Book: Non-Stop

Non-Stop

The mystery behind a bizarre environment is slowly unravelled.

A unique take on the traditional science fiction voyage-of-discovery plot, Non-Stop has as its main character Roy Complain. He lives with his fellow tribesmen in a strange environment of rooms, corridors and incongruous jungles.

Together with the overweight, unstable priest Marapper – the first of Aldiss's many borderline psychotic comic characters - Complain embarks upon a quest in which he encounters super-evolved rats, mysterious giants and the shocking secret of his world.

An enjoyably twisty, sometimes disorientating tale unfolds. Stunning revelations demand frequent re-assessments of what you've read so far. It's a pessimistic yet somehow uplifting take on an science fiction trope that would later be lampooned by Douglas Adams in The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

The first novel by prolific British writer Aldiss, Non-Stop was slightly re-edited by the author in 2000 to bring it up to date with 21st century scientific knowledge. The title of the original US edition gave away the major twist in the story – so beware spoilers on the net.

Work nominated by gideonr.