They Fly at Ciron [Import] [Paperback]

Samuel R Delaney (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers (1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0006499392
• ISBN-13: 978-0006499398
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

More About the Author

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars not what I was expecting, October 10, 2000

By 

"silo1013" - See all my reviews

This review is from: They Fly At Ciron: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

I began reading "They Fly at Ciron" expecting a social commentary, and I'd heard good things about Delany as a writer so was expecting something special; and the first few bits of the story were actually rather interesting. However, as I continued reading the story turned from interesting social commentary to something right out of an Edgar Rice Burroughs novel. The story started to feel like an incomplete, immature rough draft, and was full of inconsistencies and holes. Delany mentions in the preface that "They Fly at Ciron" is a re-worked version of one of his earliest stories. It rather seems to me he should have worked on it a little bit more. There's the skeleton of a good story, but it doesn't quite seem finished yet. I gave up half-way through.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Delany's best work, but still a great read, June 6, 2000

By 

Lisandro Pin (Rosario, Santa Fe Argentina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: They Fly At Ciron: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

"They Fly at Ciron" is another suprising novel from a little known but excellent sci-fi writter. Even while's not my favourite Delany book, this story of a "ancient" civilization which meets a much more technologically-advanced one is a book i rediscover every once in a while. An excellent read.

3.0 out of 5 stars Simplistic, but plenty of action, May 23, 2004

By 

Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: They Fly At Ciron: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

In this Delaney novel a vicious, technologically superior invader crushes a village which knows nothing of murder, much less war.

Expanded from a 1961 short story, the utopian-style village is almost painfully dated. Nevertheless, this short novel is fun to read, primarily for its lively writing and the ingenuity of its technologically innocent characters - brawny Rahm, the clever wily garbage man Qualt and the singer Naa.

Their guerilla tactics of sabotage are enhanced by the aid of a flying sentient race that lives in the mountain tops and has a culture somewhere between vicious and benign.

The allegorical elements are simplistic but the action seldom falters.