The Egyptologist, by Arthur Phillips and Un Lun Dun, by China Mieville

The reason for this rare doubleheader of a review is that I was unable to get past 50 pages in either of these books. "The Egyptologist," while having an interesting plot, is written as a series of letters and journal entries, and it was just incredibly boring. It's hard to pull off that kind of unconventional style, and I'm afraid it simply couldn't hold my interest. "Un Lun Dun," written by a master of modern genre-bending fantasy and sci fi, is meant for a young adult audience but comes off as rushed and stilted. Children and young adult readers are more sophisticated than many give them credit for, and I feel that Mieville's book is too simplistic for anyone over the age of 8. It's unfortunate, since otherwise he's such an intriguing writer.