Un Lun Dun

Par China Miéville, Macmillan

«What is Un Lun Dun? It is London through the looking glass, an urban Wonderland of strange delights where all the lost and broken things of London end up . . . and some of its lost and broken people, too–including Brokkenbroll, boss of the broken umbrellas; Obaday Fing, a tailor whose head is an enormous pin-cushion, and an empty milk carton called Curdle. Un Lun Dun is a place where words are alive, a jungle lurks behind the door of an ordinary house, carnivorous giraffes stalk the streets, and a dark cloud dreams of burning the world. It is a city awaiting its hero, whose coming was prophesied long ago, set down for all time in the pages of a talking book. When twelve-year-old Zanna and her friend Deeba find a secret entrance leading out of London and into this strange city, it seems that the ancient prophecy is coming true at last. But then things begin to go shockingly wrong.»

Un chef d'oeuvre saugrenu et déroutant qui fait exploser les limites de l'imaginaire. China Miéville tricote de sa plume aux mille possibles une narration fine et agile, au rythme enlevant, qui fait basculer sournoisement le lecteur dans l'envers d'un monde qu'il croyait connaître. Nourrissant cet univers insolite par le biais d'un riche lexique propre à Un Lun Dun, lexique fourmillant de délicieux jeux de mots dérivant de la vie à Londres, Miéville déploie sous les yeux ébahis du lecteur une gargantuesque fresque urbaine où des personnages étranges et savoureux émeuvent et chamboulent joyeusement les repères.  Une sublime épopée, sombre, vibrante, à mi-chemin entre le fantastique et le roman d'anticipation, qui sème le doute sur notre façon de gérer la pollution...

Lili lui donne: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★  

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Death Cloud

Par Andrew Lane, Macmillan Children's, Young Sherlock Holmes 1

«The world’s most famous detective. The most brilliant mind in fiction. But before he became the great detective, who was young Sherlock Holmes? The year is 1868, and Sherlock Holmes is fourteen. His life is that of a perfectly ordinary army officer’s son: boarding school, good manners, a classical education – the backbone of the British Empire. But all that is about to change. With his father suddenly posted to India, and his mother mysteriously ‘unwell’, Sherlock is sent to stay with his eccentric uncle and aunt in their vast house in Hampshire. So begins a summer that leads Sherlock to uncover his first murder, a kidnap, corruption and a brilliantly sinister villain of exquisitely malign intent...»

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