Mar 1, 2011

Christopher Priest - The Inverted World

When Helward Mann leaves town he has no reason to think that the world beyond is not altoghether alien. But in fact, despite all he has always been told, there is evidence that slowly contradict all his convictions. As he grows his work experience outside the city, he is forcedin his struggle for survival
to accept the rationale.



As a member of one of the guilds that manages to move the city on rails, plowing a wasteland full of hostile tribes he lays the rails in front of the city and carefully removes them in its wake. The rivers and mountains are a virtually insurmountable obstacle to the technical ingenuity of the guilds but if it stops moving, the city will fall in the gravitational field that has become destructive of all life on Earth. So, the only alternative to death is progress.


This is a classic science fiction book, one in which the laws of physics may seem a little strained but are explained at the end. Mysteries unraveled keep the reader interested throughout the book. Everything is centered at first in the moving city: how, why, when, and the Guild society within. Weird and exciting in the middle, it ends with a more realistic note. This is a cold book, relationships and characters are even chilly but in spite of this, that makes a bit difficult to become involved with the characters and their lives, its utterly fascinating and keeps you guessing about the nature of reality until the end.

awards: BSFA winner, 1974, Hugo Award nominee, 1975




Christopher Priest was born in Cheshire, England. He began writing soon after leaving school and has been a full-time freelance writer since 1968. He has published eleven novels, four short story collections and a number of other books, including critical works, biographies, novelizations and children’s non-fiction.
His most recently published novel The Separation won both the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the BSFA Award. In 1996 Priest won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel The Prestige. He has been nominated four times for the Hugo award. He has won several awards abroad, including the Kurd Lasswitz Award (Germany), the Eurocon Award (Yugoslavia), the Ditmar Award (Australia), and Le Grand Prix de L’Imaginaire (France). In 2001 he was awarded the Prix Utopia (France) for lifetime achievement.

He is Vice-President of the H. G. Wells Society.


He is married to the writer Leigh Kennedy. They live in Hastings, England, with their twin adult children, Elizabeth and Simon.



9 comments:

  1. Se ve interesante como una manera de repensar el mundo
    ¿Cómo sabes de tantos libros eh? ¿Tienes una librería o eres bibliotecaria?

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  2. Tengo un Kindle, internet y un vicio mu grande :)))

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  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  4. ok, ok, now without real names (forgetfulness)

    Yes, oh yes, lady, you have! As a matter of fact you remind me of a Bill Ward's song: "Please help mommy (she's a junkie)" :-P

    Only someone very addicted can read 4 books during a three weeks honeymoon in Patagonia.

    We love you, hon. Happy married live!

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  5. Congratulation! May you have as much happiness as this pumpkinbrain and I have enjoyed (surprisingly)

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  6. Cucurbithead suits you better?

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  7. Un Kindle es un libro electrónico de Amazon. Inmejorable relación calidad-precio y la mejor tinta electrónica del mercado. Aunque te lo vende Amazon y tiene conexión directa con su tienda online, puedes cargarle todo tipo de libros que te bajes de internet en otros formatos, salvo ePub que lo tienes que convertir previamente a Mobi o pdf, con un programa como Calibre. Yo carrañaba mucho contra los libros electrónicos hasta que probé éste y me di cuenta de que:
    - me puedo llevar 300 libros de viaje sin cargarlos, incluyendo varias guías del sitio al que voy y diccionarios del idioma que hablen, o guías de conversación.
    - en lugar de pedir libros de sci-fi a Amazon, pagar un dineral y esperar un mes a que me lleguen, me los bajo en aproximadamente un minuto.
    - puedo leer en la cama sin que me acaben doliendo los brazos (y venden una funda que lleva una lamparita adosada que si compartes habitación con alguien es genial de práctica)

    Perfecto, simplemente perfecto. Lleva un navegador de internet algo pedestre pero funcional con el que puedes leer el correo. Ummm, ¿qué más?, sí, un diccionario inglés-inglés que pones el cursor delante de una palabra y te saca la definición.

    Toy loca por mi Kindle, ya ves. :)

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