The Last Days of New Paris

The Last Days of New Paris (ISBN 978-0-345-54399-8) is a 2016 fantasy novella by China Miéville. The book takes place in an alternate history in which surrealist artists join partisans in Paris to fight Nazi groups. The role of surrealism in history is explored.[1][2]

First edition (publ. Del Rey Books)
Cover artist: Claudia Carlsen

Synopsis

The main plot follows Thibaut, a Parisian, in an alternate-history 1950 where World War II is still ongoing and Paris is still occupied by Nazis. He joins forces with Sam, a photographer, to fight the occupying Nazis in a landscape dominated by manifs, real-world manifestations of surrealist art.

Interstitial chapters follow an America engineer and occultist named Jack Parsons, who visits a group of Marseilles surrealists, including André Breton, in 1941. Parsons creates the "S-Bomb", the device which creates the manifs when stolen and detonated in Paris.

References
  1. "Book review: The Last Days of New Paris – a surreal masterpiece". South China Morning Post. 22 August 2016.
  2. "China Miéville Goes To War In 'New Paris.' Very, Very Weird War". NPR. 14 August 2016.


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