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Bettie's Books

A Stuga On the Cusp of the Orust Riviera, tucked away next to a hobbit hole in the woods.

The Islanders by Christopher Priest

The Islanders - Christopher Priest

 

Read by Michael Maloney

Description: Reality is illusory and magical in the stunning new literary SF novel from the multiple award-winning author of The Prestige.

A tale of murder, artistic rivalry, and literary trickery; a Chinese puzzle of a novel where nothing is quite what it seems; a narrator whose agenda is artful and subtle; a narrative that pulls you in and plays an elegant game with you.

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.

The Islanders serves both as an untrustworthy but enticing guide to the islands; an intriguing, multi-layered tale of a murder; and the suspect legacy of its appealing but definitely untrustworthy narrator.




A travelogue (think Lonely Planet or those 'destination in the spotlight' articles in the rags) of an extensive archipelago strung around the surface of an alien planet. We are shown a handful of the islands, with names and patois nomenclature, climate, geographical quirks and even some miltary history. The delivery is in a 'just the facts ma'am' manner, detatched and clinical, adding to the underlying uneasiness.



Aay 25:31 - the Academy of the Four Winds
Annadac 06:31 - torrent riding
Aubrac Grande 34:37 - BEWARE A BLACK BALL OF ARTHROPODS!
Cheoner 34:25 - detained person KS: "I am definitely telling you the truth."
Collago 11:33 - set in the temperate zone we find immortality.
Deriil - Toruin 01:10
Deriil - Torqui 11:05
Deriil - Torquil 13:48
It was at this point I found a wiki stub and notice that these islands were used in a previous collection of short stories
Emmeret 08:15
Fellenstel 03:15
Ferredy Atoll 15:00
Ganteen Asemant 14:08
Goorn 1:09:39
Juuno 06:03
It was at this point I decided to buy the paper book - how can I solve the puzzle if I can't flick back through the pages to check things out?.
Lanna
Luice
Manlayl
Meequa
Mesterline
Muriseay
Nelquay
Orphon
Piqay 1
Piquay 2
Rowthersay 1
Rawthersay 2
Reever
Seevl
Sentier
Siff
Smuj
Winho
Yannet

It's hot so lie back under the AC and stand up fans, close your eyes and imagine yourself in The Dream Archipelago...

...or better still, don't. It's all tricksy on this planet so it is fascinating to read about yet not to imagine a trip.



LATER: dumped the audio and await the book - I need to see the words on the page to stand half a chance of solving this shifting-sand puzzle. So it's a 4* for the moment...