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CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrors of COVID19, had to roam the seas while searching for a safe landing. BOOKS – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST The pull-down menu shows a chronological listing (most recent first) of Christopher Priest’s published books; click on a title to find out more about the book, read reviews and so forth. ABOUT – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST About. Christopher Priest was born in Cheshire, England. He began writing soon after leaving school and has been a full-time freelance writer since 1968. He lives on the Isle of Bute, in west Scotland. He has published fifteen novels, five short story collections and a number of other books, including critical works, biographies,novelizations
CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
Three years ago, along with a lot of other people in Britain, I placed my vote in the European referendum. The next morning I woke up to discover that overnight I had been labelled a “Remainer”, and was informed that my vote was on the losing side and that I therefore no longer had a voice in what would happen as a result of the referendum.THE GLAMOUR
The Glamour. Published: 2005 by Gollancz, ISBN 0 575 07579 1 . First published in hardcover by Cape. Also available in translation. Broadcast as radio play by BBC Radio 4 in 1993. Meet the hundreds of invisible people who drift on the fringes of society. They are normal in every way except one: ordinary peoplecannot
CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
In 1962 I was working in the City of London as the world’s worst trainee accountant. I hated the job, and they hated me too. They should have fired me, but they couldn’t because we had signed articles (a binding agreement for five years) that meant I could not leave and they could not fire me.THE SEPARATION
The Separation. First published in 2002, The Separation is a novel about the Second World War, with an unusual story of great range and complexity. The ‘separation’ of the title has two main meanings within the story, and it is the contrast of these that creates the complex plot. In the first place there is a separation between twobrothers.
THE SPACE MACHINE
The Space Machine was first published in 1976 and has remained in print ever since. It is an affectionate homage to two famous novels by H. G. Wells: The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds. The Space Machine tells a story that is already familiar, having been filmed several times in the past, but in this case there are two crucial differences.. The war of the worlds was first recounted inAN INFINITE SUMMER
An Infinite Summer. Published: Faber, 1979. ISBN 0 571 11343 5 . Currently out of print. The first edition is shown here. The British paperback reprint was from Pan (1980). Translations exist, in some cases with crossover to Dream Archipelago stories. No US edition remains, although Scribner published a handsome hardcover REVIEWS FOR A DREAM OF WESSEX Reviews for A Dream of Wessex. “This excellent and intriguing novel . Priest tells his story simply and artfully — the characters and their emotions are real, the concepts fascinating, and the sense of foreboding almost unbearable. A first choice for any collection by one of the best young SF authors today.”. – Library Journal.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrors of COVID19, had to roam the seas while searching for a safe landing. BOOKS – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST The pull-down menu shows a chronological listing (most recent first) of Christopher Priest’s published books; click on a title to find out more about the book, read reviews and so forth. ABOUT – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST About. Christopher Priest was born in Cheshire, England. He began writing soon after leaving school and has been a full-time freelance writer since 1968. He lives on the Isle of Bute, in west Scotland. He has published fifteen novels, five short story collections and a number of other books, including critical works, biographies,novelizations
CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
Three years ago, along with a lot of other people in Britain, I placed my vote in the European referendum. The next morning I woke up to discover that overnight I had been labelled a “Remainer”, and was informed that my vote was on the losing side and that I therefore no longer had a voice in what would happen as a result of the referendum.THE GLAMOUR
The Glamour. Published: 2005 by Gollancz, ISBN 0 575 07579 1 . First published in hardcover by Cape. Also available in translation. Broadcast as radio play by BBC Radio 4 in 1993. Meet the hundreds of invisible people who drift on the fringes of society. They are normal in every way except one: ordinary peoplecannot
CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
In 1962 I was working in the City of London as the world’s worst trainee accountant. I hated the job, and they hated me too. They should have fired me, but they couldn’t because we had signed articles (a binding agreement for five years) that meant I could not leave and they could not fire me.THE SEPARATION
The Separation. First published in 2002, The Separation is a novel about the Second World War, with an unusual story of great range and complexity. The ‘separation’ of the title has two main meanings within the story, and it is the contrast of these that creates the complex plot. In the first place there is a separation between twobrothers.
THE SPACE MACHINE
The Space Machine was first published in 1976 and has remained in print ever since. It is an affectionate homage to two famous novels by H. G. Wells: The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds. The Space Machine tells a story that is already familiar, having been filmed several times in the past, but in this case there are two crucial differences.. The war of the worlds was first recounted inAN INFINITE SUMMER
An Infinite Summer. Published: Faber, 1979. ISBN 0 571 11343 5 . Currently out of print. The first edition is shown here. The British paperback reprint was from Pan (1980). Translations exist, in some cases with crossover to Dream Archipelago stories. No US edition remains, although Scribner published a handsome hardcover REVIEWS FOR A DREAM OF WESSEX Reviews for A Dream of Wessex. “This excellent and intriguing novel . Priest tells his story simply and artfully — the characters and their emotions are real, the concepts fascinating, and the sense of foreboding almost unbearable. A first choice for any collection by one of the best young SF authors today.”. – Library Journal. ABOUT – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST About. Christopher Priest was born in Cheshire, England. He began writing soon after leaving school and has been a full-time freelance writer since 1968. He lives on the Isle of Bute, in west Scotland. He has published fifteen novels, five short story collections and a number of other books, including critical works, biographies,novelizations
CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
Three years ago, along with a lot of other people in Britain, I placed my vote in the European referendum. The next morning I woke up to discover that overnight I had been labelled a “Remainer”, and was informed that my vote was on the losing side and that I therefore no longer had a voice in what would happen as a result of the referendum.WHAT TO EXPECT
What to Expect. It probably seems like a school essay: “What I did in lockdown”, but I have to say that living on a Scottish island and having a lot of writing to do is the best possible way of getting through this uninteresting, worrying and as yet unfinished period. Here, in reverse order, is the product of my last seven months inCHRISTOPHER PRIEST
I can only say this once, so pay attention! Concrete Faery is a novel written by my daughter, whom I adore and admire, and for all sorts of obvious reasons is a writer I can say nothing about in public without arousing deep suspicions of nepotism. Onward Concrete Faery is Lizzy’s first novel, a YA fantasy, written engagingly and with a constant sense of dry and sceptical wit. PHOTOS – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST Photos. CP, aged 8, back row, middle. Peterborough, 1964. CP seated at left, Charles Platt standing next to him, with Edward James and Terry Pratchett, aged 15. (Photo: from 8mm film taken by Dave Barber.) (Photo: Penny Grant.) Interview in the magazine Science Fiction Monthly. CP then 30-ish and should have known better. FILM – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST Film. Ever since the release in 2006 by Warner Bros of The Prestige, there has been a steady flow of interest in Christopher Priest’s other novels. The availability of dramatization rights constantly changes, so click on each book to see the current status.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
In 1962 I was working in the City of London as the world’s worst trainee accountant. I hated the job, and they hated me too. They should have fired me, but they couldn’t because we had signed articles (a binding agreement for five years) that meant I could not leave and they could not fire me.THE ISLANDERS
The Islanders. Published: Gollancz, 2011, hardcover £12.99.In the US:
Titan Books — published in 2014. Awards: BSFA Award for best novel, 2011; John W. Campbell Memorial Award, best novel 2012. Chris Priest’s twelfth novel takes the outward form of an alphabeticalgazetteer of
THE EXTREMES
The Extremes. Published: 2005 by Gollancz, ISBN 0-575-07578-3 . The cover image is from the US hardcover edition, from St Martin’s Press. Also available in translation. Teresa Simons is drawn to a quiet English seaside town in the aftermath of a motiveless massacre by a gunman. Her husband, an FBIagent, had died in
THE PRESTIGE (FILM)
CP is often asked what he thinks of the film of The Prestige.In 2008 he published a full-length book called The Magic, to answer that question.But since not everyone is expected to buy the book in pursuit of a fleeting interest, here is a short note written as a summary.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrors of COVID19, had to roam the seas while searching for a safe landing. BOOKS – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST The pull-down menu shows a chronological listing (most recent first) of Christopher Priest’s published books; click on a title to find out more about the book, read reviews and so forth. ABOUT – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST About. Christopher Priest was born in Cheshire, England. He began writing soon after leaving school and has been a full-time freelance writer since 1968. He lives on the Isle of Bute, in west Scotland. He has published fifteen novels, five short story collections and a number of other books, including critical works, biographies,novelizations
PLAGUE SHIPS!
Plague Ships! Posted on April 10, 2020 by chris. An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrors FILM – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST Film. Ever since the release in 2006 by Warner Bros of The Prestige, there has been a steady flow of interest in Christopher Priest’s other novels. The availability of dramatization rights constantly changes, so click on each book to see the current status.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
Three years ago, along with a lot of other people in Britain, I placed my vote in the European referendum. The next morning I woke up to discover that overnight I had been labelled a “Remainer”, and was informed that my vote was on the losing side and that I therefore no longer had a voice in what would happen as a result of the referendum.THE GLAMOUR
The Glamour. Published: 2005 by Gollancz, ISBN 0 575 07579 1 . First published in hardcover by Cape. Also available in translation. Broadcast as radio play by BBC Radio 4 in 1993. Meet the hundreds of invisible people who drift on the fringes of society. They are normal in every way except one: ordinary peoplecannot
THE SPACE MACHINE
The Space Machine was first published in 1976 and has remained in print ever since. It is an affectionate homage to two famous novels by H. G. Wells: The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds. The Space Machine tells a story that is already familiar, having been filmed several times in the past, but in this case there are two crucial differences.. The war of the worlds was first recounted inTHE SEPARATION
The Separation. First published in 2002, The Separation is a novel about the Second World War, with an unusual story of great range and complexity. The ‘separation’ of the title has two main meanings within the story, and it is the contrast of these that creates the complex plot. In the first place there is a separation between twobrothers.
ATONEMENT BY IAN MCEWAN (JONATHAN CAPE, 2001) only some science fiction and (as Philip Pullman has pointed out) the serious end of children’s literature seem able to take on real themes, subjects that challenge the readers.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrors of COVID19, had to roam the seas while searching for a safe landing. BOOKS – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST The pull-down menu shows a chronological listing (most recent first) of Christopher Priest’s published books; click on a title to find out more about the book, read reviews and so forth. ABOUT – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST About. Christopher Priest was born in Cheshire, England. He began writing soon after leaving school and has been a full-time freelance writer since 1968. He lives on the Isle of Bute, in west Scotland. He has published fifteen novels, five short story collections and a number of other books, including critical works, biographies,novelizations
PLAGUE SHIPS!
