NP: Writer Question

[John Bailey]

Very entertaining writer who does genre fiction very well (mostly
fantasy and scifi) but brings to the fore the politics underlying each
form.

The City... is a bit dry. Trying his hand at crime fiction. Does have
a few astute notions in there, though.

Of what I've read, I'd heartily recommend Un Lun Dun, his rejoinder to
the Harry Potter style of YA fiction, where (patriarchal) heroism is a
matter of destiny and genetics.

Also Kraken, which is a wonderful caper of gods and cults and magic in
contemporary London. Has a few pointed references to Pynchon, and most
of his books have a vague whiff of P somewhere in there. Lots of
attention to waste, class, systems of power, collective action, roads
not taken, seduction of heirarchy, complicity with institutional
violence etc. Kraken has a wonderful riff where England's "magical
assistants" (familiars, golems, totems, animated broomsticks) organise
a union and go on a public strike to protest a wizard's abuse of his
arcane servants.

On Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 12:32 AM, Joe Allonby <joeallonby at gmail.com> wrote:
> Someone just recommended China Mieville's "The City & the City".
>
> Any thoughts from the P-list on this guy?
>