Nov 2025: Inverted World by Christopher Priest

The Inverted World

The city is winched along tracks through a devastated land full of hostile tribes. Rails must be freshly laid ahead of the city and carefully removed in its wake. Rivers and mountains present nearly insurmountable challenges to the ingenuity of the city's engineers. But if the city does not move, it will fall farther and farther behind the optimum and into the crushing gravitational field that has transformed life on Earth. The only alternative to progress is death. The secret directorate that governs the city makes sure that its inhabitants know nothing of this.

Raised in common in creches, nurtured on synthetic food, prevented above all from venturing outside the closed circuit of the city, they're carefully sheltered from the dire necessities that have come to define human existence.

Yet the city is in crisis. People are growing restive. The population is dwindling. The rulers know that, for all their efforts, slowly but surely the city is slipping ever farther behind the optimum. Helward Mann is a member of the city's elite. Better than anyone, he knows how tenuous is the city's continued existence. But the world he's about to discover is infinitely stranger than the strange world he believes he knows so well.

-----
General Attendance Policy:

• We encourage you to have read the book (or most of it), but if you didn't get a chance to, don't let that stop you from attending. Some members find it beneficial to read the book after discussing it. 3 no-shows and you will be removed from the group. You have 48 hours prior to the event to withdraw.
• It is your responsibility to purchase/borrow the month's book. If you are struggling to locate a copy, please let us know and we will endeavour to locate a copy.
• Please respect everyone's opinions and ideas and use common courtesy when participating.
• Members take turns hosting the book affairs. The host for the month is responsible for leading the discussion but anyone in the group can ask questions.

-----
First time attending an ink affair meetup? On the day, you will be asked the following questions as a way of introduction:

1. Name
2. A little bit about you (i.e. resides in Tauranga, visiting)
3. What are your current reading habits?
4. What are you hoping to get out of being part of a book club?