Plague Ships! Posted on April 10, 2020 by chris. An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrors FILM – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST Film. Ever since the release in 2006 by Warner Bros of The Prestige, there has been a steady flow of interest in Christopher Priest’s other novels. The availability of dramatization rights constantly changes, so click on each book to see the current status.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
Three years ago, along with a lot of other people in Britain, I placed my vote in the European referendum. The next morning I woke up to discover that overnight I had been labelled a “Remainer”, and was informed that my vote was on the losing side and that I therefore no longer had a voice in what would happen as a result of the referendum.THE GLAMOUR
The Glamour. Published: 2005 by Gollancz, ISBN 0 575 07579 1 . First published in hardcover by Cape. Also available in translation. Broadcast as radio play by BBC Radio 4 in 1993. Meet the hundreds of invisible people who drift on the fringes of society. They are normal in every way except one: ordinary peoplecannot
THE SPACE MACHINE
The Space Machine was first published in 1976 and has remained in print ever since. It is an affectionate homage to two famous novels by H. G. Wells: The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds. The Space Machine tells a story that is already familiar, having been filmed several times in the past, but in this case there are two crucial differences.. The war of the worlds was first recounted inTHE SEPARATION
The Separation. First published in 2002, The Separation is a novel about the Second World War, with an unusual story of great range and complexity. The ‘separation’ of the title has two main meanings within the story, and it is the contrast of these that creates the complex plot. In the first place there is a separation between twobrothers.
ATONEMENT BY IAN MCEWAN (JONATHAN CAPE, 2001) only some science fiction and (as Philip Pullman has pointed out) the serious end of children’s literature seem able to take on real themes, subjects that challenge the readers. ABOUT – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST About. Christopher Priest was born in Cheshire, England. He began writing soon after leaving school and has been a full-time freelance writer since 1968. He lives on the Isle of Bute, in west Scotland. He has published fifteen novels, five short story collections and a number of other books, including critical works, biographies,novelizations
AUGUST 2020
August 30, 2020. chris. The Sunday Telegraph, today, carries an interview with me by Sam Leith. (The Telegraph website has a paywall.) The matter under discussion: the films of Christopher Nolan, a topical subject as his new blockbuster Tenet is currently busy saving the film industry. Mr Leith had read my book on the subject, The Magic, so we CONTACT – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST Intercontinental Literary Agency. Centric House. 390/391 Strand. London WC2R 0LT. Tel: 020 7379 6611. ILA’s contact website. FILM – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST Film. Ever since the release in 2006 by Warner Bros of The Prestige, there has been a steady flow of interest in Christopher Priest’s other novels. The availability of dramatization rights constantly changes, so click on each book to see the current status.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
I can only say this once, so pay attention! Concrete Faery is a novel written by my daughter, whom I adore and admire, and for all sorts of obvious reasons is a writer I can say nothing about in public without arousing deep suspicions of nepotism. Onward Concrete Faery is Lizzy’s first novel, a YA fantasy, written engagingly and with a constant sense of dry and sceptical wit.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
In 1962 I was working in the City of London as the world’s worst trainee accountant. I hated the job, and they hated me too. They should have fired me, but they couldn’t because we had signed articles (a binding agreement for five years) that meant I could not leave and they could not fire me.CAREER CHRONOLOGY
Christopher Priest Omnibus 1 ( The Space Machine and A Dream of Wessex) published by Earthlight, Simon & Schuster (UK) Christopher Priest Omnibus 2 ( Inverted World and Fugue For a Darkening Island) published by Earthlight, Simon & Schuster (UK) Award: BSFA Award — The Extremes. Award Nomination: Arthur C. Clarke Award – TheExtremes.
URSULA – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST January 24, 2018. by chris. Bereavement is a variant of ‘bereft’ – we are all bereft by the loss of Ursula Le Guin. She was a supreme writer and thinker, one of the greatest of all American writers and perhaps the best ever to have graced us with her fantasy and science fiction. She was a better writer than any of us, past or present JUNE 2019 – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST This is my new hardcover from Gollancz, to my mind a well designed and handsome edition. It will be published on 11 July, available in bookstores and of course may be ordered through Amazon and other online retailers.. Episodes is a collection of short stories with something extra. Each story has a Before and After, two short essays describing how the story came to be written, and what THE PRESTIGE AND THE MAGIC The Sunday Telegraph, today, carries an interview with me by Sam Leith. (The Telegraph website has a paywall.) The matter under discussion: the films of Christopher Nolan, a topical subject as his new blockbuster Tenet is currently busy saving the film industry. Mr Leith had read my book on the subject, The Magic, so we tended to follow the arguments expressed there.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrors of COVID19, had to roam the seas while searching for a safe landing. BOOKS – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST The pull-down menu shows a chronological listing (most recent first) of Christopher Priest’s published books; click on a title to find out more about the book, read reviews and so forth. ABOUT – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST About. Christopher Priest was born in Cheshire, England. He began writing soon after leaving school and has been a full-time freelance writer since 1968. He lives on the Isle of Bute, in west Scotland. He has published fifteen novels, five short story collections and a number of other books, including critical works, biographies,novelizations
PLAGUE SHIPS!
Plague Ships! Posted on April 10, 2020 by chris. An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrors FILM – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST Film. Ever since the release in 2006 by Warner Bros of The Prestige, there has been a steady flow of interest in Christopher Priest’s other novels. The availability of dramatization rights constantly changes, so click on each book to see the current status.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
Three years ago, along with a lot of other people in Britain, I placed my vote in the European referendum. The next morning I woke up to discover that overnight I had been labelled a “Remainer”, and was informed that my vote was on the losing side and that I therefore no longer had a voice in what would happen as a result of the referendum.THE GLAMOUR
The Glamour. Published: 2005 by Gollancz, ISBN 0 575 07579 1 . First published in hardcover by Cape. Also available in translation. Broadcast as radio play by BBC Radio 4 in 1993. Meet the hundreds of invisible people who drift on the fringes of society. They are normal in every way except one: ordinary peoplecannot
THE SPACE MACHINE
The Space Machine was first published in 1976 and has remained in print ever since. It is an affectionate homage to two famous novels by H. G. Wells: The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds. The Space Machine tells a story that is already familiar, having been filmed several times in the past, but in this case there are two crucial differences.. The war of the worlds was first recounted inTHE SEPARATION
The Separation. First published in 2002, The Separation is a novel about the Second World War, with an unusual story of great range and complexity. The ‘separation’ of the title has two main meanings within the story, and it is the contrast of these that creates the complex plot. In the first place there is a separation between twobrothers.
ATONEMENT BY IAN MCEWAN (JONATHAN CAPE, 2001) only some science fiction and (as Philip Pullman has pointed out) the serious end of children’s literature seem able to take on real themes, subjects that challenge the readers.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrors of COVID19, had to roam the seas while searching for a safe landing. BOOKS – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST The pull-down menu shows a chronological listing (most recent first) of Christopher Priest’s published books; click on a title to find out more about the book, read reviews and so forth. ABOUT – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST About. Christopher Priest was born in Cheshire, England. He began writing soon after leaving school and has been a full-time freelance writer since 1968. He lives on the Isle of Bute, in west Scotland. He has published fifteen novels, five short story collections and a number of other books, including critical works, biographies,novelizations
PLAGUE SHIPS!
Plague Ships! Posted on April 10, 2020 by chris. An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrors FILM – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST Film. Ever since the release in 2006 by Warner Bros of The Prestige, there has been a steady flow of interest in Christopher Priest’s other novels. The availability of dramatization rights constantly changes, so click on each book to see the current status.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
Three years ago, along with a lot of other people in Britain, I placed my vote in the European referendum. The next morning I woke up to discover that overnight I had been labelled a “Remainer”, and was informed that my vote was on the losing side and that I therefore no longer had a voice in what would happen as a result of the referendum.THE GLAMOUR
The Glamour. Published: 2005 by Gollancz, ISBN 0 575 07579 1 . First published in hardcover by Cape. Also available in translation. Broadcast as radio play by BBC Radio 4 in 1993. Meet the hundreds of invisible people who drift on the fringes of society. They are normal in every way except one: ordinary peoplecannot
THE SPACE MACHINE
The Space Machine was first published in 1976 and has remained in print ever since. It is an affectionate homage to two famous novels by H. G. Wells: The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds. The Space Machine tells a story that is already familiar, having been filmed several times in the past, but in this case there are two crucial differences.. The war of the worlds was first recounted inTHE SEPARATION
The Separation. First published in 2002, The Separation is a novel about the Second World War, with an unusual story of great range and complexity. The ‘separation’ of the title has two main meanings within the story, and it is the contrast of these that creates the complex plot. In the first place there is a separation between twobrothers.
ATONEMENT BY IAN MCEWAN (JONATHAN CAPE, 2001) only some science fiction and (as Philip Pullman has pointed out) the serious end of children’s literature seem able to take on real themes, subjects that challenge the readers. ABOUT – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST About. Christopher Priest was born in Cheshire, England. He began writing soon after leaving school and has been a full-time freelance writer since 1968. He lives on the Isle of Bute, in west Scotland. He has published fifteen novels, five short story collections and a number of other books, including critical works, biographies,novelizations
AUGUST 2020
August 30, 2020. chris. The Sunday Telegraph, today, carries an interview with me by Sam Leith. (The Telegraph website has a paywall.) The matter under discussion: the films of Christopher Nolan, a topical subject as his new blockbuster Tenet is currently busy saving the film industry. Mr Leith had read my book on the subject, The Magic, so we CONTACT – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST Intercontinental Literary Agency. Centric House. 390/391 Strand. London WC2R 0LT. Tel: 020 7379 6611. ILA’s contact website. FILM – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST Film. Ever since the release in 2006 by Warner Bros of The Prestige, there has been a steady flow of interest in Christopher Priest’s other novels. The availability of dramatization rights constantly changes, so click on each book to see the current status.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
I can only say this once, so pay attention! Concrete Faery is a novel written by my daughter, whom I adore and admire, and for all sorts of obvious reasons is a writer I can say nothing about in public without arousing deep suspicions of nepotism. Onward Concrete Faery is Lizzy’s first novel, a YA fantasy, written engagingly and with a constant sense of dry and sceptical wit.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
In 1962 I was working in the City of London as the world’s worst trainee accountant. I hated the job, and they hated me too. They should have fired me, but they couldn’t because we had signed articles (a binding agreement for five years) that meant I could not leave and they could not fire me.CAREER CHRONOLOGY
Christopher Priest Omnibus 1 ( The Space Machine and A Dream of Wessex) published by Earthlight, Simon & Schuster (UK) Christopher Priest Omnibus 2 ( Inverted World and Fugue For a Darkening Island) published by Earthlight, Simon & Schuster (UK) Award: BSFA Award — The Extremes. Award Nomination: Arthur C. Clarke Award – TheExtremes.
