Review: Ludluda, by Jeff Noon & Steve Beard

Ludluda, the sequel to Gogmagog, takes us on a haunting and delightfully witty adventure in a fantasy world which defies genre.

Luluda tells the story of a journey through a strange modern city whose power is sourced from the ghost of a dragon. Ludwich may no longer be at war with its great political rival overseas, but veteran sailor Cady Meade, survivor of many battles, suspects that the hard-won peace is about to break. She promises to deliver a preternatural ten-year old girl to a coming-of-age festival in the heart of Ludwich. But she has been warned by the prophets that dangers lie ahead.

Cady suspects that the young girl’s fate is entwined with that of the city. When the girl disappears, the old sailor must hunt her down, accompanied by a know-it-all mechanical man whose circuits are slowly grinding to dust. But Cady’s mission has always been to guard Ludwich from enemies both known and occult, and she will never give up.

Following the course of the River Nysis through the city, and beyond, Cady must uncover the final mysteries of the great dragon Haakenur’s life and death and afterlife. Her greatest battle is about to begin.

My Review

Thanks to the gang at Angry Robot Books for my ARC of this book. After reading Gogmagog earlier in the year, I looked forward to reading this book.

I was not disappointed.

We re-join Cady as she’s struggling to empty her bowels. Yes, that’s right, Cady is constipated and she’s not happy about it, or that one of her buds has died. And she still has to get Brin and Lek to the hesting pools. Joined by a river man, well boy more precisely, called Jed, who knows his way around the city and the river, the group get where they need to go, only to be disappointed.

Jed has a plan. It involves his aunt Queenie, banned magic and an old thrawl’s tin head.

Things sort of work out. For Brin at least.

For Cady, Jed and Lek, life gets even more complicated. Cady needs to be pollinated, Lak needs to help Brin, and Jed is going along for the ride. The Juniper races westward through the sickened ghost of Faynr, meeting up with John Dee’s modern incarnation, the beast that forms the tubular system of Ludwich, and a Green Woman in London, before landing in the source, Tangle Wood, to do battle for the soul of Ludwich.

I struggled to get through the first 70 pages, it was slow going, but after Brin hests and Cady realises her mistake, things pick up and the narrative starts to move at a much quicker pace. Over the course of about 36 hours the crew of the Juniper have a lot of adventures. The read the last 300 pages in one sitting. It’s very late at night, a few days before this review is due to be posted and I should go to bed, but I had to find out what happened and then I needed to tell you all all about it. I want to tell you everything, but spoilers!

So what did I enjoy?

• The language! By turns earthy and poetic, little details and soaring flights contrast each other to bring this weirdness a sense of reality. Noon & Beard use language so skilfully, I could never hope to compare! I could feel the clinging muck of the Tubulars, the filth of the Netherings, the pure joy of flight and seeding. I once again return to the description I used of Gogmagog – this book is a fever dream, in a good way. But with more digestive issues.

• Descriptions of landscapes real and imagined. It’s so vibrant and alive, even the descriptions of London feel drawn from a film. It reminded me of places I’ve been but at a different time. Although, I think a lot of that comes from seeing old films and reading descriptions of post-war London than from actually remembering experiences.

• The characters, especially Cady and Jed! The very elderly and the very young, one speaking plainly, driven by duty and internal needs, and the other a little trickster with a good heart, driven by curiosity. They build trust and an understanding of each other. Lek is an interesting creation. He is a mechanical man, with shop-standard emotions, but a complex mind that we see explored in the process of searching for Brin and in trying to defeat Gogmagog. His mind is quite extraordinary, although his end is sad.

• The cross-over between a realistic post-war London and a fantastic post-war Ludwich is sparkly-word-feelings. Sorry, I’m running on impressions here. The use of mirrors to travel between worlds, and the way they’re connected is quite brilliantly constructed. The use of John Dee as the connection is clever. He lived at the right time, in Ludwich, Feynr and Gogmagog are separated and sent to London, and in London, the early stages of the Industrial Revolution are starting to peak in, with the switch from wood to coal fires in the city and the subsequent increasing pollution. Feynr is sickened by the war, Gogmamgog is strengthened by the war and industrial pollution. It’s a lovely allegory.

What didn’t I like?

• Not much, honestly. The slow start was probably a bit slower than I would have liked.
• Brin. She’s a brat. Cady knows she’s a brat, but she gives in anyway. The fact that she’s using Cady is fairly obvious, and I wasn’t surprised when she turned on the crew, but I’m not sure if I’m meant to not be surprised or not? We’re reading from Cady’s perspective, so the confusion might reflect Cady’s own confusion, in which case, the writers did a bloody good job.

This is going on my favourites of the year list. Highly recommended, although if you don’t like earthy humour and swearing, it might not be for you.