The Adjacent, by Christopher Priest

Yes, it’s another Priest book. I can’t seem to stop reading them.

This one features a desolate future plagued by terrorism and war. Our protagonist, Tarent, is a photographer who’s wife is killed by a new kind of weapon that obliterates anything within the area of an equilateral triangle shaped explosion. Upon returning home to London he finds the same weapon being used there.

The story jumps back and forth in time between the distant future where Tarent is, and a RAF base during WW2. The connection is not clear at first, as usual with Priest, but once it becomes clear it is quite shocking.

Much like his other books, he seems over-descriptive throughout, but at no time did i feel bored or find myself skipping ahead. His descriptions paint a vivid picture of the world and characters,  though many of them may seem unnecessary at the time. I think his descriptions of mundane things add a legitimacy and realism to his worlds that gives the unreal and fantastical things he always eventually gets to even more impact.

I think the characters were really great in this one, and they’ve really stuck with me after finishing this book a week or so ago.

This one is more sci-fi and less historical fiction than the previous one I read, but the description in the WW2 sections did seem very accurate and realistic to me.

Once again this is a slow burner, but not nearly as much so as the Separation. I’d recommend this to anyone interested in thoughtful, dark, emotional sci-fi with a bit of history thrown into the mix. I definitely loved it!