Un Lun Dun

A fantasy novel for Young Adults by China Mieville.

UnLondon is the shadow of the city it is named for, one of many abcities that collect the mildly obsolete detritus left behind by the citizens of London. UnLondon, and other cities like it, are places where the broken and neglected discover new purpose. It is a world in danger. The Smog threatens to choke the life out of every living thing it can find, to feed itself and drown the world in darkness.

Enter Zanna and Deeba, two ordinary girls who find themselves in UnLondon after a string of events lures them there. Zanna is the abcity's chosen one, the Shwazzy, who will ultimately destroy the Smog and save UnLondon. Unfortunately, the Smog knows this as well as the good guys, and injures Zanna before she can fulfill her destiny. Deeba, the Funny Sidekick, takes on the quest meant for Zanna. Helped by an abandoned milk carton and talking book of prophecy, Deeba must save the abcity and get back to regular London before everybody back at home forgets she even existed.

This book inverts, subverts and plays straight every prophecy trope in existence.


 * The Unchosen One


 * Abnormal Ammo The UnGun. Very abnormal.
 * To elaborate, it takes whatever you stick in the chambers and magnifies whatever it is.
 * Badass Bookworm: Extreme librarians!
 * But Now I Must Go:
 * Cats Are Magic: Subverted. Cats are the most stupid and least magical of all animals. Dogs, foxes, fish and various birds are shown to be sapient and able to cross the boundaries between worlds, but cats are too concerned with looking cool to learn anything of value
 * City of Adventure
 * Decoy Protagonist
 * Down the Rabbit Hole: Or, in Deeba's case, Up the Wordhoard Pit.
 * Embarrassing First Name: Suzanna, who prefers Zanna.
 * Everything's Deader with Zombies: or Smombies. Dead bodies animated by the Smog inside them.
 * Fantastic Racism: Between the living and the ghosts.
 * Specifically, the ghosts supposedly steal bodies.
 * Fetch Quest: The hunt for the UnGun
 * Half-Human Hybrid: Hemi is half-ghost. Don't think about it too much.
 * Deeba openly questions this, and Hemi explains ghosts can get physical for mating.
 * Have You Told Anyone Else?: Deeba falls for this.
 * Hurricane of Puns
 * Infinity+1 Sword: Subverted with the Klinneract. Played straight with the UnGun
 * Killed Off for Real:
 * Laser-Guided Amnesia:
 * Linked-List Clue Methodology: Defied.
 * Off the Rails: Starts when The Chosen One
 * Our Ghosts Are Different
 * Our Zombies Are Puppets For Sentient Smog
 * Mooks: Stink-junkies, unbrellas, binja, utterlings, etc.
 * Mook Face Turn: Words don't always do what you want them to do.
 * New Weird
 * Nigh Invulnerable: The Smog, of the Made of Air variety
 * Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Trash Bins + Ninja = The best pun ever!
 * Non-Human Sidekick: Curdle the milk carton.
 * Painting the Fourth Wall: Some minor usage:
 * Mr. Speaker speaks.
 * The boat used in the final battle is the frame of a car turned upside down; hence, it's called a "ɹɐɔ." Lampshaded: "A ... rack? I can't say it."
 * "Easiest way is to bend over and say car."
 * Plot Coupons Played straight, then subverted hard. Deeba gets the first plot coupon, then realizes that it would waste time and people to get the 5 unnecessary ones, so she goes straight to the UnGun. Double-subverted when Deeba realizes she actually needed the plot coupons, but she is able to work around that.
 * Plucky Comic Relief:  intended role.
 * Prophetic Fallacy:
 * Punny Name: Pretty much the whole point of the book. Abcities, utterlings, Binja, the UnLondon-I, the Black Windows (who live in Webminster Abbey), the list goes on.
 * Roof Hopping: Subverted by the Slaterunners: ""
 * Rousing Speech: Given by Deeba in Chapter 81.
 * Screw Destiny: Successfully by the Big Bad in removing The Chosen One from the equation. Would have succeeded, had Deeba not become The Unchosen One.
 * Shock and Awe Conducter Jones. Note the conductor part.
 * Sixth Ranger Traitor:
 * Space Whale Aesop: Though it's by no means the main theme of the book: "Don't pollute, or else the smog will evolve sapience and take control of people's minds, making them destroy a fantasy world and then ours."
 * Theme Naming Other "mirror cities" like UnLondon have names like Parisn't, Baghdon't and Lost Angeles.
 * The Unchosen One: Deeba. Also the Trope Namer.
 * The Worm That Walks: Early in the book we hear, in passing, of a guy made of bees. Also
 * Trickster: Hemi begins the story as a thief with questionable motives.
 * Villain with Good Publicity: There are two; in the abcity and  in the real world.
 * Villain with Good Publicity: There are two; in the abcity and  in the real world.