Thanks for all the interesting replies! Given the response, I decided to make a whole community around this, hope you’ll consider joining!
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If I love “unreliable shifting cities” narratives, like Dark City, Fallen London and the City of Saints and Madmen books, what similar kinds of settings might I like?
I’m not familiar with those, so this might be a bad suggestion, but the short description makes me think this may still fit, have you read The City & the City by China Miéville?
It’s set in two overlapping cities, whose inhabitants diligently disregard the other city’s until they formally cross the borders, and it’s a crime to do otherwise. It’s a pretty compelling read imo!
I haven’t but it sounds like I should. Thanks for the rec!
Kraken, also by Mièville, is also somewhat of a match; as well as Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.
There was an okay-ish TV adaptation, it’s on Britbox or freevee with ads.
I stumbled across this the other week while trying to find the name of the book invisible cities and gave it a watch because the trailer reminded me of Disco Elysium.
Without knowing the original novel, I thought it was really compelling and entertaining, with my only major critique being the pacing of the final episode, but equally 4 episodes is such an easy commitment that I’d absolutely recommend the show if you aren’t in the mood to pick up a book.
If an unreliable shifting house would work, House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski. The writing is very much love it or hate it for a lot of people, but the idea fits.
Edit: Oh! And House of Windows by John Langan. No relation despite the similar titles.
I did love House of Leaves!
Dark City is amazing, I recommend that movie whenever I get the chance.
Hell yes. Man, the 90s even into the early 2000s we had some freakin great wierd movies. 1999 might be the best year ever for movies.
I don’t think we will ever see an era like that again.
Maybe Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente? Her Orphan’s Tales have some interesting cities too, but that’s a bit of a stretch.
Again, not just one city, but take a look at Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino - it was a direct inspiration for Fallen London.
China Miéville might be worth checking out - go for either the City and the City or for Perdido Street Station.
Not a city but Cube
perhaps too literal though.
Have you tried Neverwhere [tv series, novel, comic] by Neil Gaiman?
Just the novel, but yes, it is great! Is the TV series good?
I saw the tv series first (the book came later) and really enjoyed it. I think some of the special effects are dated and … I’m not sure but, like, when I read the book, the tv characters had already been established in my brain as canonical, so I saw and heard those characters as I read the book. In cases where I’ve read the book first, sometimes I have my own version of canonical characters in my brain and it can be hard for me to accept those characters if I really loved the book and the on-screen depiction is very different. And the opportunity for a disconnect (and disappointment) between versions just increases when you’re dealing with a world that varies (yet is so dependent) on our own.
tl;dr: you might find it disappointing because it doesn’t ‘match’ the world you read, or because of some of the effects. But I absolutely loved the series, both at the time and still now - I watched it again just over the summer.
Such a good point about accepting the character in TV and movie adaptation. It can really increase the risk of not liking the adaptation
Trying to find some other suggestions, maybe the movie Vivarium?
Was sure somewhere in the back of my mind I had something that fit exactly
I had never heard of it before, but I just looked it up and the setting sounds perfect. Thanks!
Maybe Labyrinth or Time Bandits. They both had some 4D changing terrain.
Hazy memory that Clive Barkers NightBreed had similar too.
There was a pilot of a series that was never developed, called Parallels. People travelling in parallel versions of earth through a building. Obviously it ends up on a cliffhanger, but I loved it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallels_(film)
Neverwhere, the book I think you would like.