Hidden Place, A [Mass Market Paperback]

Robert Charles Wilson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1986

In a small American town during the Depression, a motley group of people gather, drawn together by fate and strange, unknowable forces. When the survivors part, they and the town will never be the same.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Robert Charles Wilson has produced one of the most impressive bodies of work in contemporary science fiction.” —The New York Times

“Exquisitely written.” —Fantasy and Science Fiction

“Wilson sets out to remind us, and possibly himself, of what there is to fall in love with in SF, and he succeeds.” —Locus

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Robert Charles Wilson was born in California and grew up in Canada. He is the author of many acclaimed SF novels, including A Hidden Place, The Divide, Gypsies, Bios, Darwinia, and The Chronoliths. His work has won the John W. Campbell Award, the Aurora Award, and two Philip K. Dick Awards. He lives near Toronto.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 213 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Spectra (October 1, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553261037
• ISBN-13: 978-0553261035
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,408,379 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A More Graceful Brand of Sci Fi, November 4, 2007

By 

Russell Clothier (Kansas City, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Hidden Place (Paperback)

Science fiction, when it's good, can be many things: exciting, fascinating, mind-expanding, fun. Robert Charles Wilson, however, is a different type of sci fi author. His books are thoughtful, lyrical, even beautiful. They are science fiction, in that they include aliens, or technology, or time travel. But the writing itself is as good as anything in modern literature and fiction. Reading one of Wilson's novels is a richer experience than one gets from other current sci fi novels.

A Hidden Place is an elegant example of Wilson's prowess. Much of the book is taken up describing the world and lives of several people in Haute Montagne, a dusty, Depression-era farm town somewhere in the American plains. Wilson makes you feel the pace of life there, the character of the people, the heat of summer and the rustle of the wind through the wheat. It is not until well into the book that you realize something, well, sci-fi-ish is going on.

A Hidden Place is without doubt the most graceful science fiction book I have ever read. You won't find alien fleets or cyberpunk villains, but you will feel redeemed

19 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fascinating fantasy, October 1, 2002

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Hidden Place (Paperback)

After his mother dies, Travis Fisher travels to the Midwest town of Haute Montagne to live with his Aunt Liza Burack and her husband Creath. It is the Great Depression and jobs are hard to come by so Travis works for Creath at his ice plant. The Baracks have a strange but beautiful boarder named Anna living in their attic and Travis is attracted to her even though she sleeps with Creath.

Travis starts dating Nancy Wilcox who wants to help Anna escape from Creath. Anna begs Travis to take Anna to a safe place before she starts changing. With Nancy's help he succeeds, but also glimpses Anna in her other form and knows she is not human. He leaves and Nancy watches over Anna until she completes the change. Anna is also waiting for her other half before she can return to her home world, but Haute Montagne is on the verge of exploding and Travis, Nancy, Anna and her other half could get caught in the middle of vigilante justice.

A HIDDEN PLACE is a fascinating work of fantasy starring two misfits who see themselves through an alien's myopic eyes. Nancy's easy acceptance of Anna's origins and Travis's rejection of her is a reflection of the lives they lived up to this point. Anna is a complex character who can see the beauty in humanity, which is the reason Nancy is so willing to help her. Travis is also a complicated person running from a past he can't accept and a future he doesn't believe in unless he makes peace with the mother he both loved and hated.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a glimpse of an all too recent horror, December 12, 2011

By 

Nigel Kirk (Canberra, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Hidden Place (Paperback)

Wilson's earlier work shows the emergence of the great talent we have enjoyed in the decades since. The attribution of plot elements to mysterious or wondrous but inexplicable things was pretty stock for the 80's and great writers like Orson Scott Card did no better. Wilson has now moved beyond this with interesting and scientifically reasonable plot elements, employed increasingly through to the Spin series, and his popularity has increased deservedly.

A Hidden Place is a moving account of the horror of the Depression and the inhumanity that such social upheaval generates in society, an enjoyable novel, all the more so as an indicator of the talent Wilson has become.