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The Pastel City
by M. John Harrison
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Avon Books
ISBN: 0380000571
EAN: 9780380000579
Paperback: 157 pages
SKU: 8478
Condition: Good
Comments: Binding: Softcover. Condition: Good.
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Customer Reviews
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Not Free SF Reader
Rating  (3)
Date: 2008-04-02
Two Queens too many.
A pretty average science fantasy, or that is what it becomes, afterwords, anyway.
An inter-generational conflict over power develops, and three of the old stalwarts are caught in the middle.
Things look bad until some of the old technology produces reinforcements thanks to a Giant Brain.
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Saw it all before from Moorcock
Rating (3)
Date: 2008-01-05
0 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
This struck me as sort of "Elric"-like in its presentation. It would not surprise me if the author (who, at the time of publishing, was "still in his twenties" according to the jacket blurb) was, shall we say, "strongly influenced" by Moorcock's style of writing and subject matter.
In a far-future world where technology is on the decline and "swords and sorcery" on the rise, a civil war in Earth's last great kingdom threatens to destroy civilization. The aggressor kingdom has unearthed ancient relics of the past that it cannot control.
Overall the story moves pretty quickly, and has some relatively memorable characters with unfortunately forgettable names. The ending is pretty cliche and a huge let-down. I would've preferred some slightly stronger links to Earth of our time; Earth has evidently gone through several cycles of decline and rebirth (Midsummer Century, anyone?) and even the ancient artifacts and places don't bear any recognizable resemblance to things we know today. So that lends things a bit too much unreality in my opinion. Others may find the "far future" vista refreshing.
Overall this probably isn't worth going out of your way to acquire. I borrowed it from the Seattle Public Library, and it was worth a quick read (it's a short book and you can probably finish it in 2 hours if you hustle), but ultimately not something I'd recommend.
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thisdarkplace*blogspot*com
Rating  (5)
Date: 2006-02-16
Tight and well paced science fantasy. I've been searching for more stories of Virconium ever since reading this, and i'd have to disagree with some of the other reviews here - i think the books berevity adds to the story. I love good stories that can be told in one book. Look for this at your favourite used book store it's worth the effort.
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Readable classic.
Rating  (4)
Date: 2004-07-07
9 out of 13 customers found this reveiw helpful
M. John Harrison, The Pastel City (Doubleday, 1971)That The Pastel City, now long out of print, has been considered a classic by so many for so long may be, in fact, the book's greatest failing. As I've perused reviews of it, the one thing I notice in the negative reviews is disappointment; they didn't get the be-all and end-all of fantasy they thought they were going to. Ay, but here's the rub; a book can be a classic for more than one reason. The Pastel City is, from the plot standpoint, your typical epic fantasy. If you've read Moorcock, Leiber, etc., you have a basic idea of what's going to go on here. Love, death, betrayal, lots of nonhuman baddies, lots of human baddies, a brooding hero-type and his overly sanguine friend, maybe a crazy dwarf or two, and lots of stuff blowing up. This is nothing out of the ordinary, and to be expected from epic fantasy. Those who read it looking for a classic of plot, I assume, are the ones most disappointed by the book. What elevates it from its peers is its sense of style. This is a fantasy as written by a true lexiphile, Elric through the lens of John Dryden, or Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser as written by Chaucer. As with most true prose stylists (Cormac McCarthy comes to mind), Harrison's subtle blend of archaic "it's not a fantasy novel unless you do this" diction, contemporary British phrasing, and little stylistic tricks that pull the whole in an entirely new direction takes a little getting used to at first. But once you've got the rhythm of it down, you can get pulled along for the ride with consummate ease. So let me make this clear: The Pastel City is a good book. A fine book, and one worth reading. The typical fantasy fan should probably not expect too much. The fantasy fan who is more attuned to the details of writing will get the most out of it. Word lovers, fantasy fans or not, are going to get a kick out of this. *** ½
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Fantastic Science-Fantasy
Rating (3)
Date: 2003-09-05
4 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful
There was a lot I liked about this book, and a handful of things I didn't.What I liked: very interesting characters in a rich setting, all written very skillfully. The protagonist is a brooding killer of men who only ever wanted to be a poet. Maybe that's a cliche, I don't know. If it is, it's a cool one. The history of Viriconium seems much like Wolfe's Torturer books: a new low-tech civilization has grown up from the ashes of a series of fallen high-tech empires. The people of the new civilization use, but rarely comprehend the technology they unearth. There are light-sabers, air-ships, artificial life, body armor and energy-cannons. All rare and fun things. What I didn't like: The scope of the story was huge -- an empire fighting against invasion, but Harrison squeezed it all into a sub-250 page book. Incidents that should have been given more thought were wrapped up with a quick coincidence. Coincidence can keep a story moving, but stretches credibility. The primary antagonist could have used a lot more attention. Worse than this, Harrison made the whole outcome of a war between two empires seem to hinge upon one battle, and the battle to hinge upon one group of heroes. That vexes me. A whole empire full of men and women, and these four guys (and one young girl) are going to make a difference? Bleh. But that's what heroic fantasy is, I guess. I'm glad I read it, and I'm happy to have it on my shelf, which can only be said for about 30% of the books I own. Recommended.
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