URSULA – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST January 24, 2018. by chris. Bereavement is a variant of ‘bereft’ – we are all bereft by the loss of Ursula Le Guin. She was a supreme writer and thinker, one of the greatest of all American writers and perhaps the best ever to have graced us with her fantasy and science fiction. She was a better writer than any of us, past or present JUNE 2019 – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST This is my new hardcover from Gollancz, to my mind a well designed and handsome edition. It will be published on 11 July, available in bookstores and of course may be ordered through Amazon and other online retailers.. Episodes is a collection of short stories with something extra. Each story has a Before and After, two short essays describing how the story came to be written, and what THE PRESTIGE AND THE MAGIC The Sunday Telegraph, today, carries an interview with me by Sam Leith. (The Telegraph website has a paywall.) The matter under discussion: the films of Christopher Nolan, a topical subject as his new blockbuster Tenet is currently busy saving the film industry. Mr Leith had read my book on the subject, The Magic, so we tended to follow the arguments expressed there.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrors of COVID19, had to roam the seas while searching for a safe landing. BOOKS – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST The pull-down menu shows a chronological listing (most recent first) of Christopher Priest’s published books; click on a title to find out more about the book, read reviews and so forth. ABOUT – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST About. Christopher Priest was born in Cheshire, England. He began writing soon after leaving school and has been a full-time freelance writer since 1968. He lives on the Isle of Bute, in west Scotland. He has published fifteen novels, five short story collections and a number of other books, including critical works, biographies,novelizations
PLAGUE SHIPS!
Plague Ships! Posted on April 10, 2020 by chris. An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrorsCHRISTOPHER PRIEST
Three years ago, along with a lot of other people in Britain, I placed my vote in the European referendum. The next morning I woke up to discover that overnight I had been labelled a “Remainer”, and was informed that my vote was on the losing side and that I therefore no longer had a voice in what would happen as a result of the referendum.THE GLAMOUR
The Glamour. Published: 2005 by Gollancz, ISBN 0 575 07579 1 . First published in hardcover by Cape. Also available in translation. Broadcast as radio play by BBC Radio 4 in 1993. Meet the hundreds of invisible people who drift on the fringes of society. They are normal in every way except one: ordinary peoplecannot
THE SEPARATION
The Separation. First published in 2002, The Separation is a novel about the Second World War, with an unusual story of great range and complexity. The ‘separation’ of the title has two main meanings within the story, and it is the contrast of these that creates the complex plot. In the first place there is a separation between twobrothers.
THE SPACE MACHINE
The Space Machine was first published in 1976 and has remained in print ever since. It is an affectionate homage to two famous novels by H. G. Wells: The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds. The Space Machine tells a story that is already familiar, having been filmed several times in the past, but in this case there are two crucial differences.. The war of the worlds was first recounted in REVIEWS FOR A DREAM OF WESSEX Reviews for A Dream of Wessex. “This excellent and intriguing novel . Priest tells his story simply and artfully — the characters and their emotions are real, the concepts fascinating, and the sense of foreboding almost unbearable. A first choice for any collection by one of the best young SF authors today.”. – Library Journal. ATONEMENT BY IAN MCEWAN (JONATHAN CAPE, 2001) only some science fiction and (as Philip Pullman has pointed out) the serious end of children’s literature seem able to take on real themes, subjects that challenge the readers.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrors of COVID19, had to roam the seas while searching for a safe landing. BOOKS – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST The pull-down menu shows a chronological listing (most recent first) of Christopher Priest’s published books; click on a title to find out more about the book, read reviews and so forth. ABOUT – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST About. Christopher Priest was born in Cheshire, England. He began writing soon after leaving school and has been a full-time freelance writer since 1968. He lives on the Isle of Bute, in west Scotland. He has published fifteen novels, five short story collections and a number of other books, including critical works, biographies,novelizations
PLAGUE SHIPS!
Plague Ships! Posted on April 10, 2020 by chris. An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrorsCHRISTOPHER PRIEST
Three years ago, along with a lot of other people in Britain, I placed my vote in the European referendum. The next morning I woke up to discover that overnight I had been labelled a “Remainer”, and was informed that my vote was on the losing side and that I therefore no longer had a voice in what would happen as a result of the referendum.THE GLAMOUR
The Glamour. Published: 2005 by Gollancz, ISBN 0 575 07579 1 . First published in hardcover by Cape. Also available in translation. Broadcast as radio play by BBC Radio 4 in 1993. Meet the hundreds of invisible people who drift on the fringes of society. They are normal in every way except one: ordinary peoplecannot
THE SEPARATION
The Separation. First published in 2002, The Separation is a novel about the Second World War, with an unusual story of great range and complexity. The ‘separation’ of the title has two main meanings within the story, and it is the contrast of these that creates the complex plot. In the first place there is a separation between twobrothers.
THE SPACE MACHINE
The Space Machine was first published in 1976 and has remained in print ever since. It is an affectionate homage to two famous novels by H. G. Wells: The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds. The Space Machine tells a story that is already familiar, having been filmed several times in the past, but in this case there are two crucial differences.. The war of the worlds was first recounted in REVIEWS FOR A DREAM OF WESSEX Reviews for A Dream of Wessex. “This excellent and intriguing novel . Priest tells his story simply and artfully — the characters and their emotions are real, the concepts fascinating, and the sense of foreboding almost unbearable. A first choice for any collection by one of the best young SF authors today.”. – Library Journal. ATONEMENT BY IAN MCEWAN (JONATHAN CAPE, 2001) only some science fiction and (as Philip Pullman has pointed out) the serious end of children’s literature seem able to take on real themes, subjects that challenge the readers. ABOUT – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST About. Christopher Priest was born in Cheshire, England. He began writing soon after leaving school and has been a full-time freelance writer since 1968. He lives on the Isle of Bute, in west Scotland. He has published fifteen novels, five short story collections and a number of other books, including critical works, biographies,novelizations
PLAGUE SHIPS!
Plague Ships! Posted on April 10, 2020 by chris. An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrors CONTACT – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST Intercontinental Literary Agency. Centric House. 390/391 Strand. London WC2R 0LT. Tel: 020 7379 6611. ILA’s contact website.AUGUST 2020
August 30, 2020. chris. The Sunday Telegraph, today, carries an interview with me by Sam Leith. (The Telegraph website has a paywall.) The matter under discussion: the films of Christopher Nolan, a topical subject as his new blockbuster Tenet is currently busy saving the film industry. Mr Leith had read my book on the subject, The Magic, so we FILM – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST Film. Ever since the release in 2006 by Warner Bros of The Prestige, there has been a steady flow of interest in Christopher Priest’s other novels. The availability of dramatization rights constantly changes, so click on each book to see the current status.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
I can only say this once, so pay attention! Concrete Faery is a novel written by my daughter, whom I adore and admire, and for all sorts of obvious reasons is a writer I can say nothing about in public without arousing deep suspicions of nepotism. Onward Concrete Faery is Lizzy’s first novel, a YA fantasy, written engagingly and with a constant sense of dry and sceptical wit.CAREER CHRONOLOGY
Christopher Priest Omnibus 1 ( The Space Machine and A Dream of Wessex) published by Earthlight, Simon & Schuster (UK) Christopher Priest Omnibus 2 ( Inverted World and Fugue For a Darkening Island) published by Earthlight, Simon & Schuster (UK) Award: BSFA Award — The Extremes. Award Nomination: Arthur C. Clarke Award – TheExtremes.
CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
In 1962 I was working in the City of London as the world’s worst trainee accountant. I hated the job, and they hated me too. They should have fired me, but they couldn’t because we had signed articles (a binding agreement for five years) that meant I could not leave and they could not fire me. URSULA – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST January 24, 2018. by chris. Bereavement is a variant of ‘bereft’ – we are all bereft by the loss of Ursula Le Guin. She was a supreme writer and thinker, one of the greatest of all American writers and perhaps the best ever to have graced us with her fantasy and science fiction. She was a better writer than any of us, past or present JUNE 2019 – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST This is my new hardcover from Gollancz, to my mind a well designed and handsome edition. It will be published on 11 July, available in bookstores and of course may be ordered through Amazon and other online retailers.. Episodes is a collection of short stories with something extra. Each story has a Before and After, two short essays describing how the story came to be written, and whatCHRISTOPHER PRIEST
An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrors of COVID19, had to roam the seas while searching for a safe landing. BOOKS – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST The pull-down menu shows a chronological listing (most recent first) of Christopher Priest’s published books; click on a title to find out more about the book, read reviews and so forth. ABOUT – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST About. Christopher Priest was born in Cheshire, England. He began writing soon after leaving school and has been a full-time freelance writer since 1968. He lives on the Isle of Bute, in west Scotland. He has published fifteen novels, five short story collections and a number of other books, including critical works, biographies,novelizations
PLAGUE SHIPS!
Plague Ships! Posted on April 10, 2020 by chris. An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrorsCHRISTOPHER PRIEST
Three years ago, along with a lot of other people in Britain, I placed my vote in the European referendum. The next morning I woke up to discover that overnight I had been labelled a “Remainer”, and was informed that my vote was on the losing side and that I therefore no longer had a voice in what would happen as a result of the referendum.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
In 1962 I was working in the City of London as the world’s worst trainee accountant. I hated the job, and they hated me too. They should have fired me, but they couldn’t because we had signed articles (a binding agreement for five years) that meant I could not leave and they could not fire me.THE GLAMOUR
The Glamour. Published: 2005 by Gollancz, ISBN 0 575 07579 1 . First published in hardcover by Cape. Also available in translation. Broadcast as radio play by BBC Radio 4 in 1993. Meet the hundreds of invisible people who drift on the fringes of society. They are normal in every way except one: ordinary peoplecannot
THE SPACE MACHINE
The Space Machine was first published in 1976 and has remained in print ever since. It is an affectionate homage to two famous novels by H. G. Wells: The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds. The Space Machine tells a story that is already familiar, having been filmed several times in the past, but in this case there are two crucial differences.. The war of the worlds was first recounted inTHE SEPARATION
The Separation. First published in 2002, The Separation is a novel about the Second World War, with an unusual story of great range and complexity. The ‘separation’ of the title has two main meanings within the story, and it is the contrast of these that creates the complex plot. In the first place there is a separation between twobrothers.
ATONEMENT BY IAN MCEWAN (JONATHAN CAPE, 2001) only some science fiction and (as Philip Pullman has pointed out) the serious end of children’s literature seem able to take on real themes, subjects that challenge the readers.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrors of COVID19, had to roam the seas while searching for a safe landing. BOOKS – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST The pull-down menu shows a chronological listing (most recent first) of Christopher Priest’s published books; click on a title to find out more about the book, read reviews and so forth. ABOUT – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST About. Christopher Priest was born in Cheshire, England. He began writing soon after leaving school and has been a full-time freelance writer since 1968. He lives on the Isle of Bute, in west Scotland. He has published fifteen novels, five short story collections and a number of other books, including critical works, biographies,novelizations
PLAGUE SHIPS!
Plague Ships! Posted on April 10, 2020 by chris. An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrorsCHRISTOPHER PRIEST
Three years ago, along with a lot of other people in Britain, I placed my vote in the European referendum. The next morning I woke up to discover that overnight I had been labelled a “Remainer”, and was informed that my vote was on the losing side and that I therefore no longer had a voice in what would happen as a result of the referendum.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
In 1962 I was working in the City of London as the world’s worst trainee accountant. I hated the job, and they hated me too. They should have fired me, but they couldn’t because we had signed articles (a binding agreement for five years) that meant I could not leave and they could not fire me.THE GLAMOUR
The Glamour. Published: 2005 by Gollancz, ISBN 0 575 07579 1 . First published in hardcover by Cape. Also available in translation. Broadcast as radio play by BBC Radio 4 in 1993. Meet the hundreds of invisible people who drift on the fringes of society. They are normal in every way except one: ordinary peoplecannot
THE SPACE MACHINE
The Space Machine was first published in 1976 and has remained in print ever since. It is an affectionate homage to two famous novels by H. G. Wells: The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds. The Space Machine tells a story that is already familiar, having been filmed several times in the past, but in this case there are two crucial differences.. The war of the worlds was first recounted inTHE SEPARATION
The Separation. First published in 2002, The Separation is a novel about the Second World War, with an unusual story of great range and complexity. The ‘separation’ of the title has two main meanings within the story, and it is the contrast of these that creates the complex plot. In the first place there is a separation between twobrothers.
