A Short, Sharp Shock - Softcover

Robinson, Kim Stanley

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553574612 ISBN 13: 9780553574616

Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1996

Synopsis

An amnesiac finds himself washed ashore on a foreign land, a strange world dominated by the brutal spine kings, who have enslaved his female companion. Reprint.

About this title

Review:

Kim Stanley Robinson, justly famous for his science fiction, has created a mesmerizing fantasy work in A Short, Sharp Shock. Each brief chapter (with evocative titles such as "Beauty Is the Promise of Happiness") explores a little further along the path of the amnesiac protagonist, Thel. Thel finds himself on an amazing world, which has just one narrow ridge of land encircling the globe, with endless ocean on either side. And Thel is on a quest, searching for the woman who was with him when he first awakened, but who was taken by the murderous spine kings. In his travels along the ribbon of land, Thel encounters exotic local peoples and their legends of the origin of the world, and learns more about his companions and himself. Robinson's imagination is far-ranging and he has a pointed way with words: in a scene where Thel is slowly pushed through a magical mirror, Robinson's evocation of pain is unforgettable. A Short, Sharp Shock is guaranteed to haunt the reader for a long time. --Blaise Selby

Review:

‘IF I HAD TO CHOOSE ONE WRITER WHOSE WORK WILL SET THE STANDARD FOR SCIENCE FICTION IN THE FUTURE, IT WOULD BE KIM STANLEY ROBINSON’
NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

About this edition

• Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0553574612
• ISBN 13: 9780553574616
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 208