THE CITY AND THE CITY

China Miéville likes when people call his work weird. The 36-year-oldBritish writer is the author of the new novel "The City & The City," amurder mystery set in two cities, Ul Qoma and Beszel, one rich and onepoor, where residents have been trained to "unsee" each other in order tocoexist. Mr. Miéville specializes in what he bills as "weird fiction" --fantastic tales that draw on horror, science fiction and fantasy, but thatdon't fit comfortably into any of those genres. Mr. Miéville's 2007 novelfor younger readers, "Un Lun Dun," set in an alternate version of London,was a New York Times best seller. "The City & The City," aimed at adults,has a first printing of 35,000 copies.