Christopher Priest (1) (1943–2024)
Author of The Prestige
For other authors named Christopher Priest, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
Image credit: Clairwitch, 2005
Works by Christopher Priest
The Book on the Edge of Forever: An Enquiry into the Non-Appearance of Harlan Ellison's the Last Dangerous Visions (1994) 51 copies
I, Haruspex 7 copies
The Making of the Lesbian Horse 4 copies
The Head And The Hand {short story} 2 copies
A Dying Fall 2 copies
Fire Storm {short story} 1 copy
The Trace Of Him 1 copy
The Song of the Book 1 copy
The Discharge 1 copy
Futur intérieur 1 copy
Pilgrimage to Sheckley 1 copy
落ち逝く 1 copy
Associated Works
The Vintage Book of Amnesia: An Anthology of Writing on the Subject of Memory Loss (2000) — Contributor — 216 copies
Light Years and Dark: Science Fiction and Fantasy of and for Our Time (1984) — Contributor — 36 copies
Celebration: Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the British Science Fiction Association (2008) — Contributor — 34 copies
Kong Unbound: The Cultural Impact, Pop Mythos, and Scientific Plausibility of a Cinematic Legend (2005) — Contributor — 22 copies
Stories of Hope and Wonder: In Support of the UK's Healthcare Workers (2020) — Contributor — 11 copies
The Future of Horror: The Collected Solaris Horror Anthologies, featuring House of Fear, Magic and End of the Road (2015) — Contributor — 7 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Priest, Christopher McKenzie
- Other names
- Novak, John Luther (pseudonym)
Wedgelock, Colin (pseudonym) - Birthdate
- 1943-07-14
- Date of death
- 2024-02-02
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- Cheadle, Cheshire, England, UK
- Place of death
- Rothesby, Isle of Bute, Scotland, UK
- Cause of death
- Small-cell carcinoa
- Places of residence
- Cheadle, Cheshire, England, UK
Hastings, Sussex, England, UK
Devon, England, UK
Isle of Bute, Scotland, UK - Education
- Warehouseman and Clerks' Orphan Schools
- Occupations
- science fiction writer
journalist
editor - Relationships
- Tuttle, Lisa (ex-wife, 1981-1987)
Kennedy, Leigh (ex-wife, 1988-2011)
Priest, Elizabeth (offspring)
Allan, Nina (partner, 2011-) - Organizations
- H.G. Wells Society
Guardian - Awards and honors
- James Tait Black Memorial Prize (1995)
World Fantasy Award (1996)
BSFA Award (1979)
Ditmar Award (1977)
Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis (1988)
Granta's Best of Young British Novelists (1983) (show all 9)
Guest of Honor, Novacon (1979, 2000)
Guest of Honor, 63rd World Science Fiction Convention (2005)
Guest of Honour, Eastercon, UK (1984, 2004) - Agent
- Robert Kirby (United Agents) (UK book rights; film, dramatic & television rights)
Nicki Kennedy (ILA) (translations) - Short biography
- Christopher Priest, b. 1943 author of "The Prestige"' and numerous other works of science fiction.
For the US writer of comics, see Christopher J. Priest
Members
Discussions
SPOILERS - SEPTEMBER - The Prestige in The Green Dragon (October 2014)
SEPTEMBER - NO SPOILERS - The Prestige in The Green Dragon (September 2014)
Inverted World by Christopher Priest -- Spoiler Thread in Science Fiction Fans (September 2008)
Reviews
Expect Me Tomorrow by Christopher Priest
http://speculiction.blogspot.com/2024/05/review-of-expect-me-tomorrow-by.html
½1 
HanJie | 5 other reviews | May 6, 2024 |
HanJie | 5 other reviews | May 6, 2024 | 
A collection of short stories, covering the bulk of Chris Priest's career, from The Head and the Hand (1972) to Shooting an Episode (2017). There is an introduction, where Priest talks about science fiction, its current status, and the status of "literary" science fiction in particular (virtually ignored by the bulk of cultural commentators). Each story is bracketed by notes headed Before and After, saying how the story came to be written, and what impact it had on the author's career and on the world in general. In a way, this makes the book a sort of continuation of the earlier collection Ersatz Wines, although it has less continuity than the earlier volume, reprinting as it does only a sample of Priest's short fiction output.
