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outcolder's review
5.0
It’s a delicate balance. On the one side weird physics, on another side characters facing high-stakes psychological difficulties: it’s hard to inject the weird physics without losing the other, and then the big surprise is how the two come together. When they start to meet, it is suddenly very prescient. Are we not also at the end of a road, unable to stop going because of high-stakes psychological difficulties and weird ... not physics, weird economics? When I think of it like that, “Inverted World” is absolutely brilliant.
There is also the thing with the outside women. But it is clear that it’s wrong in the book’s moral universe, and the wrongness of it is a major part of the plot’s resolution. Still, I wonder if women readers tend to rate this lower than men readers do.
There is also the thing with the outside women. But it is clear that it’s wrong in the book’s moral universe, and the wrongness of it is a major part of the plot’s resolution. Still, I wonder if women readers tend to rate this lower than men readers do.
wocrepus's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
iguana_mama's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
sorina_sfreja's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
m_henchard's review against another edition
4.0
The ultimate explanation doesn't make any sense. It's like the end of certain PKD novels, when he's reached word count and cooks up some ad hoc nonsense to wrap up the plot. Is it interesting that Helward agrees it doesn't make sense? I don't know. Good and mind-bending up to that point, though.
hakimbriki's review against another edition
5.0
Ho. Ly. S H I T.
I was not ready for this. Not ready at all.
This Inverted World is so divinely psychedelic, so incredibly horrifying, and so full of twist and turns and mind-boggling ideas, I can’t help but feel like it was written for me. The book is full of musings about the nature of perception, and is metaphorical in the most wonderful sense. Christopher Priest writes about magicians so well because he is one.
I was not ready for this. Not ready at all.
This Inverted World is so divinely psychedelic, so incredibly horrifying, and so full of twist and turns and mind-boggling ideas, I can’t help but feel like it was written for me. The book is full of musings about the nature of perception, and is metaphorical in the most wonderful sense. Christopher Priest writes about magicians so well because he is one.
badseedgirl's review against another edition
3.0
I think it is ok that I could not make heads or tales of the science behind this story, but that is ok, because the people of the moving city did not really understand it either. What I thought of a plot holes Why are there humans living outside the city, what with all the timey whimey and spatial hankey panky the further one gets from the city? but the final reveal explains that. I thought the ending was a little abrupt, but overall it was enjoyable. This book was written in 1974, the year I was born.
reb321's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0