Set in Eastern Europe, circa 2009, in the fictional twin city-states of Besźel and Ul Qoma, a young woman's body is discovered in a park. What starts as a routine murder investigation soon takes on larger ramifications which threaten the history, political system, and even the unique border separating these two estranged cities.

Having read and had mixed feelings about Miéville's Bas-Lag trilogy, I was curious to try something else by him that may showcase the depth and skill of his writing. I chose this one because it was his most-awarded novel, having won the holy trinity of the Arthur C. Clarke Award, World Fantasy Award, and the Hugo Award. The surprising thing for me was the lack of hardcore Science-Fiction or Fantasy elements. While the Bas-Lag novels were loaded with all manner of weirdness, this one is firmly grounded in our real world, with our technology. In fact, the only speculative element in this novel is the unique nature of the border between these two cities and the societies this border has given rise to.

The characters are basically just caricatures of what is needed in a mystery novel. There is very little depth to them, and they exist solely to tell the story. In this regard, the Bas-Lag novels were much, much better. The plot works for the most part. When the murder investigation gets a little mundane, there is the discovery (for the reader) of what this unique border is and how it affects the lives of people who live there. This is handled well, for it truly is a gradual discovery on our part because the narrator has lived there all his life and just immerses us in his world.

If I were to pick on a few things--in addition to the characters--one would be the sometimes overtly obvious dialog. While the narrative doesn't get heavy-handed, there seems to be a bit of winking to the reader in the conversations the characters have with one another. Probably the most offensive is the lengthy summary conversation at the end that fills in all the information that wasn't worked into the novel elsewhere or readily apparent from the events as they transpired. And, finally, there is Miéville's narrative style. While technically correct with an impressive vocabulary, there is just no beauty in his writing. I enjoy reading his essays for the way he communicates his ideas, but there is little craft here. It's more like science and less like art.

There is, however, a slight redemption to this novel. I believe, though I'm not 100% certain, that the border and the societies it creates is an allegory for the class and racial divisions that exist within our own societies. We go our entire lives noticing and ignoring things around us because that's just the way it's always been. To an outsider, it seems ridiculous, but to someone raised within such a society, it seems perfectly normal--even the correct way. It's a good discussion on looking at one's own society and examining it from the basics on up.

This was a bit of a fish-or-cut-bait kind of novel for me, but I'm still not sure what to do. Somewhere inside Miéville, there is a great novel waiting to be written. I've seen hints of it in Perdido Street Station and this one, but he's still not there yet. I think I'll take a break from him for now, but I'll keep reading the reviews of his new novels. At some point, he needs to take a rest and evaluate his work. When he brings up the quality of his narrative, and combines that with focused characters, plot, themes and imagination all in one novel, he will have a winner.