A liminal archipelago

An authoritative thematic study of a supremely fortean novelist is let down by its structure, finds Jay Vickers

REVIEWS / BOOKS A liminal archipelago An authoritative thematic study of a supremely fortean novelist is let down by its structure, finds Jay Vickers The Unstable Realities of Christopher Priest Paul Kincaid Gylphi Limited 2020 Pb, 235pp, £18.99, ISBN 9781780240886 Christopher Priest is arguably the most fortean science fiction writer of all – though as this study of his work makes clear, he stopped identifying himself as an SF writer decades ago. Some critics have labelled his work slipstream or even magical realism – or, as SF critic and longtime fan Paul Kincaid says, it’s in “a liminal territory… genre that doesn’t really obey the rules of genre”. Priest’s novels are all about uncertainty. “This unreliability of reality is one of the defining characteristics of Priest’s work”; he doesn’t ever…

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Fortean Times (Digital) - 1 Issue, 411

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