Inverted World [Hardcover]

Christopher Priest (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Faber and Faber; First Edition edition (May 6, 1974)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0571104444
• ISBN-13: 978-0571104444
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,601,902 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Among the best novels in the genre!, October 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Inverted World: A Novel (Hardcover)

This book is listed among David Pringle's top 100 sci-fi novels, and deservedly so. The story immediately captivates, as Priest introduces us to the large moving vehicle-structure called "city Earth". The vehicle is continuosly moved upon rails, through a series of winches and cables, and the tracks are laid as the vehicle progresses. The permanent residents who live inside are organized into many guilds, each responsible for various functions vital to the community's survival. The reader is only gradually given hints about the seemingly strange world that is the setting, and only gradually learns the reasons why the vehicle must continually move. A fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable book, this story keeps you guessing about the nature of reality until the very end.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My personal SF favorite..., April 29, 2000

By 

Mihailo Despotovic (Silicon Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Inverted World (Hardcover)

Imagine an encapsulated city trying to survive in a strange world where mysterious "optimum" is moving and the city has to keep moving on it's tracks trying to reach it. Every natural obstacle in this unfriendly environment has to be solved and the city has to keep moving or else... People in the city refer to the landscapes ahead as "the future" and to the landscapes behind as "the past." Everybody is working hard, for the optimum must be followed at any price... Is the ending of the book (which is one of the best endings in SF) going to reveal the real truth? What is the real truth anyway? The one you perceive? Or the other one, the one you can't see...

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hard SciFi that grips, November 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Inverted World (Hardcover)

Hey you guys that loved Ringworld, Dragon's Egg or A Mission of Gravity, you will be HOOKED by this one! A REALLY original alternative world, VERY nicely hidden under a bulk of myth and a secretive guild system. Sociology - B+; Mathematics - A; Physics - B. The ending is the only minor flaw, but after all the real thinking starts after reading...