277:, noting, "Mr. Crowley presents his society from the inside, yet his point of view is off‐center, so that the reader learns slowly and never feels secure enough in his knowledge to reduce everything to a glib formula or two. Far from being a didactic social treatise, the novel has strong, believable characters, an ingenious, well‐made plot, and a resolution that is intellectually and dramatically satisfying."
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people of Little
Belaire have perfected an art which they call "truthful speaking": communication so clear and accurate, so "transparent", as to leave no potential for deception or misunderstanding. Perhaps as a result of this practice, Little Belaire appears to be free of any violence or even serious competition. Another result of truthful speaking is the existence of the "
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The story is set in a post-technological future; the present age is dimly remembered in story and legend, but without nostalgia or regret. The people of Rush's world are engaged in living their own lives in their own cultures. Words and artifacts from current time survive into Rush's age, suggesting
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Rush comes of age in Little
Belaire, a mazelike village of invisible, shifting boundaries, of secret paths and meandering stories and antique bric-a-brac carefully preserved in carved chests. The inhabitants are divided into clans called "cords" based on personality traits. Over the centuries, the
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Rush's journey is set in motion when the girl he loves, Once a Day, elopes from Little
Belaire to join another group, an enigmatic society called Dr. Boots's List. In his search for her, Rush befriends a hermit and an "avvenger" and shares the secrets of the List. Ultimately he discovers a
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that it is only a few millennia in the future. Yet there are hints that human society and even human biology are significantly changed. Even such basics as reproduction and eating have been altered, one by industrial-age
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world in pursuit of several seemingly incompatible goals. Each of the four divisions of his story are recorded on a separate crystal, and chapters correspond to facets of each crystal.
261:", those whose stories speak not only of the specifics of their own lives, but about the human condition. Yet even with the benefit of truthful speaking, secrets and mysteries remain.
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The novel takes the form of an oral history told by a young man named "Rush that Speaks" and of his wandering through a strange,
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The
Chemical Wedding: by Christian Rosencreutz: A Romance in Eight Days by Johann Valentin Andreae in a New Version
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transparent sainthood stranger than any story told by the gossips of Little
Belaire.
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Houd – leader of the trading party with whom Once A Day left Little
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the same year. It was rewritten from
Crowley's unpublished first novel,
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Once A Day – a
Whisper Cord girl and Rush’s great friend and beloved
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Sewn Up, No Moon, Budding, Blooming – a family living by the river
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752:"The War Between the Objects and the Subjects" (2002)
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Writing in the New York Times, Frederik Pohl praised
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630:Flint and Mirror: A Novel of History and Magic
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749:"An Earthly Mother Sits and Sings" (2000)
789:Books illustrated by Anne Yvonne Gilbert
720:"The Nightingale Sings at Night" (1989)
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513:Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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727:" (novella, originally published in
694:"Where Spirits Gat Them Home" (1978)
604:Lord Byron's Novel: The Evening Land
699:The Single Excursion of Caspar Last
410:"1980 Award Winners & Nominees"
370:Mongolfier – a visitor from Laputa
328:Painted Red – Rush’s first teacher
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758:"Little Yeses, Little Nos" (2005)
704:"The Reason for the Visit" (1980)
624:Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr
351:Zhinsinura – Rush’s third teacher
799:American post-apocalyptic novels
367:Teeplee – an Avvenger and trader
205:. It was nominated for the 1980
128:Print (hardback & paperback)
784:American science fiction novels
484:Simulations Publications, Inc.
357:Brom – a large intelligent cat
346:Third Crystal (Dr Boot’s List)
325:So Spoken – Rush’s grandmother
311:First Crystal (Little Belaire)
197:is a novel by American writer
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453:ENGINE SUMMER By John Crowley
447:Jonas, Gerald (20 May 1979).
221:. It has been illustrated by
761:"Conversation Hearts" (2008)
319:Speak A Word – Rush’s mother
301:List of principal characters
249:, the other by contact with
809:Doubleday (publisher) books
746:"Lost and Abandoned" (1997)
333:Second Crystal (with Blink)
322:Seven Hands – Rush’s father
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389:"National Book Foundation"
297:is pleasant and idyllic."
31:Cover of the first edition
764:"And Go Like This" (2011)
737:"Missolonghi 1824" (1990)
433:"Great Work Takes Time,"
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707:"The Green Child" (1981)
219:Learning to Live With It
186:PZ4.C9533 En PS3553.R597
293:#3 and commented that "
215:John W. Campbell Awards
201:, published in 1979 by
804:Novels by John Crowley
476:(July 1980). "Books".
362:Fourth Crystal (Alone)
511:title listing at the
503:at Worlds Without End
251:extraterrestrial life
16:Novel by John Crowley
794:1979 American novels
691:"Antiquities" (1977)
437:, May 2001, pp. 4-5.
227:Anne Yvonne Gilbert
207:National Book Award
70:Anne Yvonne Gilbert
55:Anne Yvonne Gilbert
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725:Great Work of Time
414:Worlds Without End
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449:"Science Fiction"
247:genetic tampering
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740:"Exogamy" (1993)
734:"In Blue" (1989)
710:"Novelty" (1983)
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417:. Retrieved
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392:. Retrieved
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233:Plot summary
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41:John Crowley
666:Dæmonomania
641:Ægypt Cycle
591:Little, Big
394:23 November
225:(1979) and
47:Illustrator
778:Categories
458:11 January
375:References
111:March 1979
548:Works by
283:reviewed
269:Reception
203:Doubleday
99:Doubleday
95:Publisher
717:" (1985)
701:" (1979)
567:The Deep
229:(1983).
174:813/.5/4
77:Language
731:, 1989)
729:Novelty
161:4490941
80:English
677:(2007)
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653:(1987)
632:(2022)
626:(2017)
620:(2016)
614:(2009)
606:(2005)
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594:(1981)
586:(1979)
578:(1976)
575:Beasts
570:(1975)
558:Novels
259:saints
72:(1983)
57:(1983)
37:Author
486:: 35.
482:(3).
435:Locus
133:Pages
85:Genre
715:Snow
460:2020
421:2009
396:2010
213:and
155:OCLC
142:ISBN
287:in
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