I've read only one other of China Miéville's books, Railsea, but even from my small sampling Miéville's strengths are apparent. In both books, Miéville write about fictional cultures and people, and he crafts them with such care and skill that the fantastic elements of the setting melt together with the mundane. In the same way we take for granted all the details of our lives, so too do the characters in Miéville's work. They are fantastical only to us, the readers, the foreigners, but to his characters they are simply the facts of their lives.
In The City & The City, the reader is a tourist, plopped down on the shoulder of Inspector Taydor Borlú as he stumbles in the early morning into the most important case of his life. A woman has been found dead--clearly murder--and Borlú dutifully starts to piece together what soon becomes a mystery much larger than he could have imagined. The noir aspects are not what is compelling to us tourists, however. They keep the plot moving along, but it is the mundane details of Borlú's life that soon become much more interesting. As he move through his city--Besźel--strange details emerge; people and places he must 'unsee,' mentions of a 'border' with buildings that seem to be neighbors; the enigmatic 'Breach'; but few explanation are offered for our benefit. Borlú is a product of his culture, and sometimes an agent within it, and it is Miéville's deep understanding of how culture and people influence one another that gives life to Besźel and draws us through its streets and into its secrets along with Borlú.
There are two cities in The City & The City; one in which Borlú lives and another in which he does not. They are layered atop one another, yet separated by legal, social, and fantastical means, if not always physical. The cultures of both cities are complex, historied, and evolving, and the rich detail of characters and setting is what make's Miéville worth reading. 'Worldbuilding' feels like a cheap term to apply to what Miéville has done, but that's what makes the book work. His world is real, and lived in, and we are only visitors. It contains the essence of verisimilitude.
This is an excellent book; and compelling because of it's mystery. I don't have much more to say, partially because I am out of practice writing, partially because I am not giving myself much time to write this post, but I wholeheartedly recommend The City & The City. It is a good novel, a neat mystery, and a visionary fantasy.
The City & The City is available wherever books are sold.
