- Paperback: 338 pages
- Publisher: House of Stratus; New Ed edition (1 Nov 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0755100719
- ISBN-13: 978-0755100712
- Product Dimensions: 17.5 x 11.2 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 279,075 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Product Description
In the timeless city of Malacia, a place swathed in magic and on the brink of war, lives a young man named Perian de Chirolo - a free-spirit, a fearless lover - who embarks on a harrowing odyssey with dramatic consequences for himself and all Malacians. This is a gripping tale of wonder, lust and destiny.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Stagnant, decaying Renaissance milieu, forlorn sense of lost love, intrigues, oppression, what more could you ask of eerie city, teeming with life, under the red sun of unknown manifold. A haunting experience to read, deserves to be owned.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Aldiss has such a brilliant way with prose that I always find it amazing that he is not widely considered to be up there with the very greatest of modern English novelists.
This book is an immensely impressive intellectual achievement... which, of course, is a bit of a double-edged sword, because it unfortunately means that it keeps the reader at a distance to some extent.
The protagionist Perian de Chirolo has numerous interactions with various characters concerning various things, not always in a way that is motivated by plot. Not only does this sap the narrative momentum a bit, but it also threatens to exhaust the reader, who may struggle at times to identify the point that Aldiss is trying to make in that particular section. I know that I did.
But this is more of a confession of my shortcomings as a reader than a criticism of the book. I love the world Aldiss created here. Malacia is a great million year-old European city with a Renaissance feel, cursed never to change. Satyrs and winged people are offshoots of an evolutionary line in which humans developed from dinosaurs. Dinosaurs themselves are still around, though seemingly endangered. The Turks and their allies threaten the city walls, as they always have done. Bengtsohn's zahnoscope may prove to be a technological breakthrough that will revolutionise society in more ways than one.
Aldiss sensibly never bothers to explain too much about any of this, and explicitly makes the point in the book that fiction does not necessarily have to slavishly duplicate the logic of the real world. I contend that The Malacia Tapestry, set in an invented world though it is, deserves to be treated as seriously as any major historical novel. It has many of the features of a historical novel, but blends these with elements of mythology and science fiction, and in doing so casts a potent spell.
Aldiss is so adept at this type of thing (see also the Helliconia trilogy) that I really would love to see him write an out-and-out historical novel.
This book is an immensely impressive intellectual achievement... which, of course, is a bit of a double-edged sword, because it unfortunately means that it keeps the reader at a distance to some extent.
The protagionist Perian de Chirolo has numerous interactions with various characters concerning various things, not always in a way that is motivated by plot. Not only does this sap the narrative momentum a bit, but it also threatens to exhaust the reader, who may struggle at times to identify the point that Aldiss is trying to make in that particular section. I know that I did.
But this is more of a confession of my shortcomings as a reader than a criticism of the book. I love the world Aldiss created here. Malacia is a great million year-old European city with a Renaissance feel, cursed never to change. Satyrs and winged people are offshoots of an evolutionary line in which humans developed from dinosaurs. Dinosaurs themselves are still around, though seemingly endangered. The Turks and their allies threaten the city walls, as they always have done. Bengtsohn's zahnoscope may prove to be a technological breakthrough that will revolutionise society in more ways than one.
Aldiss sensibly never bothers to explain too much about any of this, and explicitly makes the point in the book that fiction does not necessarily have to slavishly duplicate the logic of the real world. I contend that The Malacia Tapestry, set in an invented world though it is, deserves to be treated as seriously as any major historical novel. It has many of the features of a historical novel, but blends these with elements of mythology and science fiction, and in doing so casts a potent spell.
Aldiss is so adept at this type of thing (see also the Helliconia trilogy) that I really would love to see him write an out-and-out historical novel.
Format:Hardcover
Malacia is a city cursed to remain the same. This being the case, anyone threatening to upset the status quo is likely to come to a sticky end, thanks to the vaguely described, but sinister Council. Against this backdrop, Brian Aldiss has written a witty and elegant romance - one that must surely owe something to James Branch Cabell - which ambles along at a leisurely pace. The hero, Perian, is a self-confessed, hedonistic philanderer, who takes little notice of the political backdrop his flirtations and affairs take him into. His only concern is impressing the woman he has fallen in love with, the high born Armida. But does Armida really return his love? Should he really heed the warnings of the Progressives, who are seeking to change Malacia? Wrapped up in a world of medieval romance, Perian carries on his merry way, having affairs here there and everywhere, and somehow you just know he's heading for a fall.
This is a clever and multi-layered novel that deserves to be better known. In part romantic fantasy, in part political allegory, in part a comment on the different attitudes of men and women, and the hypocrisy that can be hidden beneath their relationships. It's a novel to be read at the same leisurely pace as its story. The bizarre backdrop, with its reptile people and curious beasts, comes second to Perian's slow dawning awareness that not all is as ideal in Malacia as he believes.
This is a clever and multi-layered novel that deserves to be better known. In part romantic fantasy, in part political allegory, in part a comment on the different attitudes of men and women, and the hypocrisy that can be hidden beneath their relationships. It's a novel to be read at the same leisurely pace as its story. The bizarre backdrop, with its reptile people and curious beasts, comes second to Perian's slow dawning awareness that not all is as ideal in Malacia as he believes.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