ATONEMENT BY IAN MCEWAN (JONATHAN CAPE, 2001) only some science fiction and (as Philip Pullman has pointed out) the serious end of children’s literature seem able to take on real themes, subjects that challenge the readers. ABOUT – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST About. Christopher Priest was born in Cheshire, England. He began writing soon after leaving school and has been a full-time freelance writer since 1968. He lives on the Isle of Bute, in west Scotland. He has published fifteen novels, five short story collections and a number of other books, including critical works, biographies,novelizations
PLAGUE SHIPS!
Plague Ships! Posted on April 10, 2020 by chris. An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrors CONTACT – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST Intercontinental Literary Agency. Centric House. 390/391 Strand. London WC2R 0LT. Tel: 020 7379 6611. ILA’s contact website. FILM – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST Film. Ever since the release in 2006 by Warner Bros of The Prestige, there has been a steady flow of interest in Christopher Priest’s other novels. The availability of dramatization rights constantly changes, so click on each book to see the current status.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
I can only say this once, so pay attention! Concrete Faery is a novel written by my daughter, whom I adore and admire, and for all sorts of obvious reasons is a writer I can say nothing about in public without arousing deep suspicions of nepotism. Onward Concrete Faery is Lizzy’s first novel, a YA fantasy, written engagingly and with a constant sense of dry and sceptical wit.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
In 1962 I was working in the City of London as the world’s worst trainee accountant. I hated the job, and they hated me too. They should have fired me, but they couldn’t because we had signed articles (a binding agreement for five years) that meant I could not leave and they could not fire me.CAREER CHRONOLOGY
Christopher Priest Omnibus 1 ( The Space Machine and A Dream of Wessex) published by Earthlight, Simon & Schuster (UK) Christopher Priest Omnibus 2 ( Inverted World and Fugue For a Darkening Island) published by Earthlight, Simon & Schuster (UK) Award: BSFA Award — The Extremes. Award Nomination: Arthur C. Clarke Award – TheExtremes.
AWARDS & NOMINATIONS Awards: Arthur C. Clarke Award. 2002 — Best Novel: The Separation SF ga Yomitai (Japan) 2008 — Best foreign novel published in Japan: The Separation (translated by Yoshimichi Furusawa) 2013 — Best foreign novel published in Japan: The Islanders (translated by Yoshimichi Furusawa) Prix Utopia (France)REAL-TIME WORLD +2
Real-Time World +2. Paperback. ISBN: 978-0-9559735-3-6. Pages: 195 x 128 mm; 207 pp. Price: £10.99 or $15.95 or €12.00. This is a paperback re-issue of Christopher Priest’s first short story collection, Real-Time World. Originally a hardback from NEL in 1974,the
THE PRESTIGE AND THE MAGIC The Sunday Telegraph, today, carries an interview with me by Sam Leith. (The Telegraph website has a paywall.) The matter under discussion: the films of Christopher Nolan, a topical subject as his new blockbuster Tenet is currently busy saving the film industry. Mr Leith had read my book on the subject, The Magic, so we tended to follow the arguments expressed there.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrors of COVID19, had to roam the seas while searching for a safe landing. ABOUT – CHRISTOPHER PRIESTTHE PRESTIGE CHRISTOPHER PRIESTCHRIS PRIESTCHRISTOPHER PRIEST AUTHORCHRISTOPHER PRIEST COMICSCHRISTOPHER PRIEST NOVELSCHRISTOPHER PRIEST TWITTER About. Christopher Priest was born in Cheshire, England. He began writing soon after leaving school and has been a full-time freelance writer since 1968. He lives on the Isle of Bute, in west Scotland. He has published fifteen novels, five short story collections and a number of other books, including critical works, biographies,novelizations
THE EVIDENCE
June 2, 2020. by chris. Here is the cover art for my new novel, The Evidence. It will be published by Gollancz in October, and it can be pre-ordered from Amazon in hardcover or Kindle. There is no mention in it anywhere of lockdown, virus or pandemic. There are no jokes about eyesight tests, no plague ships polluting the oceans, no face masks.PLAGUE SHIPS!
Plague Ships! Posted on April 10, 2020 by chris. An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrorsCHRISTOPHER PRIEST
Three years ago, along with a lot of other people in Britain, I placed my vote in the European referendum. The next morning I woke up to discover that overnight I had been labelled a “Remainer”, and was informed that my vote was on the losing side and that I therefore no longer had a voice in what would happen as a result of the referendum.CAREER CHRONOLOGY
Christopher Priest Omnibus 1 ( The Space Machine and A Dream of Wessex) published by Earthlight, Simon & Schuster (UK) Christopher Priest Omnibus 2 ( Inverted World and Fugue For a Darkening Island) published by Earthlight, Simon & Schuster (UK) Award: BSFA Award — The Extremes. Award Nomination: Arthur C. Clarke Award – TheExtremes.
CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
In 1962 I was working in the City of London as the world’s worst trainee accountant. I hated the job, and they hated me too. They should have fired me, but they couldn’t because we had signed articles (a binding agreement for five years) that meant I could not leave and they could not fire me.THE SPACE MACHINE
The Space Machine was first published in 1976 and has remained in print ever since. It is an affectionate homage to two famous novels by H. G. Wells: The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds. The Space Machine tells a story that is already familiar, having been filmed several times in the past, but in this case there are two crucial differences.. The war of the worlds was first recounted in THE MAGIC: THE STORY OF A FILM The Magic is now available as an ebook. In 2006, Christopher Nolan directed a film of Priest’s novel The Prestige. It went straight to No.1 in the US box office, won rave reviews around the world, and ever since has had audiences arguing and debating. It is a film with a REVIEWS FOR A DREAM OF WESSEX Reviews for A Dream of Wessex. “This excellent and intriguing novel . Priest tells his story simply and artfully — the characters and their emotions are real, the concepts fascinating, and the sense of foreboding almost unbearable. A first choice for any collection by one of the best young SF authors today.”. – Library Journal.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrors of COVID19, had to roam the seas while searching for a safe landing. ABOUT – CHRISTOPHER PRIESTTHE PRESTIGE CHRISTOPHER PRIESTCHRIS PRIESTCHRISTOPHER PRIEST AUTHORCHRISTOPHER PRIEST COMICSCHRISTOPHER PRIEST NOVELSCHRISTOPHER PRIEST TWITTER About. Christopher Priest was born in Cheshire, England. He began writing soon after leaving school and has been a full-time freelance writer since 1968. He lives on the Isle of Bute, in west Scotland. He has published fifteen novels, five short story collections and a number of other books, including critical works, biographies,novelizations
THE EVIDENCE
June 2, 2020. by chris. Here is the cover art for my new novel, The Evidence. It will be published by Gollancz in October, and it can be pre-ordered from Amazon in hardcover or Kindle. There is no mention in it anywhere of lockdown, virus or pandemic. There are no jokes about eyesight tests, no plague ships polluting the oceans, no face masks.PLAGUE SHIPS!
Plague Ships! Posted on April 10, 2020 by chris. An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrorsCHRISTOPHER PRIEST
Three years ago, along with a lot of other people in Britain, I placed my vote in the European referendum. The next morning I woke up to discover that overnight I had been labelled a “Remainer”, and was informed that my vote was on the losing side and that I therefore no longer had a voice in what would happen as a result of the referendum.CAREER CHRONOLOGY
Christopher Priest Omnibus 1 ( The Space Machine and A Dream of Wessex) published by Earthlight, Simon & Schuster (UK) Christopher Priest Omnibus 2 ( Inverted World and Fugue For a Darkening Island) published by Earthlight, Simon & Schuster (UK) Award: BSFA Award — The Extremes. Award Nomination: Arthur C. Clarke Award – TheExtremes.
CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
In 1962 I was working in the City of London as the world’s worst trainee accountant. I hated the job, and they hated me too. They should have fired me, but they couldn’t because we had signed articles (a binding agreement for five years) that meant I could not leave and they could not fire me.THE SPACE MACHINE
The Space Machine was first published in 1976 and has remained in print ever since. It is an affectionate homage to two famous novels by H. G. Wells: The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds. The Space Machine tells a story that is already familiar, having been filmed several times in the past, but in this case there are two crucial differences.. The war of the worlds was first recounted in THE MAGIC: THE STORY OF A FILM The Magic is now available as an ebook. In 2006, Christopher Nolan directed a film of Priest’s novel The Prestige. It went straight to No.1 in the US box office, won rave reviews around the world, and ever since has had audiences arguing and debating. It is a film with a REVIEWS FOR A DREAM OF WESSEX Reviews for A Dream of Wessex. “This excellent and intriguing novel . Priest tells his story simply and artfully — the characters and their emotions are real, the concepts fascinating, and the sense of foreboding almost unbearable. A first choice for any collection by one of the best young SF authors today.”. – Library Journal.CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrors of COVID19, had to roam the seas while searching for a safe landing.A HUNDRED BOOKS
The Killing of Julia Wallace Jonathan Goodman. Good-Bye to All That Robert Graves. A Sort of Life Graham Greene. The Quiet American Graham Greene. The Door into Summer Robert A Heinlein. Catch 22 Joseph Heller. A Moveable Feast Ernest Hemingway. Hiroshima John Hersey. Pictorial History of the War Walter Hutchinson.PLAGUE SHIPS!
Plague Ships! Posted on April 10, 2020 by chris. An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrors CONTACT – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST Intercontinental Literary Agency. Centric House. 390/391 Strand. London WC2R 0LT. Tel: 020 7379 6611. ILA’s contact website.CAREER CHRONOLOGY
Christopher Priest Omnibus 1 ( The Space Machine and A Dream of Wessex) published by Earthlight, Simon & Schuster (UK) Christopher Priest Omnibus 2 ( Inverted World and Fugue For a Darkening Island) published by Earthlight, Simon & Schuster (UK) Award: BSFA Award — The Extremes. Award Nomination: Arthur C. Clarke Award – TheExtremes.
CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
I can only say this once, so pay attention! Concrete Faery is a novel written by my daughter, whom I adore and admire, and for all sorts of obvious reasons is a writer I can say nothing about in public without arousing deep suspicions of nepotism. Onward Concrete Faery is Lizzy’s first novel, a YA fantasy, written engagingly and with a constant sense of dry and sceptical wit. THE MAGIC: THE STORY OF A FILM The Magic is now available as an ebook. In 2006, Christopher Nolan directed a film of Priest’s novel The Prestige. It went straight to No.1 in the US box office, won rave reviews around the world, and ever since has had audiences arguing and debating. It is a film with aCHRISTOPHER PRIEST
The Fowlesian warning. Above the door to the room that has become my new study there is a sign: WAITING ROOM. Shades of John Fowles! In Fowles’s brilliant novel The Magus (1965), the protagonist Nicholas Urfe is warned: “Beware of the waiting room.”It takes a while for Urfe to understand the true import of this warning, and in a similar way my new room just feels like a good place toREAL-TIME WORLD +2
Real-Time World +2. Paperback. ISBN: 978-0-9559735-3-6. Pages: 195 x 128 mm; 207 pp. Price: £10.99 or $15.95 or €12.00. This is a paperback re-issue of Christopher Priest’s first short story collection, Real-Time World. Originally a hardback from NEL in 1974,the
URSULA – CHRISTOPHER PRIEST January 24, 2018. by chris. Bereavement is a variant of ‘bereft’ – we are all bereft by the loss of Ursula Le Guin. She was a supreme writer and thinker, one of the greatest of all American writers and perhaps the best ever to have graced us with her fantasy and science fiction. She was a better writer than any of us, past or presentSkip to content
CHRISTOPHER PRIEST
author of The Prestige, The Separation and the story collectionEpisodes
Menu
* About
* Awards & Nominations* Career Chronology
* Photos
* Visual Media
* Books
* An American Story
* The Gradual
* Extract from The Gradual * Reviews of The Gradual* The Adjacent
* Extract from The Adjacent * Reviews for The Adjacent* The Islanders
* Reviews for The Islanders * The Dream Archipelago * Reviews for The Dream Archipelago* The Separation
* Reading in a War: a bibliography for The Separation* I: Histories
* II: Biographies
* III: Memoirs of Important Participants * IV: Adventures of Unimportant Participants * V: Miscellaneous Books * VI: Reference Works* VII: Rudolf Hess
* Summing Up
* Reviews for The Separation* The Extremes
* Reviews for The Extremes* The Prestige
* Interview about The Prestige * Reviews for The Prestige * The Prestige (film) * The Book On The Edge Of Forever * Reviews for The Book On The Edge Of Forever* The Quiet Woman
* Reviews for The Quiet Woman* The Glamour
* Reviews for The Glamour* The Affirmation
* Reviews for The Affirmation * An Infinite Summer * Reviews for An Infinite Summer* A Dream of Wessex
* Reviews for A Dream of Wessex* The Space Machine
* Reviews for The Space Machine* Real-Time World
* Reviews for Real-Time World* Inverted World
* Reviews for Inverted World * Fugue for a Darkening Island * Reviews for Fugue for a Darkening Island* Indoctrinaire
* Reviews for Indoctrinaire* The Evidence
* Anthologies edited* Contact
* Essays
* Arguments
* Independent Cinemas* Pax Ortygia
* The Scars of War
* The State of Publishing: 1 * The State of Publishing: 2 * The State of Publishing: 3 * Top Ten Slipstream Books * Contemporaries Portrayed * A Meeting with Richard Cowper* Bob Shaw
* David Langford
* John Brunner
* John Wyndham & H G Wells* Keith Roberts
* Kingsley Amis
* Richard Cowper (John Middleton Murry)* Film
* The Gradual
* The Glamour
* The Extremes
* The Space Machine
* The Separation
* A Dream of Wessex
* The Quiet Woman
* Inverted World
* The Islanders
* The Prestige (it is done)* GrimGrin
* “It” Came From Outer Space* Ersatz Wines
* Real-Time World
* Real-Time World +2 * The Magic: the story of a filmA COOT
April 7, 2021April 22, 2021chris
‘Cooting’ is a slang word describing a transgressive sexual act. I had never come across it before, either the word or the act, but I discovered the meaning (as no doubt you will too, after you read this) in the online Urban Dictionary. I don’t
want to repeat the definition here. It is beyond question thoroughlydisgusting.
You might well wonder why I was even looking it up. I came across the word in Kazuo Ishiguro’s new novel, _Klara and the Sun_. The book includes a description of a large and noisy machine that does road work. It is coloured a dirty pale yellow and through its three funnels it emits an acrid black smoke cloud, so dense and polluting that it obscures the light from the sun. The narrator (of whom more in a moment, but for now it’s enough to say the narrator is a solar-powered AI hominoid) sees this as a symbolically destructive machine and becomes determined to destroy it. The word _Cootings_ is painted on its side. Later in the book, the hominoid learns of a way to damage what is now called the Cootings Machine: if a certain fluid, referred to in Ishiguro’s mumbo-jumbo as a _P-E-G Nine solution_, is introduced into the workings the machinery would be made useless. As it happens, P-E-G Nine solution is present inside the hominoid, in ‘a small cavity … at the back of the head, where it meets the neck’. With the help of a human friend, the AI hominoid suffers a minor incision with a handy screwdriver, and the P-E-G Nine solution is introduced into the workings. The Cootings Machine is duly disabled. This combination of a criminal act with body horror and body fluids made me wonder what on earth the author was getting at. It seemed dark and mysterious symbolism might be going on. And why is it called Cootings? _Cootings_ is apparently the name of the machine’s manufacturer. As the book is set in a slightly futuristic version of our own world, wouldn’t heavy industrial machinery of this sort be more realistically likely to have _JCB_ or _Kobelco_ or _Massey-Ferguson_ painted on its side? Why make up a new name? Kazuo Ishiguro is self-consciously a serious writer at the top of the literary ladder: he is the author many novels, the winner of multiple book prizes, and is now a Nobel Laureate. The choice of this name must have been an informed, deliberate one, and this is why I went in search of the meaning of the word. When I learnt the definition given by the Urban Dictionary, I thought for a fleeting moment that I had stumbled on and opened up a whole new and stunningly original depth of dark symbolism. While the fleeting moment persisted I was shocked and daunted by the writer’s audacity. Well, not really. The Cootings Machine turns out to be a minor sub-plot, the threat it presents is exaggerated by the narrator’s unworldly inexperience, and the attack on it with P-E-G Nine solution is carried out off-stage. And because it turns out there is more than one Cootings Machine in existence, to damage one of them is ultimately pointless. It is barely referred to again. This is a risk of seeming to labour a point, but in fact it is one small but clear example of the many superficial and inconsequential images that litter this novel. Ishiguro clearly had no more idea than me or anyone else reading this what ‘cooting’ meant. Presumably he thought he was making it up. Presumably he didn’t think to spend ten seconds Googling the word (as I did earlier today) just in case it was slang for a disgusting and transgressive sexual act, just in case he wanted to think again and perhaps call it JCB Machine instead. The book is narrated by Klara, an ‘Artificial Friend’ designed to help girl teenagers through their difficult years. Klara is referred to as a robot at one point, presumably because she has been fashioned in a human-like, i.e. hominoid, shape, with legs, a torso, a face and hair. She wears clothes, and goes to her own room at night. She is female in some undescribed fashion, so presumably male hominoids are made male in some other fashion. (If so, with what dark and mysteriousreason?)
One groans at the familiarity, as one did in McEwan’s not dissimilar novel in 2019, _Machines Like Me_, but also at the impracticality and the sheer old-fashionedness of the idea. Walking and talking humanoids, from Robbie the Robot to Marvin the Paranoid Android, have used up the notion: they now amply fulfil the condition of intellectual decadence, as set out by Joanna Russ in her magisterial essay in 1971, ‘The Wearing Out of Genre Materials’. Modern AI is genuinely a much more subtle thing, from the supermarket till that offers you money off next time you buy the chocolate biscuits you enjoy so much, to the intrusive data harvesting of social media engines, and to the hostile regimes who try to influence the results of elections. A walking, wondering, blank-eyed doll who calls a smartphone an ‘oblong’ and who thinks houses are painted in different colours so the residents will not enter the wrong one by mistake, is nowhere close to that league. Not AI at all, then. Betteras AS?
Klara is our narrator for the full length of the 80,000-odd words, so we are forced to see the world through her restricted and estranged perception. Some critics call this the use of an unreliable narrator, but that is a much more sensitive and sophisticated literary device. Klara is not unreliable: she simply doesn’t get it. The matters she doesn’t get are left to us to try to understand, as it were, on her behalf. It is dull and sometimes maddening having to go through page after page, mentally interpreting for a clod. It distances the reader not only from the action and the world in which it takes place, but more importantly from the characters. They are third-person ciphers, respectively referred to as ‘Manager’ (of the obsolete type of department store where Klara sits in a sales window), or ‘the Mother’ (of Josie, the teenage girl who is being artificially befriended), or ‘Mr Paul’ (father of same). In dialogue, Klara habitually addresses them by these second-person labels. All this is bad enough, but Ishiguro adapts his style to the purpose. His English is bland, careful, circumlocutory, slightly grandiloquent, always shrinking from commitment to his characters or his subject. One is often reminded of Stevens, the clod of a butler in _The Remains of the Day_, 1989, who behaved like a stooge servant in a TV costume drama, following the pedantic script and missing all the hints of a real world around him. Much of the dialogue in _Klara and the Sun_ is repeated, the characters treating each other as people who haven’t listened or understood, or who defer to each other. As for the lack of commitment, Ishiguro is depicting a future world in which the geneticists and eugenicists have perfected the art of super-selection, in which the bright kids are ‘lifted’, given good health and schooling and higher education, plus an easy passage into the chattering classes, while the dullards are fascistically consigned to pauperdom or death. Does Ishiguro give any hint of the moral horror of such a world? No – he shrinks from that, just as he and Stevens shrank from the appeasement of the Nazi sympathizers in the big country house of _Remains of the Day_. A novelist should approach a fantastic or speculative element with a full-on open mind, aware of the consequences of technological inventions, of the implicit warnings contained in social extrapolation, of the good or bad example a postulated future might set, of the impact on the people who are involved. It is not enough to watch a few sci-fi films on Netflix, or pick up futuristic-seeming slang from comics. The fantastic is a powerful and important literary strand, largely ignored or patronized or misunderstood by the literary world at large, but the best examples of fantastic literature treat their material with seriousness, responsibility and imagination. A secondrate imagining of these things leads to secondrate literature. Klara doesn’t get it, but neither does Kazuo Ishiguro. _Klara and the Sun_ by Kazuo Ishiguro. Published by Faber & Faber, 20.00, ISBN: 978-0-571-36487-9 THE MAGIC — NOW IN EBOOK January 22, 2021January 22, 2021chris
Nearly a decade and a half ago I wrote and published a book about the making of the film _The Prestige_. It’s called _The Magic – the Story of a Film_. Over the years many readers have purchased copies, which is still available in its first edition hardcover, as well as paperback. Courtesy of David Langford at Ansible Editions I now have an ebook version of _The Magic_ available, and details of it may be read here.
