3.5
The Islanders
ByPublisher Description
Discover the islands of the Dream Archipelago—where reality is both illusory and magical—in this “masterful . . . endlessly compelling” literary sci-fi novel for fans of Haruki Murakami and David Mitchell (Locus).
The Dream Archipelago is a vast network of islands. The names of the islands are different depending on who you talk to. Their very locations seem to twist and shift.
Some islands have been sculpted into vast musical instruments, others are home to lethal creatures, others the playground for high society. Hot winds blow across the archipelago and a war fought between two distant continents is played out across its waters.
Styled as an untrustworthy but enticing travel guide to the archipelago, The Islanders is a tale of murder, artistic rivalry, and literary trickery; a Chinese puzzle of a novel where nothing is quite what it seems; a narrative that pulls you in and plays an elegant game, just as its unreliable narrator does the same . . .
“ . . . easily one of the richest and most rewarding novels that Priest has written to date.”
—Los Angeles Review of Books
The Dream Archipelago is a vast network of islands. The names of the islands are different depending on who you talk to. Their very locations seem to twist and shift.
Some islands have been sculpted into vast musical instruments, others are home to lethal creatures, others the playground for high society. Hot winds blow across the archipelago and a war fought between two distant continents is played out across its waters.
Styled as an untrustworthy but enticing travel guide to the archipelago, The Islanders is a tale of murder, artistic rivalry, and literary trickery; a Chinese puzzle of a novel where nothing is quite what it seems; a narrative that pulls you in and plays an elegant game, just as its unreliable narrator does the same . . .
“ . . . easily one of the richest and most rewarding novels that Priest has written to date.”
—Los Angeles Review of Books
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Islanders Reviews
3.5
“This is okay. There is definitely an extensive world building here but I'm not sure it's all really needed to uncover the story under the explanation of places defined as unknowable locations.”
“I've never read a book quite like this before. It reads like a travel guide, but once it gets going, you realize a lot of the characters' stories overlap and cross paths. Certain islands and events show up again and again from different perspectives. It feels a bit like a Ray Bradbury collection of short stories about Mars, yet it is disguised as a novel. I can't decide if I consider this science fiction or not. It's unique, and having just recently read Priest's The Affirmation, which introduced me to the Dream Archipelago setting, it was a perfect follow-up book to read.”
About Christopher Priest
Christopher Priest is a contemporary novelist and a leading figure in modern SF and fantasy. His novel The Islanders won both the BSFA Award and the John W. Campbell Award. The Separation won both the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the BSFA Award.
Other books by Christopher Priest
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