Ammonite and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more

Kindle Edition
 
   
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Ammonite
 
 
Start reading Ammonite on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Ammonite [Import] [Paperback]

Nicola Griffith (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)


Available from these sellers.


Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition --  
Paperback $14.49  
Paperback, Import, 1993 --  
Mass Market Paperback --  

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought


Product Details

  • Paperback: 397 pages
  • Publisher: Del Rey Books (Science Fiction and Fantasy) (1993)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0586216901
  • ISBN-13: 978-0586216903
  • Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,648,421 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Authors

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

 

Customer Reviews

22 Reviews
5 star:
 (8)
4 star:
 (7)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (22 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Simple, scientific, impelling and meaningful., March 11, 1999
This review is from: Ammonite (Mass Market Paperback)
Nicola Griffith, in her first novel, Ammonite, makes the claim that change is the death that requires courage. Each character in her story finds that death, the required change, in an individual challenge, and sources the courage from a unique strength. Very real, very human dilemmas placed in the storyteller's rhythm that draws you deeper into her story. Ms. Griffith's science is instructive. She has stayed within the boundaries created by theoretical probabilities, extrapolating the present into the future - weaving scientific explanation and the processes of our human spirit into an impelling story. Her vision for the potential of what our society names "alternative methods" in the healing professions is believable and powerful. A review on the book jacket claims that Ms. Griffith has "a very interesting take on gender." The book is potent in its ability to convey that in our essence we are gender-more as well as gender-less. Environmental circumstances in her story create a female population, but the human questions, conditions, and challenges remain constant. The attitudes and actions of her characters contain qualities of what we currently identify as feminine or masculine. Ms. Griffith translates for the reader the inner balancing of each character's feminine/masculine energies, changing the gender concept into something else. Readers who enjoy a book which takes today into the future, relates science in ways which teach, and characters that explore the depths of human character will find value in this book. It is a book you experience as well as read. Ammonite stays with you after you have finished the last page. At first, you wish it had been longer and given more information. Then you start to appreciate its simplicity and uncluttered-ness. You want to read it again, unhurried now, because you know the stopping point of the story. Ms. Griffith is a viajera. If you wish to know what that is - read the book.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Science fiction has never appealed to me., July 12, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Ammonite (Mass Market Paperback)
Science fiction has never appealed to me. Perhaps this is because I had always associated it with things like "Star Trek," and people dressed in spandex saying things like, "Android Vortex reporting for duty Sir." Ammonite, by Nicola Griffith is nothing like what I had feared, I would recommend it as a wonderful first venture into reading within the genre of Science Fiction. Science fiction intrinsically allows for stimulating social commentary and Nicola Griffith does so skillfully. While envisioning alternate perspectives on issues of gender, sexuality, reproduction, and most other aspects of society, she also tells a story which utilizes the elements of drama in a most engaging way. The author's use of exposition to both provide the background information needed to follow the story and to slowly guide the reader from that which is known, to the world where the story will play out, is subtle and feels quite effortless. Ammonite takes place in the distant future on the planet GP, nicknamed "Jeep" by those who have traveled there from Earth as part of a corporate mission of the Durallium Company. The company has only one interest in the planet and that is its potential financial yield. There are several conflicts in Ammonite which drive the story forward. One is the internal conflict within the main protagonist, Marghe Taishan. An anthropologist sent by the Durallium Company to GP to test a vaccine, which Company hopes will eliminate a deadly virus which has prevented Company occupation of the planet, Marghe is soon torn between loyalty to the Company and curiosity about the new world she is inhabiting. Concurrently, conflicts between Marghe and the society she encounters, and between the inhabitants and Company are also taking place. The exploration of the planet as well as the societies which exists on it causes an immersion in these alternative societies which Griffith has created and from this immersion comes an appreciation for the simplicity of the people, their customs, their whole way of life and a desire to see it all preserved, and a disappointment that the fantasy ended.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Something for everyone who likes science fiction, January 8, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Ammonite (Mass Market Paperback)
This is a fantastic blend of lots of different science fiction elements: a quest story, a huge planetary landscape, anthropology, sociology, viruses and galactic political intrigue. It's populated by humans of all descriptions--flawed, complex, with good and bad intentions. It's a beautifully written book about people and how they respond to crisis and to change. I'm recommending it to all my friends and will definitely be looking for her other work.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews











Only search this product's reviews



Inside This Book (learn more)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence:
MARGHE'S SUIT was still open at neck and wrist, and the helmet rested in the crook of her left arm. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
skelter trees, tent sisters, snow mask, herd bird, ting grass, clay disks, strike the gong
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Port Central, T'orre Na, Holme Valley, Singing Pastures, Sara Hiam, North Haven, Marghe Amun, Letitia Dogias, Captain White Moon, Death Spirit, High Beaches, Pebble Fleet, Marguerite Angelica Taishan, Officer Kahn, Grenchstom's Planet, Hannah Danner, Representative Taishan, Commander Danner, Helen Relman, Janet Eagan, Mouth of the Grave, Trern Swamplands, Winnie Kimura, Ato Teng, Eye of Ocean
New!
Concordance | Text Stats
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:


What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
 

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums



So You'd Like to...



Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject

Search Books by subject:





i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...