The Sinners of Erspia [Hardcover]

Barrington Bayley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 20, 2005

The Sinners of Erspia are the inhabitants of a bizarre world, ruled and guided by the hands of Ormazd and Ahriman, twin gods of good and evil. Histrina, a child of Ormazd, is taken by the evil hordes to a world of terror where she meets Laedo, a man stranded far from his home. Together they start on a hallucinatory journey to understand and to escape from the surreal world that holds them prisoner. This is a novel about the susceptibility of the human mind and how it adapts to the extremes of terror and delight. A novel that could only have escaped from the astounding imagination of Barrington Bayley. "Bayley is the zen master of modern science fiction." -- Bruce Sterling "The most original SF writer of his generation." -- Michael Moorcock

Editorial Reviews

Review

A good Barrington Bayley story will give you an idea which is unlike anything you've ever read anywhere else. -- Charles Platt

Bayley is the zen master of modern space opera. -- Bruce Sterling --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Author

Its theme is the suggestibility of the human mind. An alien being, whose own consciousness is totally solitary and unassailable, is studying this phenomenon because he thinks humankind is a freak of nature, only semi-intelligent and destined for early extinction. All other intelligent species are like him.

The storyline is a series of adventures in experimental societies the alien has set up. Being solitary, the alien has no ethical sense, whereas the protagonist is highly ethical and believes in the doctrine of karma. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 184 pages
• Publisher: Wildside Press (April 20, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592241026
• ISBN-13: 978-1592241026
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,222,437 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bizarre and decadent, March 7, 2002

By 

albemuth - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sinners Of Erspia (Paperback)

This is the real deal, folks. A vivid and visceral odyssey to some of the most imaginative and visionary scenery in modern science fiction. It's sort of leading along the route of Bayley's short-stories from the late eighties to mid-nineties, like "Cling to the Curvature!" and "Love in Backspace" in particular. It's like an excessive version of Ian Watson's GARDENS OF DELIGHT and some of the more outre material in the back catalog of Philip Jose Farmer, merged with Rudy Rucker and the decadent writers of the late 19th century, like Mirbeau and later, Bataille.

It has some problems in it and cannot quite be ranked with some of BJBs early work - Bayley has always stated that his characters are there more to set off the scenery than to exist as "real" individuals, and while this is more thought-out in that sense, it is still, shall we say, problematic. And there is at least one point in the narrative that relies completely on incredible coincidence. But regardless of that, the unadulterated reveling in the bizarre scenery is constantly startling and at points reaches such a feverish pitch that it's impossible not to be impressed by the rare gift of idea-driven science fiction imagination working in full gear in these days of stoic platitudes.