The Drowned World

Coherent, profound. Transplants us into a world where imagination and philosophy solidify into reality. Ok, a little dated but excellent nonetheless.

Great read

Great writing by J.G. Ballard and a frightening look at what may be to come for our planet.

Unless there is some literary vampiring in our future, there will be no new J.G. Ballard in our futures. But sturdy editions of classic old Ballard novels are definitely welcome, both to introduce new readers to the wonders of JGB's innerspace-sensibilities and to allow long-time readers to upgrade their doughty British paperback editions with fresh new hardcovers.Like Raymond Chandler, Robertson Davies, and a handful of other "better than the vast majority, yet somehow not quite universally lauded" authors, Ballard is one of those writers who should never be allowed to go out of print, and whose work should be re-discovered and savored by each new generation. This annievrsary edition of THE DROWNED WORLD is a good place to start ...

Some of the reviews on this novel are completely misleading. This is a great work of (early) sci-fi. I found it very difficult to put aside when I needed to, I just wanted to carry on reading it. It is an absorbing experience, with excellent character development, and a planet (Earth) subjected to extreme climatic influences from its own mother star. I'm not going to get into the usual spoilers that somehow manage to infiltrate these types of reviews, but I would suggest that all serious sci-fi readers should really need to get hold of a copy of this book. If you can find it, the hardback (50th anniversary edition) is a real treat, the intro by Martin Amis is an additional (essential) quality of this work