The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Author - Neil Gaiman

Genre - Fantasy, Coming-of-age

Source - Audiobook

Rating - 3 (specifically, a weak 3)

May 2014

Hmm, not satisfactory enough. You expect the sun and the moon from Neil Gaiman... I do. I'm a fan. And he does not quite deliver here. 

Philosophy and imagery and lovely passages and Facebook quotes are all well and good, but there just isn't enough meat in the story here. This is one Gaiman book that I will suggest for a non-fan to give a pass. And other fans like me will read it anyway -- so how did you like it?

Un Lun Dun

Author - China Miéville

Genre - Fantasy, YA, Coming-of-age, Message-fiction, Parallel-world

Source - Audiobook

Rating - 5

July 2013

Amazing, amazing! Put Harry Potter and Neverwhere together, mix it together, and then turn the whole concept around. You get Un Lun Dun. 
So you know that I am a bit of a Miéville fan. And I read YA fiction often. Put those together, and the expectation was high. The expectation was met, to say the least.
Just to add: like the best of message fiction, the messages come in to the reader subconsciously, never becoming even a slight bit preachy; and never interfering with the story. Pollution. Using lower countries as dumping ground for waste. The experience of a subcontinental-origin person in London. And the biggest hit for me was the sublime turnaround of the sidekick. The Neville Longbottoms of the world rise up to take their rightful position in this book, and how!