The Walled City

by Ryan Graudin

[pamela]

Obi Wan Kenobi said to Luke Skywalker "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy." He was of course speaking of Mos Eisley, but these very words and what they represented could easily have been applied to Hong Kong's Kowloon Walled City. It is a fascinating place in Hong Kong's history, a place which grew up organically and was destroyed by governmental decree in 1987. In 'Walled City' Ryan Graudin documents the last days of the walled city through the eyes of its three teenaged protagonists, siblings Jin Ling and Mei Yee separated in the wake of their abusive upbringing, and Dai a young man who's past has exiled him to Hak Nam.

Graudin's plot is fast paced and involving. The characters are well thought out and believable, but clearly targeted to a Western audience. I could have been reading a dystopian western future rather than an Asian past. It didn't make the book bad, because it was full of twists and I was carried along with the story, but it certainly didn't feel very true to the culture or time from which it came. I got the impression that the setting was more an inspiration to the story rather than being a work of historical fiction. And that is ok. It never claimed to be more than that.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It has a complex plot, is fast paced, well written and just a really great read. It has equal elements of dark and light, it's more grim and visceral moments were described in sensations rather than gore, which was masterful in getting the reader to identify with the characters. If you're after an enjoyable and tense read you can't do better than this book no matter what your age.