This is the first book by Christopher Priest I've ever read, despite there being a number of his works on my bookshelves. It will not be the last.

The Wessex Project is a shared dream, a vision of a 22nd Century Britain, one where geological instabilities brought on by mining have caused a subsiding of a large part of the south of the country creating two seperate islands for Britain, the mainland and the island of Wessex, comprising of Somerset down through Cornwall.

This is a future when the Islanic influence in the world has expanded so we get references to the Western Emirate States in place of the USA and Wessex has become a tourist centre comprising of casinos and mosques side by side.

One of the participants in this shared dream world is Julia Strettonwho's worst nightmare comes true when her ex- Paul Mason joins the project. But what will the effect of a newcomer be, expecially one with as large an ego and arrogant streak as Mason, on the 'reality' of the Wessex Project?

I have a definite liking for science fiction from the 1960's and 1970's. I find that a lot of what was published during this period was very inventive, and with the tendency of the time to publish novels of 200 pages or less the style is very often sharp and very concise (not overly flowery) with descriptions.

Add into this a very Britishness and I have a book very suited to my personal tastes. If you've read and liked Edmund Cooper, or fancy a British equivalent to authors such as Clifford Simak this is very likely to be a book for you.