The Circumference of the World

(Paperback)

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Description

Caught between realities, a mathematician, a book dealer, and a mobster desperately seek a notorious book that disappears upon being read. Only the author, a rakish sci-fi writer, knows whether his popular novel is truthful or a hoax. In a story that is cosmic, inventive, and sly, multi-award-winning author Lavie Tidhar (Central Station) travels from the emergence of life to the very ends of the universe.

Delia Welegtabit discovered two things during her childhood on a South Pacific island: her love for mathematics and a novel that isnt supposed to exist. But the elusive book proves unexpectedly dangerous. Oskar Lens, a science fiction-obsessed mobster in the midst of an existential crisis, will stop at nothing to find the novel. After Delias husband Levi goes missing, she seeks help from Daniel Chase, a young, face-blind book dealer.

The infamous novel Lode Stars was written by the infamous Eugene Charles Hartley: legendary pulp science-fiction writer and founder of the Church of the All-Seeing Eyes. In Hartleys novel, a doppelganger of Delia searches for her missing father in a strange star system. But is any of Lode Stars real Was Hartley a cynical conman on a quest for wealth and immortality, creating a religion he did not believe in Or was he a visionary who truly discovered the secrets of the universe

'Brilliant and bizarre, Lavie Tidhars The Circumference of the World is many things but fundamentally it is a love letter to the Golden Age of science fiction, whether or not it deserves it (it does), as well as a love letter to its writers, whether or not they deserve it (they dont. Well, mostly.).' Molly Tanzer, author of Vermilion and Creatures of Will and Temper

Reviews

Advance Praise for The Circumference of the World

"Brilliant and bizarre, Lavie Tidhar's The Circumference of the World is many things--but fundamentally it is a love letter to the Golden Age of science fiction, whether or not it deserves it (it does), as well as a love letter to its writers, whether or not they deserve it (they don't. Well, mostly.)."
--Molly Tanzer, author of Vermilion and Creatures of Will and Temper

"Tidhar wins it all with this magnificently original mind-bender of a novel about a missing husband and a mysterious book that disappears as soon as you read it. The Circumference of the World is two parts Philip K. Dick, two parts Brothers Strugatsky, and six parts blow your f**king mind."
--Junot Daz, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

"Reading a new Lavie Tidhar novel is always a treat. You can count on engaging prose paired with an inventive story and The Circumference of the World certainly fits that bill."
--The Speculative Shelf

Praise for Lavie Tidhar

On Neom

Gizmodo's Sparkling New Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books
A Foreword Book of the Day
Antick Musings Best Books of 2022

"Tidhar (Central Station) writes another story that takes place within his Central Station universe. Neom is a future-oriented, techno city: a port of call to the stars for humans and a neighbor to the robots that roam the nearby desert searching for a purpose. Destinies will collide as a mechanical man initiates a robotic revolution, a former "terrorartist" seeks her buried memories, and three humans--Saleh, Mariam, and Nasir--have a chance to realize their dreams. Tidhar is a unique voice in science fiction and an author with many awards to his name. An enrapturing conglomeration of philosophy, psychology, and storytelling, the novel melds the what-ifs with a believable and relatable scenario. This is not a sequel so much as another saga in a well-developed and thought-out world. VERDICT Old and new fans alike will adore this fascinating new addition to Tidhar's future Earth universe, and science fiction buffs would do well to put Tidhar on their radar of must-read authors."
--Library Journal

"Yet again, Lavie Tidhar's future world of Neom is exciting and distinctive, his characters complex and fascinating, and his themes powerful and thought-provoking. [Tidhar] is the best sort of science fiction."
--Kij Johnson, author of The River Bank

[STARRED REVIEW] "In his signature style, Tidhar laces his future-set, fascinating tale with biblical references and nods to science fiction classics, here revitalized with added empathy.... Neom is an extraordinary and compassionate trek into the hearts of AI."
--Foreword

"Vivid and techno-mythological, Neom infects you with something special that transcends all the incidents and terrors--a shimmering current of guarded optimism."
--David Brin, author of Existence, Earth and The Postman

"This is Tidhar at his best: the crazily proliferating imagination, the textures, the ideas, the dazzling storytelling. A brilliant portrait of community and its possibilities."
--Adam Roberts, author of Purgatory Mount

"Neom is a treasure, and Tidhar says that there are so many more stories from this complicated world. Every new one is a compelling chapter in this future history that reflects so much about who we are and the basic things we yearn for."
--SciFi Mind

"Lavie Tidhar's Neom is a deliciously inventive wild ride through a future Middle East full of unexpected wonders: dutiful jackals, traumatized robots, terrifying terrorartists, caravans of elephants and great slinkying robotic khans, preserves for wild mechas and monasteries that are also singularities. But more than that, the world of Neom is deeply, richly lived in: the past and the present and the future are not just unevenly distributed, they are marbled together--tiny slithering tadpole robots adapted to the fused-glass desert around an ancient crash site, okra and tomatoes frying in a pan, rogue sandworms and grandmothers doing Tai Chi in an urban park, the Oort cloud and milkshakes, Martian soap opera Bedouin actors, a Bazaar of Rare and Exotic Machines equally excited by Atari Pac-Man cartridges and city-obliterating superweapons."
--Benjamin Rosenbaum, author of The Unraveling

