Inverted World
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Edition: 1st ed.,
Condition remarks:
Book: Fair , ex-library
Jacket: Wear and tear
Pages: Good
Markings: Ex-library with usual markings
A landmark of British science fiction, Inverted World presents one of the genre's most audacious and disorienting conceits: a city called Earth that must be perpetually hauled along rails through a strange landscape, always racing to reach an ever-receding optimal point, lest it be destroyed by the terrifying physics of its own world. Christopher Priest chronicles the journey of Helward Mann, a young man initiated into the city's secretive guild system, who slowly uncovers the shocking truth about the nature of the reality surrounding him. The novel builds its suspense with meticulous, almost clinical precision, grounding its surreal premise in the language of engineering and bureaucracy before pulling the rug out from under both its protagonist and the reader. Priest masterfully illustrates how perception shapes reality, crafting a philosophical puzzle wrapped in a propulsive adventure narrative. A deeply intelligent and unsettling work, it stands as a testament to the power of speculative fiction to challenge the very foundations of how we understand the world.
Author: Christopher Priest
Format: Hardback
Published: 1974, Faber and Faber
Genre: Science fiction
Edition: 1st ed.,
Condition remarks:
Book: Fair , ex-library
Jacket: Wear and tear
Pages: Good
Markings: Ex-library with usual markings
A landmark of British science fiction, Inverted World presents one of the genre's most audacious and disorienting conceits: a city called Earth that must be perpetually hauled along rails through a strange landscape, always racing to reach an ever-receding optimal point, lest it be destroyed by the terrifying physics of its own world. Christopher Priest chronicles the journey of Helward Mann, a young man initiated into the city's secretive guild system, who slowly uncovers the shocking truth about the nature of the reality surrounding him. The novel builds its suspense with meticulous, almost clinical precision, grounding its surreal premise in the language of engineering and bureaucracy before pulling the rug out from under both its protagonist and the reader. Priest masterfully illustrates how perception shapes reality, crafting a philosophical puzzle wrapped in a propulsive adventure narrative. A deeply intelligent and unsettling work, it stands as a testament to the power of speculative fiction to challenge the very foundations of how we understand the world.