The film was of course based on my own novel. It was directed by Christopher Nolan – at that time he was not the major Hollywood director he is now perceived to be. I took a special interest in the process of transition from book to film for reasons which should be obvious. I had little to do with the actual mechanics of the production, but being a witness to a lot of bemusing activity happening over there in far California was intriguing enough. The process of adaptation appealed to me as a craft matter: I knew better than anyone what a complex and cerebral book it was, and when I heard that a film was in preparation I started wondering how on Earth anyone could make anything coherent from it. When I was able to see the finished product the answer was a welcome and rather satisfyingsurprise.
Years later the film of _The Prestige_ looks better and better. It is routinely under-rated by Nolan’s fans, who prefer the three films he made about The Batman, and the special effects extravaganzas that followed those. Not being that sort of fan I disagree. _The Magic_ is therefore a book writer’s analysis, and celebration, of what is probably Nolan’s most interesting film to date.WHAT TO EXPECT
October 29, 2020October 29, 2020chris
It probably seems like a school essay: “What I did in lockdown”, but I have to say that living on a Scottish island and having a lot of writing to do is the best possible way of getting through this uninteresting, worrying and as yet unfinished period. Here, in reverse order, is the product of my last seven months in enforced seclusion: I have written an introduction to a new book with what might seem an unpromising title: _My Father’s Things_. When you discover that the “My” is the photographer Wendy Aldiss, the “Father” is the author Brian Aldiss and the “Things” are all the possessions he had after a lifetime of writing, travel, family and collecting, then maybe it’ll seem a lot more interesting. I found it fascinating, both for the nosey satisfaction of seeing behind the scenes of a long, productive and successful life, and for the quality of the beautiful images. Wendy took more than 9,000 photos as she went sadly through his house, and the book is a selection of the best. Brian Aldiss’s ties Wendy is seeking crowdfunding for the project, and is already well on the way to achieving her target. Do check out the Kickstarter page,
and become a supporter. During the short recess in the lockdown, at the end of summer, we briefly breathed the heady air of freedom and went to see the new Christopher Nolan film, _Tenet_. This coincided with reading for review a new book by Tom Shone, _The Nolan Variations_. The book consists of transcriptions of many long interviews with the great man, film by film. I take a special interest in Nolan’s films, and the review is published today.
My book, _The Magic_, which is about the making of Nolan’s film version of _The Prestige,_ is still available in hardcover and paperback. Details here.
Most of the last seven months, though, has been fully occupied by a new novel, which I completed and sent to the agent this week. The title is _Expect Me Tomorrow_, probably the most complex book I have written to date. I’m reluctant to say anything about it at the moment. I’m still too close to it for that, but it’s a weird feeling, sending something out into the world that has been a private obsession for all these months. NEW BOOK (OLD NORMAL)October 8, 2020
chris
First copies of _The Evidence_ arrived this morning, looking good. I was very pleased to see this in print at last, after what turned out to be a fairly normal process, attended distractingly and worryingly by the social upheaval and feelings of uncertainty known to everyone. Books endure, books are a constant. According to Amazon, the book will not be published until October 15, but our local independent bookshop has already ordered, and says Gardners are supplying from stock. They will have copies tomorrow. Independent bookshops remain the best place to buy new books. ISBN: 978 1 473 23137 5. Gollancz 2020, 312 pp, £20.00 CHOOSE WHICH SIDE YOU’RE ON? October 5, 2020October 9, 2020chris
This is the Brexit Biscuit, a shortbread snack of two halves. It may be eaten whole, or one half at a time, or simply broken apart in a symbolic way: one side kept forever, the other discarded. It comes in a pack of twelve, wrapped in a free but tear-up-able copy of Article 50, and packed in a beautiful old-fashioned tin box, good for keeping things in. Obtainable here . THE PRESTIGE AND THE MAGIC August 30, 2020August 30, 2020chris
The _Sunday Telegraph_, today, carries an interview with me by SamLeith
.
(The Telegraph website has a paywall.) The matter under discussion: the films of Christopher Nolan, a topical subject as his new blockbuster _Tenet_ is currently busy saving the film industry. Mr Leith had read my book on the subject, _The Magic_, so we tended to follow the arguments expressed there. My novel _The Prestige_,
was filmed by Christopher Nolan in 2006 and rated by many critics to be his best film (a view I share). The book is still in print and available in paperback from all bookstores. A few years after the film appeared I wrote and published _The Magic_, in effect a response to the many friendly enquiries I received on an almost daily basis from readers and filmgoers: what did I really think of the film?, what went on behind the scenes?, how does the film compare with the novel?, and so on. Although characterized in some quarters as me ‘slamming’ Mr Nolan (which no doubt will be said again after the interview has been read), the book is in fact an appreciative and nuanced study of how a serious and complex feature film is conceived and made by a young film maker at his peak. I had absolutely nothing to do with the development and production of the film, but for obvious reasons every moment of the finished product was of interest and fascination to me. Naturally, I spelled out a few small reservations about the film (nothing’s perfect), and made a few disappointed comments about the way Mr Nolan’s talent appeared to be in the process of being squandered on lesser projects – an obsession with simplistic comic superheroes, for instance. This is where the ‘slamming’ comes in, I suppose. But in reality I have always supported and endorsed the film, making personal introductions at festival screenings, for example. Christopher Nolan is clearly a talented and skilful film-maker, which is not in question, but he has not followed through with the uniquely imaginative approach shown in his early work. Many films start looking a bit dated quite soon after release, but Nolan’s film of _The Prestige_ has a timeless quality, and is already showing encouraging signs of becoming a genuine classic of cinema. _The Magic_ is still in print and available directly from me, in both the first edition hardcover (£16.99) and a paperback (£10.99). More details about how to order can be found on this page.
THE EVIDENCE
June 2, 2020June 2, 2020chris
Here is the cover art for my new novel, _The Evidence_. It will be published by Gollancz in October, and it can be pre-ordered fromAmazon
in hardcover or Kindle. There is no mention in it anywhere of lockdown, virus or pandemic. There are no jokes about eyesight tests, no plague ships polluting the oceans, no face masks. It describes a place where crime no longer exists, and in which three murders have to be investigated.PLAGUE SHIPS!
April 10, 2020 chris An interesting and potentially deadly subtext to the coronavirus crisis is the fate of several luxury cruise liners. Refused entry by many ports, a few of these monster vessels with their passengers and crews isolated inside their cabins and breathing recycled air, and suffering all the horrors of COVID19, had to roam the seas while searching for a safe landing. While the coronavirus epidemic was confined to the Far East a few of these ships were named and located. They were allowed to berth for quarantine, but many more are still at sea and in all parts of the world. They are now operating with increasing secrecy and many cannot be identified or tracked bysoftware.
There are approximately sixty luxury cruise liners in current operation with a deadweight greater than 120,000 tonnes. Another forty-two such ships are currently on order, or underconstruction.
In environmental terms, each of these ships is an abomination: they produce exhaust fumes as prolifically as 700 large trucks. They leave a vast trail of human waste in their wake. Like all ships, they secretly clean out and dump the waste from their fuel tanks at sea. They severely damage both the infrastructure of the ports they call at, and the social dynamics of the towns they visit – Venice is the most famous example of this, but it is true of many other places, including the Scottish islands. Today, our local paper _Isle of Bute News_ reports that this part of Scotland, with its multiple sea lochs and inlets, has recently been attracting many such luxury yachts and cruise liners. Several of these ships have been refused entry to French and Italian ports. They have all switched off their identifying transmitters, and so become invisible to tracking software. A few berthed briefly in Greenock, then moved on. They cannot land crew or passengers without health clearance, so many of them are anchored at sea, or more often in convenient inlets between the hills. Practical information about these Flying Dutchmen, modern plague ships secretly wandering the seas, can be found here.
IT’S OURS
March 26, 2020March 27, 2020chris
I hear that Trump-backed US medical insurance companies, drug manufacturers and equipment suppliers want to buy our NHS.Let them try.
FAMILIAR?
March 21, 2020March 21, 2020chris
This was published in _Punch_ in 1939. The artist was Antonia Yeoman: A CASE OF WRITERS’ LOCK March 19, 2020March 20, 2020chris
We do not use social media, so in modern terms we are fairly ‘silent’. A few kindly people have sent us emails enquiring how we are getting along in these unusual times and circumstances. The reality of self isolation The answer is that Nina and I are both working on new novels, sitting alone in our respective studies, a state of affairs completely normal for us but which conveniently looks like self-isolation and in general accord with the government’s recommendations about social distancing. It’s a fast-changing situation, as everyone knows. There is as yet no trace of the coronavirus on the island, nor indeed anywhere in the rest of Argyll & Bute, a huge if not massively populated county. Because of the way these things work I assume the arrival of the dreaded thing is only a matter of when, not if. We have decided, with immense regret, not to attend the Eastercon thisyear.
Looking at the rest of this blog I notice that the last time I wrote an entry here was in November last year. How time flies. That appreciative review of Amy Binns’ biography of John Wyndham produced only one response, and that was a howl of protest from someone else who had been working on the same subject but had failed either to finish it or find a publisher for it. I was held somehow responsible for their failure, and a stream of vindictive emails followed. I had never before invoked the power to redirect unwanted emails from an annoying correspondent into the spam folder, but once I did a blessed silence fell. It took until mid-February for the phrase ‘self-isolation’ to emerge, when I realized what I had done had aname.
All is therefore well here (for now), and although we are absorbed in what we are doing we are anxious to keep hearing from our friends about their own experiences in this alarming time.THE LIFE AWAKES
November 28, 2019
chris 1 Comment
At last we have in Amy Binns’s new biography of John Wyndham a well-written and objectively researched book, half a century after his death in 1969. Wyndham was the first successful modern science fiction writer to emerge in Britain since H G Wells. His work, mostly written in the late 1940s or early 1950s, has acquired period charm, and some of the dialogue is middle class in tone and dated in style, but there is a hardness of vision, a satirical edge, a sense of the author’s regrets and sometimes amusement about the follies of the world atlarge.
His books and short stories are remarkable for their constant depiction of strong, decisive or capable women. His speculative ideas, although sometimes reworked from his own early stories or from the generality of the genre, were presented plausibly and with a nice sense of menace. For example, his second novel, _The Kraken Wakes_, created a genuine and growing feeling of mystery and unease while an invasion force went about a deliberate and unexplained process of destroying our planet. Amy Binns’s excellent book, _Hidden Wyndham_, depicts the author as a shy, withdrawn and deeply private man. There are no shocking details to be excavated from the past, there is no scandal, no secret life, although a tinge of sadness hung around him. At first he had to deal with the effects of being born into a dysfunctional middle-class family, his mother a distant if loving presence, his father a ne’er-do-well lawyer who sponged constantly off his wife’s wealthy parents. As a young man Wyndham began a tentative writing career in the American pulp magazines, which was interrupted when the second world war began. After war service he returned to his writing and became unexpectedly a major publishing phenomenon. When his first books were successful he became known to other science fiction writers in London, including Arthur C Clarke (then much less celebrated), William F Temple and John Christopher. Wyndham regularly attended their monthly meetings at the White Hart and Globe pubs, but they seem to have learned little or nothing about his life. Later he collaborated with them to launch the magazine _New Worlds SF_ as a commercial venture, but he retained his privacy. He lived somewhere in London, but they had no idea where. When he signed the official papers as Chairman of the new company, his address was revealed to be at a members’ club they had never heard of. ‘Wyndham’ was a kind of pseudonym – his real name turned out to be John Wyndham Parkes LucasBeynon Harris.
