystery taken to dazzling metaphysical and artistic heights. read more
Edition: First Edition, First Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Del Rey / Ballantine Books, New York
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780345497512ISBN:0345497511
Description: Very Good+/Near Fine in Very Good+/Near Fine jacket. Signed by Author SIGNED on title page by China Mieville, author of PERDIDO STREET STATION and other works. The 2009 novel by the acclaimed modern master of science fiction, a grim noir-ish police procedural set in a fictional republic somewhere in the heart of Europe in which two cities are somehow superimposed one on the other and the inhabitants of each city live their lives studiously ignoring the traces of the other city. Bound in ... read more
Binding: First edition, Hardcover, SIGNED, Fine in Fine dust jacket,
Publisher: del Rey Books, New York
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780345497512ISBN:0345497511
Description: Very good. Signed by the author on the title page. It is my contention that Mieville is among the world's greatest living fantasists. If fuzzy feet, pointy ears or fire-breathing creatures appear in his work (and they seldom do) they are sure to be unlike any others in bookdom. There is something new in fantasy and Mieville (and a handful of others) are/is writing it. PERDIDO STREET STATION was the literary accomplishment of a lifetime. THE CITY AND THE CITY is the story of a strange murder ... read more
"This was a little bit of a different path for Mr Miéville. First, I should confess I'm a big fan. If China Miéville bound the notes he took during a comparative study of growing grass and drying paint and sold them as a novel, I'd pre-order.
That being said, I'd recommend this book to pretty much anyone.
The premise is just so unique. How often does a truly unique idea like this come along? And what I loved was that this unique concept was wrapped up in such a literary cliche. The gumshoe, the murder mystery, the hard headed detective who stumbles onto a case that is so much bigger than anyone thought it was. We've all read that book, right? But when played out against the back drop of Beszel and Ul Qoma, you end up with something truly original, truly compelling, and truly memorable.
The only warning I would give with this book is that it will exercise your imagination. There were times where I would read a passage, and I'd have to just stop and mull it over a bit. Letting my imagination piece together that narrative in that (those) city (cities). In the end, after you're done with the book, that might be one of it's greatest strengths. I found myself thinking "how would this play out in Beszel/Ul Quoma" as i went about my day."
"Mieville's first non-fantasy book in quite a while, it's a murder mystery and detective novel influenced by Borges and Kafka more than Chandler and Thompson. I loved the idea of the two cities existing in the same physical place and their respective populaces' conditioning to "unsee" and "unhear" each other, the mysterious "Breach" that keeps this ontological nightmare in line, and the bureaucracy that mediates it all. This would have already been an interesting enough read if it were just an Invisible Cities-style encyclopedia report on the concept, but then Mieville goes and drops a freaking murder mystery in the middle of all of it!
My only complaint is that at 300 pages, it's considerably shorter than his other novels, and with such delicious concepts, I could have easily gone on reading another couple hundred pages. And though I'll keep this review spoiler-free, the end of the book really does feel like it could be the end of "part 1" in one of his other novels - not that the audience is left hanging as much as the conclusion of one mystery raises more questions and establishes more interesting new scenarios than it resolves! Maybe this is merely the first entry in a new series, and we'll get a few more books exploring this cosmology. After all, the Bas Lag stuff only got better as it went on.
By the way, for the other Mieville nerds - is it too much of a stretch to think that the precursor age artifacts could be a hint that this is taking place in the distant future of the Bas Lag world?"
"Definitely not an easy read, but worth the effort! It's one of those books that takes an extraordinary, almost fantastical situation and makes it completely believable and real. You do have to be willing to suspend disbelief, though. The idea behind the novel is that two cities exist in exactly the same physical place -- and that they stay separate cities because inhabitants deliberately "unsee" the other city and all its residents. People who do not unsee the other city are immediately punished by an entity called Breach, in an effort to keep the boundaries between the two cities clear. That's the premise, but the novel itself is a murder mystery that involves police from both cities -- completely realistic and gritty.
If you don't mind the fantastical premise (I'm looking at you, Suej!) this is a really cool book that asks interesting questions about what we are willing to do in order to keep our worlds in place, and what happens when the foundations of our reality come into question."
"what a strange book. i shouldn't expect anything different from china mieville but... wow. the setting is almost one of the main characters of the story. there are two cities/countries that occupy the same square miles. They are physically intermingled, but are very, very separate places. The people who live in Beszel must "unsee" and "unhear" everything from Ul Qoma, and vice versa. Children are forgiven if they "see" something in the other city or comment about something from the other city, but they are strictly taught that it is extremely rude and taboo to do so, and eventually, they learn to unsee the other city and the other citizens as well. It took me probably at least a quarter of the book to even mostly understand this concept. and i was surprised, even through the end of the book, at the different ramifications an impossible arrangement such as this one might have.
the plot is a murder mystery, but i found the resolution of the mystery to be ... meh. but the discussion of the cities was fascinating."
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