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The pastel city (Doubleday science fiction)
  
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The pastel city (Doubleday science fiction) (Unknown Binding)

by M. John Harrison (Author)
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Unknown Binding: 158 pages
  • Publisher: Doubleday; [1st U.S. ed.] edition (1972)
  • ISBN-10: 0385082630
  • ISBN-13: 978-0385082631
  • Product Dimensions: 21.1 x 14.2 x 2.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

2 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A dark delight, 23 Feb 2003
By Lendrick (London) - See all my reviews
  
This review is from: Pastel City (Paperback)
This is no soft centred fantasy novel, but a dark and violent tale brilliantly written. It is only 144 pages long yet by the end you feel you have read an novel that is epic in scope.

I read this because Iain M Banks picked it out as one of his favourite SF novels, and it is easy to see an influence on his writing, the brutal violence, the troubled hero; tegeus-Cromis ' sometime soldier and sophisticate of Viriconium, the Pastel City, who now dwelt alone in a tower by the sea and imagined himself a better poet than a swordsman', and the mechanical lammergeyer which is like a prototype drone.

But the pleasure is not in spotting influences but in the story itself. The basic premises, a primitive society living in the ruins of an older more superior one, the soldier called from retirement to serve his queen are familiar ones. But Harrison tells the story so well and originally that you don't care. Full of strong characters and told in Harrisons wonderful lean prose this is a brilliant novel....

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3.0 out of 5 stars A decent story in an excellent world, 19 Nov 2007
By Mikko Saari (Tampere, Finland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Pastel City (Paperback)
The Pastel City, set in the world of Viriconium, is an early novel from M. John Harrison. It's a sword and sorcery story, basically, but with the sorcery replaced by ruins of ancient high technology. Queen Jane of Viriconium tries to defend her kingdom against the forces of ruin and destruction, with the help of old warriors, methvens. Their enemy is armed with mysterious and dangerous forces, and ruin seems inevitable.

Yet there's a strange metallic bird, with a strange message, offering a chance to survive. In the middle of a lost war, curious events unfold. Viriconium is an interesting world, unlike any other. While the story isn't that remarkable, the setting is interesting and this short book is worth reading for that alone. (Review based on the Finnish translation.)
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