When in 1963 he announced that he had married a friend called Grace Wilson, with whom he had been close for more than two decades, the other writers were astonished: he had always seemed isolated, self-sufficient, closed off, a classic bachelor of choice. In fact, as we discover from the archive of his hundreds of letters written to Grace (many of them sent while he was serving in the Army after D-Day), theirs was a loving, intimate and trusting relationship. For most of that time they chose to present as just friends: they rented adjacent rooms in London’s Penn Club, a strictly run private club established by Quakers which would not condone extra-marital relationships. Because marriage, or even more the admission of an affair, would in those days have had a drastic impact on Grace’s professional career (she was a senior teacher at a girls’ school, and for years the main breadwinner of the two of them), they decided to stay unwed. John Wyndham himself was content not to formalize their relationship until late in life. Once married, he and Grace stayed happily together until Wyndham died. He was at ease for the rest of his life, and the books brought him substantial financial security. The quality of his work takes the general form of a bell curve. His early contributions to American science fiction magazines were typical of the period and have become badly dated – many of them were reprinted in modern editions after his success, and are mainly of curiosity interest now. The war arrived and Wyndham had to stop writing. He became one of the generation of British writers whose careers were put on hold for several years: others include Elizabeth Bowen, William Sansom, Rex Warner, H E Bates, Graham Greene. The involuntary pause had a different impact on the work of each individual, but in Wyndham’s case it seems to have been the making of him. _The Day of the Triffids_ (1951), the first book published as by John Wyndham, is skilfully told in a mature and readable style. His other three great novels followed: _The Kraken Wakes_ (1953), _The Chrysalids_ (1955) and _The Midwich Cuckoos_ (1957). But these four represent the peak, the upper limit of the bell curve. Four more novels followed, none of them at the same standard as his best. _Trouble with Lichen_ (1960) was a social satire, a distinct lowering of temperature from the others. _The Outward Urge_ (1959, published in collaboration with ‘Lucas Parkes’ as nonexistent science adviser) was another disappointment. The last novel to be published in his lifetime was _Chocky_ (1968), which was an adult novel with a child as a main character. After his death, a novel he had been struggling with for several years was finally published. _Web_ (1979) was a long way below par, something of which John Wyndham himself was almost certainly aware. Forty years after Wyndham’s death, an unpublished novel called _Plan for Chaos_ was found in his papers at University of Liverpool. After a university press hardcover appeared in 2009, Penguin later published it in paperback. (I was commissioned to write an Introduction to their edition.) For imagined commercial reasons _Plan for Chaos_ had been aimed at the American market, but the attempts at American dialogue and slang were crude and unsuccessful through most of the opening chapters. The second half of the novel is much better, and the story of the Nazi scientists who escaped to South America, and aimed to take over the world in their flying saucers, at least has the familiar Wyndham ironic humour. Interestingly, _Plan for Chaos_ was written after _The Day of the Triffids_, but it is significantly less accomplished. In correspondence with Frederik Pohl, his American literary agent, Wyndham said he thought the Englishness of _Triffids_ would make it difficult to sell in the States. He put the better novel aside while he wrote the much weaker book intended to replace it. There is some evidence (noted by Dr Binns in her book) that Ira Levin and John Wyndham had corresponded, and that Levin was likely to have read _Plan for Chaos_ in manuscript. His own novel, _The Boys from Brazil_ (1976), has a remarkably similar plot in outline. One of his other novels, _This Perfect Day_ (1970), contains a coded acknowledgement to Wyndham. The mysteries of John Wyndham’s private life turn out to be trivial, and no one’s business but his own. To read his love letters to Grace feels intrusive, but they give a context to the body of his best work. He seemed diffident and aloof to some who met him, but Amy Binns reveals him as a decent and faithful man, a lover of the countryside and a gifted storyteller. His books have been continuously in print for nearly seventy years, an extraordinary achievement. _Hidden Wyndham — Life, Love, Letters_ by Amy Binns, Grace Judson Press, pp 288, £10.95. ISBN: _978-0-9927567-1-0_A HUNDRED BOOKS
November 27, 2019November 27, 2019chris
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Here are the one hundred books I consider to be my ‘key’ titles. They are not intended as recommendations as such, although in many cases I would in fact recommend them. I imagine many of the works here will be already familiar to most people reading this. The uniqueness lies only in the totality, the existence of one title thought of as special in the context of all the others of similar specialness, memorable in a life full of fairly disorganized and impulsive reading. I have read them all, and they remain permanently on my shelves, but I have not read all of them all the way through. (I have read closely only a handful of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, for one example.) In most cases the book as a whole has had an impact on me, but in at least two instances what I remember most profoundly is an image from a single sentence, and in one other case it was a painted illustration that moved me — I only identified the work the painting was based on many years later. But of course several are here because I have read and re-read them many times (_Alice in Wonderland_ was a constant favourite throughout my early childhood). Speaking of Shakespeare, I have seen _Hamlet_ performed four or maybe five times, but I have never read the play as a text. I can recall few lines from it, and accurately quote none of it, but when I hear the words spoken I am filled with a happy recognition. The books are in alphabetical order by author — this is a way of slightly covering my tracks. Putting them in chronological order would be difficult and only approximate anyway, and even then would be far too revealing of how easy it is to be sucked into a series of like books, one after the other. The most recently discovered author on this list is the Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño. But alphabetization of the authors produces its own oddness. There is Enid Blyton cheek by jowl with J G Ballard. And George Orwell and Beatrix Potter lie next to each other, even though three decades separate them. (I’m not saying which one came first.) This particular listomania was brought on by Nina Allan, who has published her own list and talked me into doing mine. The whole thing was ultimately provoked by the current BBC-TV series, _100 Novels that Shaped our World_. I do
not claim world-shaping impact on me from these titles, nor are all of them novels, but they form part of the silent context from which one views the world and reacts to it. * _Penguin SF_ Ed. Brian Aldiss * _Non-Stop_ Brian Aldiss * _New Maps of Hell_ Kingsley Amis * _The Green Man_ Kingsley Amis * _The Four-Dimensional Nightmare_ J G Ballard * _Vermilion Sands_ J G Ballard * _The Twins at St Clare’s_ Enid Blyton * _The Castle of Adventure_ Enid Blyton * _The Mountain of Adventure_ Enid Blyton * _2666_ Roberto Bolaño * _Last Evenings on Earth_ Roberto Bolaño * _Don’t Point that Thing at Me_ Kyril Bonfiglioli * _Fictions_ Jorge Luis Borges * _The Sheltering Sky_ Paul Bowles * _The Silver Locusts_ Ray Bradbury * _The Naked Island_ Russell Braddon * _The Dam Busters_ Paul Brickhill * _Project Jupiter_ Fredric Brown * _What Mad Universe_ Fredric Brown * _Rogue Moon_ Algis Budrys * _Dark Avenues_ Ivan Bunin * _The People’s War_ Angus Calder * _That Summer in Paris_ Morley Callaghan * _The Outsider_ Albert Camus * _Alice in Wonderland_ Lewis Carroll * _No Moon Tonight_ Don Charlwood * _Bomber Pilot_ Leonard Cheshire * _The World in Winter_ John Christopher * _The Second World War_ Winston S Churchill * _The City and the Stars_ Arthur C Clarke * _Mariners of Space_ Erroll Collins * _Enemies of Promise_ Cyril Connolly * _Fifth Business_ Robertson Davies * Complete Holmes Stories Sir Arthur Conan Doyle * _Nickel and Dimed_ Barbara Ehrenreich * _Who Killed Hanratty?_ Paul Foot * _Modern English Usage_ H W Fowler * _The French Lieutenant’s Woman_ John Fowles * _The Magus_ John Fowles * Diaries Joseph Goebbels * _Adventures in the Screen Trade_ William Goldman * _The Killing of Julia Wallace_ Jonathan Goodman * _Good-Bye to All That_ Robert Graves * _A Sort of Life_ Graham Greene * _The Quiet American_ Graham Greene * _The Door into Summer_ Robert A Heinlein * _Catch 22_ Joseph Heller * _A Moveable Feast_ Ernest Hemingway * _Hiroshima_ John Hersey * Pictorial History of the War Walter Hutchinson * _Biggles and the Cruise of the Condor_ W E Johns * _Dubliners_ James Joyce* _Ice_ Anna Kavan
* _A History of Warfare_ John Keegan * _Fame_ Daniel Kehlmann * _10 Rillington Place_ Ludovic Kennedy * _Jack the Ripper – The Final Solution_ Stephen Knight * _Steps_ Jerzy Kosinski * _The Painted Bird_ Jerzy Kosinski * _Changing Places_ David Lodge * _Small World_ David Lodge * _The False Inspector Dew_ Peter Lovesey * _High Tide_ Mark Lynas * _Revolution in the Head_ Ian MacDonald * _Calculated Risk_ Charles Eric Maine * _The Caltraps of Time_ David I Masson * _Owning Up_ George Melly * _The Cruel Sea_ Nicholas Monsarrat * _Pax Britannica_ James Morris * _Song of the Sky_ Guy Murchie * _A Severed Head_ Iris Murdoch * Collected Stories Vladimir Nabokov * Collected Essays George Orwell * _Nineteen Eighty-Four_ George Orwell * _The Tale of Samuel Whiskers_ Beatrix Potter * _Invisibility_ Steve Richards * _Pavane_ Keith Roberts * _The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat_ Oliver Sacks * Collected Sonnets William Shakespeare * _Hamlet_ William Shakespeare * _Pilgrimage to Earth_ Robert Sheckley * _Frankenstein_ Mary Shelley * _Larry’s Party_ Carol Shields * _Mary Swann_ Carol Shields * _On the Beach_ Nevil Shute * _Loitering with Intent_ Muriel Spark * _The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas_ Gertrude Stein * _Earth Abides_ George R Stewart * _Dracula_ Bram Stoker * _The Murder of Rudolf Hess_ Hugh Thomas * _Battle Cry_ Leon M Uris * _No Night is Too Long_ Barbara Vine * _Twins_ Peter Watson * _The War of the Worlds_ H G Wells * _The Time Machine_ H G Wells * _Uncharted Seas_ Dennis Wheatley * _Disappearances_ William Wiser * _The Crazy Years_ William Wiser * _The Day of the Triffids_ John Wyndham * _The Kraken Wakes_ John WyndhamYEA OR NAY
October 31, 2019October 31, 2019chris
Three years ago, along with a lot of other people in Britain, I placed my vote in the European referendum. The next morning I woke up to discover that overnight I had been labelled a “Remainer”, and was informed that my vote was on the losing side and that I therefore no longer had a voice in what would happen as a result of the referendum. All that has continued to be true ever since. I voted to Remain for what I felt were uncontroversial reasons. Firstly, in the last forty years or so I have travelled in more than half the European countries who make up the EU. Although none of the countries represents a perfect world, an ideal place, I grew to like the way European countries ran things. Social problems are everywhere but they appear to be dealt with more effectively, more humanely than here in the UK. From my personal perspective there was effective environmental legislation in place, the rights of workers seemed protected, and the arts were better supported. Going to a book fair in Spain, or a literary festival in France or Germany, is an eye-opening experience from a British point of view, and wipes away forever the conceit that the UK is one of the most literate, book-loving countriesin the world.
