And it relates, in a troubling way, to how mainstream culture responds to the more dubious currents of our contemporary discourse. The way Christopher Priest manages this is one of the best twist endings I know of in any novel, story, or film. I can’t emphasize enough the shock that comes to the reader when all of this is revealed-with Helward, we have been gradually getting used to an extremely unexpected and bizarre concept of reality, one which Christopher Priest masterfully gets us to accept that concept is then smashed to pieces for Helward (and us) with completely disorienting results. Helward is unable to accept her explanation, and rebuffs her, committing himself to the guild’s attempt to build a bridge across the ocean. Elizabeth does some research and finds that “Earth” was built by an eccentric scientist two hundred years ago who claimed to have discovered an endlessly renewable power source traveling underground after a worldwide economic collapse, he persuaded a group of disciples to build “Earth City” and follow the power source slowly across the landscape.Įlizabeth explains to Helward that his perceptions of reality have been distorted by exposure to the power source’s radiation, and that his people never left earth, which is a sphere, not a hyperboloid, and that the city is now next to the Atlantic ocean. The crisis happens when the city reaches the coast of an enormous body of water.
Helward himself meets Elizabeth Khan, a social worker stationed in one of the native villages, who doubts the truth of Helward’s entire worldview.
The inhabitants of the city, who are shielded from knowledge of their own precarious existence, begin to grow restless and demand more openness about the city’s situation.
At the same time, forces outside of the guild’s control accumulate to a point of crisis the native people are resentful of the city’s advanced technology and resources, feel exploited, and attack the city, destroying part of it. Helward discovers firsthand, far to the south of the city, the intense physical distortions which would destroy the city if it were to ever stop its northward journey.Īll of this is revealed to Helward (and us) gradually, as he completes his apprenticeship and becomes a guild member. The planet’s surface is constantly slumping southwards therefore the city must continually be dragged to the north along tracks, against the pull of centrifugal force.
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