Notes on 'The City & The City' (2009) by China Mieville (b. 1972)
Much acclaimed China Mieville has in recent years been instrumental in establishing the Steampunk subgenre and the New Weird literary style. The City & the City , which takes place in the fictional Eastern European twin cities of Besźel and Ul Qoma, two cities superimposed on one another, is a dystopian masterpiece based on truly imaginative perversions of ‘the other’. It won the British Science Fiction Award for Best Novel (2009), the Hugo award for Best Novel (2010), the Arthur C. Clarke award for Best Science Fiction Novel (2010), and the Locus award for Best Fantasy Novel (2010).