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THE INVERTED WORLD
by Christopher Priest


Copyright 1974 by Christopher Priest. All rights reserved. Printed in the
United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in
any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address
Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., 10 East 53rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10022.

FIRST U.S. EDITION


To my mother and father




Wheresoe'er I turn my view,
All is strange, yet nothing new;
Endless labour all along,
Endless labour to be wrong.

-- SAMUEL JOHNSON




AUTHOR'S NOTE


Some of the situations described in this novel were incorporated into a
short story entitled "The Inverted World," which was first published in
England in _New Writings in SF--22_ by Sidgwick & Jackson Ltd.
Beyond a slight duplication of background and the inclusion of a few
similarly named characters, there is not much between the two that is common.

CHRISTOPHER PRIEST




PROLOGUE

Elizabeth Khan closed the door of the surgery, and locked it. She walked
slowly up the village street to where the people were gathering in the square
outside the church. There had been a mood of expectancy all day as the huge
bonfire took shape, and now the village children ran excitedly in the street,
waiting for the moment when the fire would be lit.
Elizabeth went first to the church, but there was no sign of Father dos