The Space Machine And A Dream Of Wessex

The Space Machine and A Dream of Wessex (1999) – Christopher Priest
Earthlight | ISBN: 9780671033897
Condition: As New | Sold by Crappy Old Books

Reality. A wonderfully reassuring concept, provided nobody examines it too closely. Most people assume that the world around them is more or less what it appears to be, that yesterday happened before today, and that travelling to another planet requires considerably more than an eccentric inventor, a peculiar machine and an adventurous disregard for personal safety. Christopher Priest, however, has spent much of his literary career demonstrating that such assumptions are dangerously optimistic.

Welcome to The Space Machine and A Dream of Wessex, a magnificent double helping of speculative fiction from one of Britain’s most inventive and intellectually mischievous writers. Two novels, two extraordinary explorations of reality, and enough unsettling ideas to make the average reader question whether the world outside the window is operating quite as advertised.

First comes The Space Machine, Priest’s wonderfully imaginative tribute to the great scientific romances of H. G. Wells. Originally published in 1976, it follows Edward Turnbull, a travelling salesman whose ordinary existence takes a decidedly extraordinary turn when he encounters Amelia Fitzgibbon and an experimental machine capable of journeys that would make the average railway timetable look hopelessly provincial.

What begins as an adventure involving scientific curiosity rapidly develops into an astonishing journey through space and time, drawing upon the imaginative worlds of Wells’s The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds. Victorian conventions collide with extraordinary technologies, alien landscapes and the uncomfortable discovery that the universe is considerably less accommodating than the average English drawing room.

Then comes A Dream of Wessex, originally published in 1977, a rather different but equally fascinating exploration of the boundaries between imagination and existence.

Here, a group of researchers participates in an extraordinary experiment involving a collectively constructed alternative reality. Through advanced psychological techniques, they enter a shared imaginary world representing a transformed version of England, where familiar geography conceals profoundly different historical and political circumstances.

Unfortunately, creating an alternative reality is one thing. Maintaining control over it, particularly when human ambition, jealousy and emotional manipulation become involved, is quite another.

Priest explores questions of identity, perception, memory and the disturbing possibility that an imagined world might become more meaningful than the supposedly genuine one. After all, if a fictional reality offers greater happiness, freedom or fulfilment than everyday existence, who gets to decide which world deserves our loyalty?

Together, these two novels demonstrate Priest’s remarkable range, combining the adventurous traditions of early science fiction with the psychological uncertainty and philosophical sophistication that became hallmarks of his writing.

This 1999 Earthlight omnibus edition, offered in As New condition by Crappy Old Books, is an excellent acquisition for Christopher Priest enthusiasts, collectors of British science fiction and readers who enjoy intelligent speculative fiction that challenges conventional assumptions about existence.

Two extraordinary adventures exploring the mysteries of space, time, imagination and the fragile distinction between reality and illusion.

And a useful reminder that when somebody offers you the opportunity to travel through time or inhabit an entirely different reality, it might be sensible to ask a few questions first.

Particularly about the return arrangements.

Because getting away from everything is wonderfully appealing.

Getting back, unfortunately, may prove rather more complicated.

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