The City & the City
UK first edition cover
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| Author | China Miéville |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Crime, Weird fiction |
| Publisher | Macmillan |
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Publication date
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15 May 2009 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 312 pp |
| Award | Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel (2010) |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 316836327 |
| Preceded by | Un Lun Dun |
| Followed by | Kraken |
The City & the City is a novel by British author China Miéville, combining weird fiction with the police procedural; it was written as a gift for Miéville's terminally ill mother, who was a fan of the latter genre. The novel was published by Macmillan on 15 May 2009. In the US it was published by Del Rey Books on 26 May 2009. Also in 2009, a signed, limited edition of 500 numbered and 26 lettered copies was published in the US by Subterranean Press. It has won the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel, Arthur C. Clarke Award, World Fantasy Award, BSFA Award and Kitschies Red Tentacle; tied with Paolo Bacigalupi's The Windup Girl for the 2010 Hugo Award for Best Novel, and been nominated for a Nebula Award and John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.
Inspector Tyador Borlú, of the Extreme Crime Squad in the European city-state of Besźel, investigates the murder of Mahalia Geary, a foreign student found dead with her face disfigured in a Besźel street. He soon learns that Geary had been involved in the political and cultural turmoil involving Besźel and its "twin city" of Ul Qoma. His investigations start in his home city of Besźel, lead him to Ul Qoma to assist the Ul Qoman police in their work, and eventually result in an examination of the legend of Orciny, a rumoured third city existing in the spaces between Besźel and Ul Qoma.
The City & the City takes place in the cities of Besźel and Ul Qoma. The precise location of these cities is not described. However, various references in the book indicate that the cities are perhaps in the coastal Black Sea region of southeastern Europe: Besź smugglers traffic in goods from Varna, Bulgaria and Bucharest, Romania; protagonist Tyador Borlú enjoys his coffee in the Turkish style.
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