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Short, Sharp Shock
 
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Short, Sharp Shock (Paperback)

by Kim Stanley Robinson (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Voyager; New Ed edition (5 Jun 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0006510787
  • ISBN-13: 978-0006510789
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,267,281 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #63 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > R > Robinson, Kim Stanley

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk 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


Synopsis

Robinson's only fantasy to date. A compelling far-future tale guaranteed to delight his fans. A man tumbles through wild surf, half-drowned, to collapse on a moonlit beach. When he regains consciousness, he has no memory of who he is or where he came from. He knows only that the woman who washed ashore with him has disappeared sometime in the night, and that he has awakened in a surreal landscape of savage beauty -- a mysterious watery world encircled by a thin spit of land. In a perverse world of which he has no understanding, he must struggle to find the woman, who is being held hostage by a savage tribe. And he must struggle to find himself, because he doesn't know who or what he is.

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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Pure poetry!, 27 April 2003
By A Customer
While what the other reviewer posted might technically be true, I think that they have missed the point a bit. It's not meant to be read as a straight novel; it's an experiment, a reverie about the nature of humanity and memory. As such, it succeeds very well - the prose shimmers with beauty and bizarre images. The main character is also very well drawn, although the others are perhaps slightly nebulous.

In short, if you're expecting a nice neat plot with no room for imagination or poetry, you might be better off elsewhere.

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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars this book sucks, 16 Jul 2002
OK, a slightly more grown up review -
The plot is completely linear. 2 people on a circular landmass, neither of whom have a lot of character, encounter the odd primitive tribe who don't do very much.

It's like all the tedious bits of the latter ringworld books, only worse.

The book is only 170 pages long, and has 25 chapters or thereabouts. there is a 2-3 page break in between chapters. So you basically have a 100 page book full of 3-4 page chapters.

It is that bad.

I honestly don't know why I finished it, except that it was so short.

I have read Red Mars and found that a decent read, so I don't think it is that I don't like the author. I just really think this is a bad story. Sorry.

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3.0 out of 5 stars If it was part 1 of 3, brilliant. But it isn't., 28 May 2009
By Gareth White "JustOneMoreThing" (St Helens) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This is an intriguing, beautifully written and imaginative tale that has you turning the pages to find out what, ultimately, it all means.

That's the good. Now the bad. I would have sworn blind this novel must be book one of a trilogy or something and we get some wonderful explanation at the end of the third book...if it was this would be a definite 5 star review. Instead you're left with an inconclusive ending that doesn't explain anything. All you're left with is, "oh, so the author didn't know how to end it really, how very lame."

Kim, if you ever write some follow up novels to this that come up with some decent answers I'll be happy to withdraw this review :)
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