The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

This is for discussions about The Inverted World by Christopher Priest.

Has anybody read much by Christopher Priest? I read The Affirmationwhich was a strange dreamlike book which I really enjoyed. I've started The Inverted World and it's quite different, in fact it's quite straight-forward so far. I'm hoping this will change as I progress as it's not at all how I imagined the book would be.

I've not read Christopher Priest. So, I'm looking forward to our group read this month.

I think I've probably read most of his stuff over the years but I'm going back to read some of the older novels now. I love this book - it's very simply, almost plainly written, but just keeps unfolding as you go on. On rereading this I'm struck by how it reminds me of Ballard - very much about the idea rather than characterisation or (at times) plotting.

This book really grew on me, at the beginning I was comparing it unfavorably to The affirmation but as I continued to read it I was really drawn in. The story gradually evolves and it's cleverly done. It's not fast paced or action packed like a lot of books but I find Christopher Priest has a really readable writing style. Enough science in it to keep me happy (although i'm not going to question the plausibility of it). I have enjoyed this months group read.

Here is my review of The Inverted World. It's pretty good and certainly worthy of discussion, especially among those with a scientific bent.

The Inverted World is written in straightforward unpretentious prose. Christopher Priest is British but his writing is somewhat similar to Isaac Asimov's. It's comfortable to read and moves ahead smoothly at a good pace. There is not a strong plot. The story is the revelation of the strange conditions in which the characters live. The telling of the tale moves back and forth from first person to third person and one part of the book is written from the point of view of one other than the main character. This isn't problematic, but it's noticeable. This is a good hard science fiction novel. Its premise is original and clever.

(view spoiler)[Along with our protagonist Helward Mann, through his guild apprenticeship, we learn the unusual natural laws of his world. It is a world whose shape is hyperbolic rather than spherical. That is, it is shaped like a solid hyperbola, y=1/x, rotated about the y axis. North is asymptotic on the y axis, toward the pole and south is asymptotic on the x axis, toward the equator. Time and space are distorted more and more the farther one is from the optimum, that is, the point on the hyperbolic surface where x=1. When one travels south from the optimum, the centrifugal force created by the spinning of the planet overcomes the force of gravity creating a pull parallel to the surface of the ground, i.e. towards the equator. The land is inexorably (and inexplicably) moving from the pole towards the equator at the rate of about a tenth of a mile a day and this is what causes the big problem for the people who live in the city. The city must be physically moved, relentlessly, to keep it near the optimum. This is done by winching it along tracks that are laid ahead and taken up behind. Otherwise it would move away from the optimum and into the area of increasing spatial-temporal distortion and would be destroyed by the centrifugal force. There are people living in settlements along the path of the city who seem not to be affected by the distortions, or at least not in the same way that the people of the city are affected.

Well into the story a character from outside the city, Elizabeth Khan, is introduced. Liz tries to convince the people of the city that she is from England, that they are on Earth, not some other planet, that it really is spherical but that their perceptions have been distorted by their electric power generator, which isn't really nuclear fueled. She explains how their situation came into being and that in the 200 years that they've been pulling the city they've traveled 7000 miles from China to Portugal. In the end, facing the daunting task of trying to build a bridge across a vast river that is actually the Atlantic Ocean, our hero, Helward, remains unconvinced,. (hide spoiler)]

Little by little the strange way of the world is revealed. I had a hard time imagining it until finally the hyperbolic shape is explained as being defined by the formula y=1/x. Then finally it made sense and I could visualize it. (Simple high school geometry. Don't you remember?) There were some interesting technological anomalies: They had video cameras, electric bogies (trucks or wagons), a (supposedly) nuclear power generator yet the militia uses crossbows and all the heavy work is done by manual labor. There is no heavy construction equipment or even power tools. Most of the things I wondered about as the story progressed are eventually explained and became clear. In the end, the major question remains revealed, but unresolved, in a kind of Twilight Zonesque finish.

I'm about 1/3 done, just finished part 1. It started out really slowly. It took me a long time to get through the first 50 pages because it just wasn't grabbing me. The secrecy of the guilds finally grabbed me. I'm really curious now to find out what all the secrecy is about.

David wrote: "I'm about 1/3 done, just finished part 1. It started out really slowly. It took me a long time to get through the first 50 pages because it just wasn't grabbing me. The secrecy of the guilds finall..."

It's not a fast paced novel but do you find yourself being drawn in. This was the second novel by him i've read, the first was much more dreamlike and strange. Here again I was drawn into the story, personally I find he he is very readable.

Jo wrote: "It's not a fast paced novel but do you find yourself being drawn in. This was the second novel by him i've read, the first was much more dreamlike and strange. Here again I was drawn into the story, personally I find he he is very readable. "

I agree with you Jo. The circumstances are rather bizarre, the more you find out what is happening. But the writing is quite straightforward.

I'm 2/3 finished now. Yes, once I was pulled in, I find myself very much enjoying it. This is my 2nd book by Priest. The first was The Prestige. I have to admit, I don't remember much about it. I like the way time flows differently as you move north toward optimum or south away from it in Inverted a world. I also like the way information unfolds for us as Helward learns about his world.

I just finished the book. One of the things I liked about it is the structure that mirrors the plot. The parts get shorter and shorter as we progress through the book. Even the trajectory of my reading it followed that. I read the last third in just half a day, while the first third dragged.

I liked this book a lot. The twist at the end was wonderful. The change in perspective was quite jarring and intentionally so. It was completely in service to the telling of the story and breaks with the usual rules of fiction. I love it when authors can break those rules intentionally in a novel and have it so obviously work. I've seen this rule broken in other novels where the author was just unaware of the consequences and had no idea he or she was making a huge mistake. In this case, Priest knows exactly what he's doing and why he's doing it.

Sorry to bring this topic to the surface again but I just read this yesterday and was curious if anyone else had similar thoughts to me on the ending. All in all I really enjoyed the book. There isn't much of story but the ideas were intriguing enough to keep me gripped. I kind of saw the twist coming, and when it came I thought it was cool. But as I came to the last page I just had one thought in my head: "What about the time differences?".
The first signs of stuff about the world around Helward being strange was when he noticed people who should be of the same age weren't. His dad ages unexpectedly fast, he overtakes his friend Jase in years ect. If everything of what he sees is just a distorted perspective then that doesn't add up with the time difference. He may have felt like he'd only been gone a short while when down past, but everyone else felt he'd been gone 70 miles and that means 's everyone's "distorted perspective" would need to be in perfect sync. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I can buy the twist with everything else, but not when it comes to the time travel aspect.

Joel wrote: "Sorry to bring this topic to the surface again but I just read this yesterday and was curious if anyone else had similar thoughts to me on the ending. All in all I really enjoyed the book. There is..."

When you put it like that it doesn't make sense. I can't say I noticed that at the time. I think the thing that bothered me the most was his refusal to believe the truth at the end considering all that he had seen.

I thought the physical distortion as they went below optimum was pretty cool. It fit in so well with the way they perceived their world. I agree that the time distortion was a little inexplicable, but I accepted it and I don't think it hurt the novel.