/lit/ - Literature

The Dream Archipelago, Christopher Priest, 1999

This is a collection of about seven short stories set in Priest's "islands" universe, first introduced in "The Affirmation", which I have not read, and further expanded on in 2011 in "The Islanders". The stories are not overly long, most could easily be read in about half an hour.

Priest's world is intriguingly grounded - the titular neutral Dream Archipelago separates the warlike states of the north from the southern continent that is their battleground, and as such is constantly filled with soldiers and troopships drifting through, yet there is rarely an unfamiliar weapon in their hands, or ideology in their minds - i.e., Catholicism exists in the universe. We see the islands from many perspectives - a wounded soldier, a rich early retiree, an expat - but notably all of them come from the northern continent, oft creating alienation from the islands and their cultures. My favourite setting was the gothic-tinged island of Seevl in "The Miraculous Cairn".

I would not consider the world to be the main attraction of the book - that would be the plots. They feature a variety of aspects - mystery, frustration at a foreign landscape, charged sexuality, reckonings with identity, and so on. I don't really want to spoil any of them, but I will give you a taste of one, "The Cremation", if you wish: A recent émigré travels from his new home in the islands to attend a funeral where he knows not a single person on another, unfamiliar jungle island. He is put on edge by the unwelcoming atmosphere - the guests all speak in the local patois amongst themselves, and the servants seem insistent to prevent him from leaving - so when a woman beckons him down a path into the nearby jungle, he immediately follows - yet this only leads him to greater confusion. I will warn you that the first story (The Negation) is a little weak, so if you're iffy on the book I would start with one of the later ones.

I found the writing style to be of high quality, using capable symbolism and description and curating the reader's mood to match the story. "The Miraculous Cairn" and "The Watched" are the best for this. Characters' retreats to moments of introspection are well-placed and serve to heighten the mood, alongside descriptions of landscapes and scenery.

If you're looking for a break from hard spacey SF, I would absolutely give "The Dream Archipelago" a go. The stories are engaging, mixing war, identity, and mystery, resulting in a great read. Some criticisms include somewhat similar main characters (as one reviewer points out, most are bitter young men), and a few stories being a bit weaker than the others, but since you don't have to read them all (they are kind of linked but not very) I don't think the book should be put down too harshly for this.

Verdict: 4/5. I enjoyed the book and if you're like me (dislike overreliance on setpieces and worlds) you may too.