The Prestige is just as clever and thrilling 30 years on

The prestige
Christopher Priest (Tor Essentials, available in the United Kingdom and the United States)

The prestige is probably better known to his cinematographic adaptation in 2006, directed by Christopher Nolan, fresh of the success of Batman begins. The book on which it is based, however, has devoted fans and is often hailed as a literary masterpiece.

I only read the book recently simply because I knew it was on the magic of the scene. Many people claim to enjoy an evening with a magician, but I prefer to make my taxes, or perhaps clean toilets. There was no way that I was going to read a book on the magicians of the Stade de la Meuble, which took place in the late 1800s.

However, when I met the science fiction writer Adam Roberts last year, I asked him to list some of his favorite science fiction writers, and he immediately appointed Christopher Priest, recommending firmly The prestigeWhatever feelings we could have on the magic of the scene.

It was therefore my first reason to dive, white gloves and upper hats be damned. Then there is the fact that Tor republished the novel, 30 years after its first appearance, with a new introduction by John Clute. (The priest died last year.)

And so in the book, which is about two different stage tips but apparently very similar and how they are done. Our first hero (I use the word loose) is the magician Alfred Borden, the creator of a tip called the man transported. In short, this implies that Borden enters a stand on one side of the scene and instantly reappears in another stand on the other side of the applause delighted with the public.

However, Borden has an enemy called Rupert Angier. This rival is pushed to distraction when he tries to determine how Borden makes his transport tip. Later, Angier developed his own magic masterpiece, in a flash, in which he seems to be instantly transported from the inside of a flashing machine to another part of the theater.

Now, it is Borden who cannot determine how the tour of his rival is done, and it is the one pushed near madness by his attempts to break the mystery. The terrible quarrel is found with consequences that resonate generations, which is why Borden and Angier share their role as narrators with two of their descendants.

The novel is a real pages turner. It drags you forward like a magician drags an audience – because you really want, really know how the tips are made. But it is also much smarter than it seems.

I haven’t tried this yet, but I think you can read the different sections in almost any order and always find it both interesting and understandable. That is to say, it is wonderfully and strongly built.

As for his genre, he won a World Fantasy Award during his first publication, but he has science and a real scientist (the inventor Nikola Tesla), and nowadays, he is generally described as science fiction. The atmosphere of the book is a bit Gothic and a little steampunk, and the style is incredibly old -fashioned, as it suits a period of the time.

So, if you like the mysteries of complex and beautifully designed puzzle, then this book is certainly for you. It is a triumph of both plot and suspense well managed. I’m now looking forward to looking at Nolan’s cinematic version. Apparently, it’s very different from the book, but Priest himself applauded the cinematographic version and thought that Nolan had extremely successful.

Emily also recommends …

The War of the Worlds
HG Wells (various publishers)
Christopher Priest was vice-president of the HG Wells Society, it therefore seems appropriate to recommend reading (or, for many of you, reading) The war of the worlds, Posted for the first time in 1898. The book is, in many ways, sensitive modern. It is classic science fiction, and yet science fiction did not exist then. But I also recommend it simply because it is a wonderful period of the time that is revisited.

Emily H. Wilson is a former editor -in -chief of New Scientist and author of The Sumerians Trilogy, which takes place in the old Mesopotamia. The final novel of the series, Ninshubar, was released in August. You can find it on emilyhwilson.com, or follow it on X @emlyhwilson and Instagram @ Emilyhwilson1

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