Christopher Priest (1) (1943–)

Chris Priest is one of my favourite authors, but this wasn't a good book. Better than his recent An American story, but that's all. Several strands of the story that never really come together. A lot of undigested research that was dumped on the reader with little finesse. And again, just like An American story, partly based on the premise that scientists are wrong (the climate) or the establishment has been lying to us (9/11). I see no good reason for that, because those premises were not used well. And other weirdnesses, like that in the future, radio communication will be possible with the past, but that doesn't cause any sensations, but is just accepted with a shrug by the protagonists. One strand of he story seems to be just the author's fascination with a forgotten 19th century court case.

No, this book simply didn't come together.… (mer)

This is a tale of dueling magicians (Ruper Angier, "The Great Danton" vs. Alfred Borden, "Le Professeur de la Magic) mostly set during the Victorian era, but bookended by an opening and a closing section during which descendants of the two magicians meet. This is not my usual fare, and I have no particular interest in magic, magicians or fantasy, so I don't even know why I checked it out of the library, probably a random complimentary reference on LT. But I have to say, that I really enjoyed this book. Beyond have a good and engaging plot, the book has lot of background information on magic and magicians, which was interesting to learn. Here's a couple:

An illusion has three stages: 1. The setup; 2. The performance, where the magician's lifetime of practice and his skill as a performer join to create the magical display; and 3. The effect, or "the prestige," which is the product of the magic, i.e. the rabbit is the prestige when it is pulled out of the seemingly empty hat.

and,

There are only 6 categories of illusions: 1. Production--producing something out of nothing; 2. Disappearance--the vanishing of something into nothing; 3. Transformation--changing one thing into another; 4. Transposition--changing of place of 2 or more things; 5. Defiance of natural laws (i.e. gravity); and 6. Secret motive power--causing objects to move.

So if this sounds like your thing, recommended.

3 stars… (mer)