Inverted World (New York Review Books Classics)

With simple language and enormous clarity a speculative world is subtlety, excitingly unveiled in vivid detail that tickles the mind with the memory of what might have been and is still to come. An extravagant imagination of a world elusive and familiar, foreign and fantastic.Among the seminal works in the genre - A thrilling story, hauntingly real and fabulous. Read it, revel in it and be awed.

I’ve never encountered a book like this before. I’ve read a lot of sci fi and (obviously) so often it’s set in outer space. But this is something completely different and it makes for a fantastic read. I’m just not sure it’s a good book.It’s impossible to talk about the book without spoiling things, but this is due to the structure of the story and I’m seeing this as a bit of a fault. Or, I think I do. This book is all bread crumbs until the end. The only real conflict is shared between our main character and the reader: basically, what the hell is going on? And I’m not sure that’s a real conflict. It’s only a “reason” to keep reading. If the book started by laying everything out for you in the beginning the rest wouldn’t be all that interesting.I suppose you could compare this to something like 1984, where our main character senses the world isn’t as it seems and perhaps he’s been given a narrative he needs to expose. But in 1984 we get incredible world building. There’s not much of that here, and if there is it’s all sort of revealed in a very plain way.But as I type this, I realize I can’t quite stop thinking about what this book is trying to say about our real world and the nature of those that govern Vs the ones that are governed. The idea of keeping your head down and just continuing to do things because that’s the way they’ve been done. Maybe I’m not giving the story enough credit.Either way, I’m very happy to have found another example that sci fi isn’t always lasers and space ships. No matter what I recommend reading this one just because of how unique it really is.

The problem with so called hard SF as numerous readers without Physics, Astronomy or Astrobiology Phd’s can testify after going through the Andersons, the Bears and the Clements (warning: do not try Clement alone) is that, more often than not, the numbers, the concepts, the algorithms, the computroniums, the compuquanta and the compumerates, all this meaningless and sometimes right out silly mumbo jumbo is becoming too much and overshadows what could have been a decent, or even outstanding idea.Not so in Christopher Priest’s Inverted World. Not by a country mile. This is a novel, hard on the science but soft on the soul. This is a novel already approaching the half century mark but feeling like it will be written in the 2020’s. This is a novel with an A-list idea, but not C-list tricks, no magic, no dei ex machina, no easy 21st century cop outs.What Christopher Priest has packed in 300, other writers would need 300 thousands of pages. Where to start? From the “optimum”? From the “City” on rails? From going “South”? From the protagonist Helward Mann who, unable to grasp, comprehend and embrace change reminds us of every one of us in this pre-Singularity era?You don’t need to be a scientist to immensely enjoy Inverted World. Human will do. Get this gem.

Something about the premise of this book really resonated with me, and having read several other of Priest's books and enjoyed his style, I was excited to see how he would treat it.The first 3 sections of the book were almost exactly what I expected, laying out a society a couple centuries into facing a really intriguing set of circumstances. Priest tends to treat hard SF concepts with a delicate touch I appreciate, and Inverted World was no different. I loved what he did with the science up to this point.Then came the twist, and to be honest, I felt the 5th and final section of the book was rushed and not what it could have been. Perhaps because I read this exactly 40 years on, but the unconvincing science presented to explain the last 300 pages was disappointing to me. For all the care he gave 300 pages of set up, the pay off explanation was dropped in the space of 4 pages, and could have been condensed into a paragraph or two. And then suddenly it's over.Even so, the book is worth reading. I gave this 3 stars because I tend to love Priest's writing, and I certainly love this premise, but I only liked the book by the end. Read it, but be prepared for an abrupt final lap.

I first came across "The Inverted World" in a SF collection of short stories many, many years ago. The funny thing is that the ending was very different and to be honest a lot more plausible than the one in the full length book which does require a great leap of faith.Having said that this book totally sucked me in. I read it more or less straight through (I can't remember the last time I did that with a book) and then I read it straight through again (never done that). I am surprised that there has never been a film but there again Rendevous with Rama hasn't made it to the silver screen yet either. Priest builds a quite plausible little world out of a completely implausible situation.

Hugely origInal. A tale like no others. A must read for any sci-fi buff. An outside of the box brilliant work

An extraordinarily powerful book which stretches your mind as you attempt to understand Priest's world. His characters are genuine individuals, their friendships and conflicts are entirely natural and believable. Yet the book remains genuine SF. I agree to some extent with the reader whose critique said the ending is a little weak. Still, I wonder how better it could possibly have been done. In any event, it follows chapters of extremely powerful distorted realism. This is a book I will long remember and confidently recommend to any SF enthusiast.