“Priest writes extraordinarily well . . . his best novel to date . . . an atmosphere of increasingly oppressive menace.” – Francis King, The Spectator
“An original and haunting novel.” – London Times
“A brilliant and sustained novel of imaginative power.” – Vector
Peter Sinclair, a 29-year-old Londoner, is reeling after losing his father, his girlfriend, his job and his flat. Taking refuge in a friend’s rural cottage, he tries to make sense of things and figure out where his life began to go wrong by writing an autobiography. But it is possible that none of this is true …
Peter Sinclair is a 31-year-old native of the city of Jethra in Faiandland who has just won the grand prize in a lottery: a trip to the Dream Archipelago, a neverending series of idyllic islands, where he will undergo a medical procedure that gives him immortality. Because the process also results in total amnesia, Peter must first set down all the details of his life in a manuscript in order to recover the memories afterwards. But it is also possible that none of this is true …
As the two narratives intersect and intertwine, the reader must decide what is real and what is not in this brilliant literary mindgame from Christopher Priest, the award-winning author of The Prestige and The Separation.
… the book after seeing a movie about magicians – great read! read the book after seeing a movie about magicians – great read!
A wonderful book… …but I think that the disturbing ending would have been somewhat spoiled if I’d read the review by “thatwhichfalls” before I read it. An incisive review, thatwhichfalls, but why the spoiler?
Mind-blowing The Affirmation is the eighth novel by British SF author Christopher Priest, originally published in 1981. As with his later novels The Prestige and moreso The Separation, The Affirmation is a book about identity, truth, perception and perspective which rewards multiple readings and is open to many interpretations of what is happening.Â