Inverted World (New York Review Books Classics)

Hard SF can be defined as that kind of science-fiction tale in which a clearly defined protagonist (almost always male) leaves his endangered home on a great adventure, during the course of which he begins to understand the true nature of his world and, through a clearly defined, science-based cognitive breakthrough, comes to grips with the danger

He said: “Did you know they’re going to make me a Navigator?” Again, I shook my head. “They are. Last time I was in the city we had a long conference. The general feeling is that the river might not be as wide as it appears. Remember, north of optimum dimensions are distorted linearly. That is, to north and south. It’s obvious that this is a major

Helward is about to join one of the guilds which govern and operate the city of Earth. “It was an honour and a donning of responsibility,” he tells us, a phrasing which warns any experienced reader of science fiction that the protagonist is about to confront a settled society, and a fixed understanding of the world, against which he will necessaril

“Do you think it could be that those in charge of the guilds keep the system in operation after it has outlived its original purpose? It seems to me that the system works by suppression of knowledge. I don’t see what that achieves. It has made me very discontented, and I’m sure I’m not alone.” “Perhaps I’ll be the same when I become a full guildsma

“No, of course not,” she said. “It’s more . . . I can’t say. Everything I take for granted is different here in the city. Not everyday things, but the bigger things, like the reason for being. There’s a great concentration of determination here, as if the city itself is the only focus of all human existence. I know that’s not so. There are a millio

This came as an unpleasant surprise, as I had assumed that on completion of my training on the tracks I would start work with my own guild of Futures. However, I discovered that I was to be transferred to another first-order guild every three miles.

We’ve been cheating and stealing our way across this land, and it’s that which has created the danger. It’s time for it to stop.”

Instead of breaking through forward, the burghers of the city of Earth learn that they have spent centuries in bondage to a technologically induced warp in their perception of the world, and that the only exit from their long centuries in this prison is the road back to the world.

I suddenly saw parallels between our civilization and theirs. The city was undoubtedly on a war footing as a result of the situation with the tooks, and that in its turn was a product of our barter system. We did not exploit them through wealth, but we had a surplus of the commodities in short supply on Earth planet: food, fuel energy, raw material