Perhaps the longest Before and After sections are those for An Infinite Summer, telling how the story was commissioned, quite forcibly, in 1974 by Harlan Ellison for his anthology, The Last Dangerous Visions, which then never actually appeared (although Ellison's literary executor has suggested that the book might finally appear posthumously). At the time, Priest gained some notoriety (and considerable support) by writing about his dealings with Harlan Ellison; time seems to have softened Priest's opinions and the account of the whole matter takes up far less space than the original. Ellison died in 2018, the year before this collection appeared; Chris Priest joined the roll-call of writers who died without ever seeing their stories appear in The Last Dangerous Visions this year (2024).
Three of the stories collected here have been previously anthologised; The Head and the Hand in Real-Time World (1974), Palely Loitering in An Infinite Summer (1979), and the title story of that collection, which had previously appeared in an original story anthology, Andromeda 1 (1976). (Which means that I have all three book appearances of that story in my collection.) The other eight stories are all appearing here in book form for the first time. A number of them have elements of horror in them - mostly body horror, though the last story in the collection, The Sorting Out involves a very specific sort of horror that only very serious book collectors will recognise. A number of the stories use settings familiar from some of Priest's novels, such as stage magicians in The Stooge, whilst Palely Loitering and An Infinite Summer use, either wholly or in part, an Edwardian (or faux Edwardian) setting, similar to that used in Priest's H.G. Wells pastiche The Space Machine. Thinking about the likely audience for this book, I would imagine it appealing either to Chris Priest completists or people looking for an insight into the life of a writer, especially one involved in the literature of the fantastic. I don't otherwise see it appealing to a more general reader; Priest's writing is a bit too cerebral and the twists and hooks in the stories a little too muted for a casual reader looking for surprises.… (more)
Perhaps the longest Before and After sections are those for An Infinite Summer, telling how the story was commissioned, quite forcibly, in 1974 by Harlan Ellison for his anthology, The Last Dangerous Visions, which then never actually appeared (although Ellison's literary executor has suggested that the book might finally appear posthumously). At the time, Priest gained some notoriety (and considerable support) by writing about his dealings with Harlan Ellison; time seems to have softened Priest's opinions and the account of the whole matter takes up far less space than the original. Ellison died in 2018, the year before this collection appeared; Chris Priest joined the roll-call of writers who died without ever seeing their stories appear in The Last Dangerous Visions this year (2024).
Three of the stories collected here have been previously anthologised; The Head and the Hand in Real-Time World (1974), Palely Loitering in An Infinite Summer (1979), and the title story of that collection, which had previously appeared in an original story anthology, Andromeda 1 (1976). (Which means that I have all three book appearances of that story in my collection.) The other eight stories are all appearing here in book form for the first time. A number of them have elements of horror in them - mostly body horror, though the last story in the collection, The Sorting Out involves a very specific sort of horror that only very serious book collectors will recognise. A number of the stories use settings familiar from some of Priest's novels, such as stage magicians in The Stooge, whilst Palely Loitering and An Infinite Summer use, either wholly or in part, an Edwardian (or faux Edwardian) setting, similar to that used in Priest's H.G. Wells pastiche The Space Machine. Thinking about the likely audience for this book, I would imagine it appealing either to Chris Priest completists or people looking for an insight into the life of a writer, especially one involved in the literature of the fantastic. I don't otherwise see it appealing to a more general reader; Priest's writing is a bit too cerebral and the twists and hooks in the stories a little too muted for a casual reader looking for surprises.… (more)
There is an unfortunate vogue demanding that novels of Victorian atmosphere be written in a half-assed pseudo-Victorian invented English. Usually, they miserably fail to convey anything else than the writer's shortcomings in this respect.
Well, this novel is an example of this empirical rule. I don't even know if the plot and characters would have been better than the style; so ludicrous was the writing, that I gave in after few pages and I will probably never find out.
Well, this novel is an example of this empirical rule. I don't even know if the plot and characters would have been better than the style; so ludicrous was the writing, that I gave in after few pages and I will probably never find out.
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Statistics
- Works
- 60
- Also by
- 48
- Members
- 10,559
- Popularity
- #2,254
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 388
- ISBNs
- 393
- Languages
- 17
- Favorited
- 36
