Christopher Priest (born 14 July 1943, died 2nd February 2024) was a British author, primarily of Science Fiction. His best known works include The Prestige (which won a World Fantasy Award, and was adapted for film by Christopher Nolan), and The Inverted World. He also wrote novelizations of films, usually under a Pen Name like John Luther Novak or Colin Wedgelock. His novelizations include eXistenZ and Short Circuit.
His attempts to create scripts for Doctor Who in the 1980s (called "Sealed Orders" and "The Enemy Within") and the resulting conflicts led the the producer of that show to decide not to work with established literary writers in the future. (Nathan-Turner claimed Priest was "difficult", Priest claims the showrunners kept changing his brief and demanding rewrites so he walked.note ) This is not the case with the new series, as Neil Gaiman has written two scripts and has expressed an interest in writing more down the future.
Priest was a huge fan of H. G. Wells, who he openly acknowledged as a major influence on his work. In 2006, he became Vice President of the international H. G. Wells Society.
For the American Comic Book writer, see Christopher Priest (comics).
Works with a page on this wiki:
Other works include:
- The Affirmation (1981)
- A Dream of Wessex (1977, US: The Perfect Lover)
- The Extremes (1998)
- The Glamour (1984)
- Indoctinaire (1970)
- The Islanders (2011, a sequel of sorts to The Affirmation)
- The Separation (2002)
- The Space Machine (1976, a sequel to H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine)
Tropes:
- Unreliable Narrator: A favorite, used in many of his works. In addition to its use in The Prestige and Fugue for a Darkening Island, we have:
- The Separation features two: a pair of twin brothers, who each relate their own perspective on their story.
- The Islanders makes a mystery of it, leading the reader down a garden path until the realization strikes.