"World Fantasy Award winner Tidhar takes readers back to the fascinating far-future world of 2016's Central Station in this gentle narrative about self-fulfillment and one robot's quest to reunite with a lost love. In Neom, a port city between Earth and space on the shores of the Red Sea, Mariam de la Cruz divides her days between several odd jobs while her nights are spent longing for quietude. Meanwhile, shurta officer Nasir questions the point of law enforcement as he spends most of his time handing out tickets for littering. An unnamed robot reunites these two childhood friends when Nasir and Mariam become entangled in the robot's mission to resurrect a 'golden man' of legend. These quiet personal stakes play out against a vividly imagined world where ancient war machines stalk the deserts and seas, terrorist 'art installations' explode forever within stasis fields, and the human population in space tell stories of the eldritch creatures inhabiting the Oort clouds. Meanwhile, Tidhar offers a heartfelt exploration of artificially intelligent beings' struggles to find existential meaning while being restrained by both coding and form. Fans of literary sci-fi are sure to be enchanted by the imaginative worldbuilding and tenderly wrought characters."
--Publishers Weekly

"Lavie Tidhar's Neom is a stunning return to his world of Central Station, twinning the fates of humans and robots alike at a futuristic city on the edge of the Red Sea."
--Green Man Review

"Lyrical, haunting and hopeful. . . . Neom is a thoughtful, beautifully written story about what we have, what we want, how we achieve our desires, and what, and whom, we are willing to risk for our own benefit."
--Los Angeles Public Library

"At times Tidhar's narrative takes on a gentle, ruminative air, and while that helps establish the atmosphere of a convincing, lived-in city, veteran SF readers will also find plenty of playful and affectionate Easter eggs. . . . For all its fearsome ancient ordnance, its economic disparity, and its looming threats, Neom easily joins the list of SF cities we'd like to visit."
--Locus

"This was superb and I'm in awe of Tidhar's vision. He's conjured up a futuristic city that feels simultaneously ultramodern and also run down. The rich histories of the region and its cultures are seamlessly interwoven into the fabric of this fully-realized world."
--The Speculative Shelf

"Always expect the unexpected with Lavie Tidhar, and this welcome return to the sprawling space-operatic world of Central Station delivers oodles of poetry, action, memorable characters, wonderfully bizarre landscapes and wild imagination."
--Maxim Jakubowski, author of The Piper's Dance

"Richly built without being overwhelming, and the narrative moves quickly even while juggling several moving parts and mysteries."
--Booklist

"Lavie Tidhar, standing on the shoulders of Vance, Smith, and Ballard and others, imagines stories set in that place, a city in a wasteland near the Gulf of Suez, in a future filled with robots and AI and terrorartists and young boys and talking jackals and a wonderful, terrible solar system packed with life."
--Jonathan Strahan

"Science fictional ideas and references spin off this in giddy profusion. If you want your fix of the strange and wonderful, even the downright odd, get it right here."
--ParSec

"Neom is a wonderful addition to the field, and it should be read by all."
--MT Void

"Neom, in Tidhar's eponymous book, isn't a plan for a cutting-edge city in Saudi Arabia that has appalled many, but a fait accompli that is the backdrop of a beautiful and far more interesting story.
--New Scientist

"This is great! Like Central Station, a fascinating blend of huge and tiny ideas; quiet and believable, shot through with vivid oddness, and chock-full of allusion to other works. Highly recommended."
--Jake Casella Brookins, 2022 Bookish Wrap-up

On Central Station

John W. Campbell Award Winner
Neukom Literary Arts Award Winner
Arthur C. Clarke Award Finalist
NPR Best Books
Barnes and Noble Best Science Fiction and Fantasy
Locus Recommended Reading List

"Beautiful, original, a shimmering tapestry of connections and images."
--Alastair Reynolds, author of the Revelation Space series

"A dazzling tale of complicated politics and even more complicated souls. Beautiful."
--Ken Liu, author of The Paper Menagerie and The Grace of Kings

[STARRED REVIEW] "Readers of all persuasions will be entranced."
--Publishers Weekly

[STARRED REVIEW] "A fascinating future glimpsed through the lens of a tight-knit community."
--Library Journal

"If Nalo Hopkinson and William Gibson held a sance to channel the spirit of Ray Bradbury, they might be inspired to produce a work as grimy, as gorgeous, and as downright sensual as Central Station."
--Peter Watts, author of Blindsight and The Freeze-Frame Revolution

Author Bio

British Science Fiction, British Fantasy, and World Fantasy Award winning author Lavie Tidhar (A Man Lies Dreaming, The Escapement, Unholy Land, The Hood) is an acclaimed author of literature, science fiction, fantasy, graphic novels, and middle grade fiction. Tidhar received the Campbell, Xingyun, and Neukom awards for the novel Central Station. In addition to his fiction and nonfiction, Tidhar is the editor of the Apex Best of World Science Fiction series and a columnist for the Washington Post. His speaking appearances include Cambridge University, PEN, and the Singapore Writers Festival. He has been a Guest of Honour at book conventions in Japan, Poland, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, China, and elsewhere; he is currently a visiting professor and writer in residence at the American International University. Tidhar currently resides with his family in London.