Secondly, having worked in the UK court service for nearly two decades I have become thoroughly versed in the importance, subtlety and civilizing quality of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Incorporated into UK law in 1998 it has had what I see as a profound and desirable effect, if largely unrecognized and sometimes misunderstood, on many aspects of daily life in this country. Thirdly, I lived in the south coast town of Hastings for nearly a quarter of a century. When I moved in it was a seaside dump, with many closed businesses, deteriorating housing stock, a horrendous drug problem and a pretty view of the English Channel. The view never changed, but our partner countries on the other side of the Channel were feeding millions of euros in subsidies and grants into many derelict British towns, including Hastings. All through the time I lived there the town was being cleaned up, repaired, invested in. By the time I left in 2014 it had been transformed. Hastings has become an attractive, prosperous and interesting place, with many cultural and artistic activities. (Now that I am living in Scotland I am starting to find out what similar EU investment in the past has done to improve lives and the environment here. Scotland is already a mini-European country in outlook and effectiveness. _NB to people in England:_ after a few years of moratorium Scotland has just placed a permanent ban on fracking.) So in a mild way, I felt the EU to be in general a good thing. It never occurred to me that many other people would have the strongly antagonistic feelings about it appallingly revealed in the months that have followed the referendum. The “Leave” campaign in 2016 was largely run by three secondrate Tory politicians (Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Iain Duncan Smith). They were a front for a sinister cabal of secretive businessmen and political opportunists. Laws were broken, and lies were told. Lies were told every day, in fact, some of them so blatantly untrue that they have become a sort of stock-in-trade for comedians. (Mentioning 350 millions a week for the NHS still gets a cheap laugh every time.) The campaign they ran was emotive, it fudged detail, it avoided real issues, it appealed to people’s baser instincts about foreigners and immigrants and hospital waiting lists. Again, these tactics were so conspicuously dishonest that I assumed most people would have the sense to realize what was being said. Interestingly, as the weak Tory government has tried in recent months to negotiate what they always call a “deal” (a horrible word made popular by Trump’s dishonest practices), it has become blazingly obvious that none of the real issues of leaving the EU, none of the serious problems, were ever mentioned by anyone in the Leave campaign. Does anyone remember the Leave campaign explaining how the problem of the Irish border would be solved? So it is apparent that many people who voted to Leave were either gulled by the lies (or chose to ignore them after they were exposed), or they were not informed of the reality of what they were voting for. They followed their instincts instead. The referendum was an opportunity to succumb to the temptation to push a sharp stick into the eyes of the Tory nobs who ran the country. (Not such a bad idea, in socialistic fact: David Cameron’s cabinet contained a majority of public school boys, and at least eleven millionaires.) It was a protest about foreign workers taking up jobs that should have been given to British people. It was a fear of being swamped by immigration. It was a complaint that operations for varicose veins, cataract implants, replacement hips (and treatment for more serious emergencies, like cancer, stroke, etc) were the subject of long delays. It was anger that the schools were crowded and underfunded, that doctors’ surgeries were crammed with freeloading foreigners, that jobs were hard to come by … All these are genuine concerns, and many people feel disadvantaged by them. But the root cause is not the arrival of refugees from dysfunctional regimes abroad, or Polish workmen, or Bulgarian fruit-pickers, or the policy of freedom of movement, or the unpoliced borders that inadequately protect our island. The truth is that we have been suffering from weak governments dominated by businessmen and hedgefund operatives, short-sighted policies, endless restrictions in the name of “austerity”, and above all a thoroughgoing lack of awareness about what many ordinary people care about on a daily basis, and the problems they have. In case this seems to be a one-sided tirade against the Tories, let me add that I consider the principal scoundrel responsible for the Brexit mess to be the leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn. Where was the opposition during the referendum campaign? Who challenged the glib lies? Who raised the problem of the Irish border? Not Jeremy Corbyn, who apart from one self-evidently insincere little speech about supporting the Remain side, was all but invisible. His absence created the unfailing impression that the referendum was really just a squabble between two factions in the Conservative Party. Since the referendum, Corbyn’s endless vacillation and unconvincing announcements have only added to the ineffectiveness of this man. He is more responsible than Cameron, May or even Johnson for the mess we are in. There is a place reserved in Brexit hell for Jeremy Corbyn – I’d like to think of him spending eternity in a cell with Michael Gove and Iain Duncan Smith. Today was planned to be the last day of our membership of the EU. Thankfully postponed yet again, it has become instead the first day of the General Election campaign. I have never voted Tory in my life, and in the past I worked as a campaign volunteer for the Labour Party. But should you sense even the whisper of a bat’s wing of temptation to vote for Corbyn’s party, I recommend you first to read Tom Bowyer’s biography of Corbyn,
just so you know what you would be voting for. There is only one solution to this mess. The best “deal” is the one we have. Referenda have no constitutional position in the UK. _They are advisory only._ The next government should swiftly consult the advice of the 2016 referendum, disagree with it, politely reject it, then revoke Article 50 and mend fences with our European friends and say sorry for all the botheration. Corbyn’s head on a stick might be enough to soothe their justifiable irritation with our otherwise green and pleasant land. Further reading, if you can find a copy – Amazon.co.uk have a few copies at 50p each: _Yea or Nay? – Referenda in the United Kingdom_,by Stanley Alderson
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ANNA K. AGAIN
October 22, 2019October 22, 2019chris
I see my last entry here was more than two months ago. There has been a period of delay, not at all my doing. Meanwhile, I have news of two or three public events in which I shall soon be taking part: I shall be at Novacon 49 , at the Nottingham Sherwood Hotel,
from 8 – 10 November. I shall be accompanying my daughter Elizabeth Priest, currently famous all over America since the Wall Street Journal unironically reported that she had not only ironically stockpiled Nutella, mozzarella and lactose-free milk in case of Brexit, but had eaten her way through the lot as one Brexit postponement followed another. More interestingly, Lizzy has just signed up with Luna Press for three more novels in herTroutespond series
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On 14th November I will be at Waterstones in Notting Hill, London W11,
where we will be discussing the life and works of Anna Kavan, the fascinating author of the novel _Ice_, as well as several more novels and collections. She is still, in spite of the best efforts of the likes of me, Brian Aldiss, Doris Lessing and her publishers Peter Owen, woefully underrated. From 7:00pm to 8:30pm — tickets £3.00 from the website linked here. A week later, on 21st November, I shall be at Cardonald Library, taking part in Book Week Scotland.
Admission: free. 6:30pm to 7:30pm. Cardonald Library is on the main road between Paisley and the centre of Glasgow, halfway along. There is a map on the website.EPI-CYCLE
August 15, 2019August 15, 2019chris
The composer John Hodgson has, with astonishing speed and dedication, written a suite of music based on my collection of stories, _Episodes_. It illustrates, or complements, the book. Each of the eleven stories has its own composition – I have played the whole suite only once, so I am still absorbing. The entire album can be listened to on the SoundCloud website, here.
Hodgson has also written musical complements to books by Mark Morris and Jeff Noon. They can be heard on the same website.MORE STOOGE
July 7, 2019July 7, 2019chris
Rogelio Fojo’s remarkable film of my short story ‘The Stooge’ has gained another festival screening, this one the Burbank International Film Festival , 4-8 September 2019. The story itself (the film tie-in, if you like, although it came first) appears in my new collection _Episodes_ – see below. This will be on sale later this week. Here is another still from the film:EPISODES
June 21, 2019June 22, 2019chris
This is my new hardcover from Gollancz, to my mind a well designed and handsome edition. It will be published on 11 July, available in bookstores … and of course may be ordered through Amazon and other online retailers. _Episodes_ is a collection of short stories with something extra. Each story has a Before and After, two short essays describing how the story came to be written, and what happened to it after that. The idea was to show how tangled the background to the appearance of a short story can sometimes be. For instance, ‘An Infinite Summer’ is a harmless story about innocent love, but it had a pretty aggravating time in the hands of a particular American editor. The full account of what happened to that story is here, and I believe that this is the first time the professional activities, or more accurately the unprofessional non-activities, of that egregious timewaster have been reported accurately in the world of general publishing. Other stories have their own backgrounds of personal provenance. The elderly woman who arranged for branches of trees to be slung at my car. The bank which thought literature could be made into a staff training device. The weird coincidence of two tragic deaths in train stations: one in the story, the other for real. The previously undescribed horror of an alphabetized book collection. Also published on 11 July is the paperback edition of my most recently published novel _An American Story_. For readers in the USA the only way to obtain copies is through internet retailers. Here is a link toamazon.co.uk
,
although I suspect amazon.com will also make it available. It is still the case that this story of a broken love affair, and the untrue story that obfuscates it, is deemed unsuitable for American readers. (However the novel has done OK in Russia, France, the UK, etc.) Distribution in the US of the British edition is likely to follow in due course, but I know not when.IT IS DONE
June 4, 2019August 8, 2019chris
I have not written much here in recent weeks. I have been working on a new novel, and today I sent it in to Robert Kirby, my agent. Uniquely, in my experience, I had a period of more or less six months without interruptions, and I made the most of it. I was at UTOPIALES, in Nantes, at the beginning of November, but returned feeling worn out and over-extended. Too much travel, and a heavy cold contracted because of Easyjet’s tight-fisted habit of overcrowding their unforgivably minimalist cabins, laid me flat during much of the rest of the month. I rose from the bed at the beginning of December, and almost immediately began work on the novel. I was refreshed, renewed, and had at last stopped coughing. Amazingly, to me if not to anyone else, I had completed the first draft before the end of February. I began the second draft the next day, and that was completed mid-May. (The sole interruption during that period was Easter weekend, when I was at YTTERBIUM in London.) For the last couple of weeks I have been doing last minute corrections and amendments, but today it is all done. Overall, writing the novel was a happy experience. This morning the sun is shining, the Firth is mirror-calm, the ferries are sailing to and fro. I am free. The new novel is unlike any of my previous novels, and stands as a sort of antidote to what happened to the first edition of _An American Story_. (We suspend judgement on what the trade will do with the paperback of that, due next month, along with a new hardcover collection of stories, _Episodes_.) No publishing arrangement has yet been made for the new book. I shall be at CYMERA, a book festival in Edinburgh, this coming weekend. Details: Sunday 9th June, 4.45 p.m, in Upper Hall, The Pleasance, 60 Pleasance, Edinburgh. EH8 9TJ. Details of my gig arehere
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Details of the Cymera festival are here.
On Friday 12th July, Nina Allan and I will be at BSFG (BRUMGROUP): 7:30 p.m. for 8:00 p.m., First Floor, The Briar Rose Hotel, Bennetts Hill, Birmingham. More details of BSFG here.
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