Chimera (Salt Modern Fiction)

Product Information

Chimera, by Alice Thompson, is set in an imagined future where faster than lightspeed space travel is a possibility. What has become of planet earth is all too recognisable. The remains of trees exist but nature as we now know it has mostly been destroyed and disappeared. Humans live their lives plugged into virtual reality, entertained so accepting of this limited lifestyle. The world building in the story is kept at a fairly superficial level but what is revealed is depressingly believable – other than the huge leap in man’s ability to personally explore outer space. Alice Thompson’s gripping, deep space novel sees scientist and dream investigator Artemis travelling to the distant moon of Oneiros. Her ship, the Chimera has been sent to look for organisms that will help assuage Earth’s global warming, but it becomes clear on the journey that there are other disturbing reasons for the mission. Expertly combining compelling storytelling with a cleverly constructed, elegant and metaphor-ridden style.’ — Camilla Pia on The Falconer

Thompson … conjures up a strange universe for her characters, drawing the reader in with teasing prose and suggestive paradoxes … but the real suspense comes from the way the author plays with her shadowy characters, her more surreal clues and, ultimately, her readersI wouldn’t say Thompson has a particularly fantastic writing style but she has quite an imagination when it comes to vivid imagery. Some of the scenes are actually squirm-worthy, which made for an all the more enjoyable read. Because I don’t read a lot of horror, I must admit that this was an exciting read at times. This was one of those books that I didn’t do much research into before buying it. I had seen it described as a classic and creepy gothic novel and that’s the only convincing I needed to get it. Unfortunately, this didn’t live up to my expectations. In the end, the cover was what I liked most about it.

She is glad to be on this mission because she can trust that all the materials around her are real, unlike the ubiquitous fabricated scenarios of virtual realities on technology-obsessed Earth. The astronauts on the previous mission failed to return, but this information has been withheld from the crew, who are also accompanied by dryads – sophisticated AIs with synthetic bodies. Chimera is a restatement of that old science fiction question “What is it that makes us human?”, but Thompson takes a very distinctive approach, the notion of “dreams as poetic metaphors of thought” allowing for explorations of the nature of consciousness and where it resides, the fear of losing one’s identity, the omnipresence of AI, the frightening implications of virtual reality and the suggestion of forces powerful enough to override both machine programming and human nature – all overlapping and interacting with each other in interesting and inventive ways.’ — Alastair Mabbott, The Herald Some of the women she meets in the Asylum then go missing, so this adds more to the mystery of the book along with the fact that Violet has more disturbing dreams - are they trying to tell her something? What is the link with the fairytales? En esta historia tenemos a una mujer en el siglo XX que lleva casada poco tiempo con un hombre viudo recientemente y acaba de tener a su bebé; en este entorno es que Violet descubre un libro de cuentos lujoso y especial dedicado a su exmujer. A gothic music video of a novel that whirls with weirdness... madly energetic ... genuinely scary.’ — Stephen KingIn 2014, jointly with colleagues from The Times, she was Political Journalist of the Year in the Press Gazette awards. [3] She was previously a Trustee of the think tank Policy Exchange, [4] on the Policy Committee of the CPRE, and a governor of Bute House preparatory school. [5] Thomson presents the podcast interview series Past Imperfect with fellow Times columnist Rachel Sylvester on Times Radio, which began in July 2020. [6] In December 2022, Thomson was chosen as the Interviewer of the Year at the Press Gazette British Journalism Awards. [7] Publications [ edit ]

The Book Collector shows a wry and sly mind at work throughout. Scottish literature would be thinner without this kind of challenging and cleverly-wrought writing.’ — Stuart Kelly, The Scotsman The Existential Detective is a surreal, dreamlike story of loss, incest and what it means to remember. On reaching the moon, the crew settle into a camp that has been prepared for them. It doesn’t take long for the place to start affecting them. They try to ascertain what is real and how dreams can effect their surroundings. Imagination, especially when generating fear, is a powerful force with tangible impact.Alice Thompson's gripping, deep space novel sees scientist and dream investigator Artemis travelling to the distant moon of Oneiros. Her ship, the Chimera has been sent to look for organisms that will help assuage Earth's global warming, but it becomes clear on the journey that there are other disturbing reasons for the mission. La trama que se menciona es interesante pero la forma en que se desarrolla es bastante predecible y simple , lo que más me interesó/frustró/desesperó es la situación de que la protagonista no puede ir en contra o dudar de su esposo, porque en estos tiempos eso equivalía a locura (lo cual si pasó en el libro), tanto es el machismo que existía en la sociedad que ella misma se cuestiona su estabilidad mental por dudar sobre que hace su marido, sus amigas le cuestionan que ¿cómo puede dudar de su esposo siendo este un hombre tan atractivo?, los doctores solo consideran la palabra del esposo sobre cómo proceder para “arreglar” y dar salud a Violet.