LoveReading Says
LoveReading Says
This reimagining of the story of the son of God is gently powerful and beautifully thought-provoking. Virgin Maryam gives birth to Avigayil in Nazareth, as she grows, Avigayil determines to be a boy, challenges thoughts and behaviours, and performs miracles. I found Him to be thoughtful and considerate, though I appreciate others may well have a completely different experience with the concept of this new story. Author Geoff Ryman has set the novel in an alternate reality, and writes with sensitivity and empathy. It was easy to slip into the tale as there are known frames of reference even though the story itself breaks new ground. Huge topics of family, love, relationships, and religion are attentively explored. Avigayil who becomes Yeshu, wasn’t ever completely known to me as they shone so brightly with such fierce strength and determination. Maryam, the mother, was absolutely fascinating, her journey was immense and hers was a more obvious path to be able to follow. This is a tale that stimulates emotions, and I cried as the story came to a close. Chosen as a Liz Pick of the Month, Him is compelling, intriguing and unforgettable.
Liz Robinson
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About
HIM Synopsis
The long-awaited new book from multi-award winner Geoff Ryman.
An extraordinary science-fiction novel about identity, divinity and alternate reality – the story of the son of God.
“Women, of course, can not be sons of God,”
In the village of Nazareth, virgin Maryam and the wife of Yosef barLevi gives birth to a miracle: a little girl. She is named Avigayil, after her grandmother.
But as Avigayil grows, it’s clear she believes that she is destined to be someone greater than just the daughter of Maryam. From leading a gang of village boys to challenging the priests in the temple, Avigayil is determined to find her way as Yeshu, a man.
Yeshu can work miracles. He can see futures. He can speak for God.
A gripping, thoughtful sci-fi novel, tackling family, the multiverse and the survival of love through immense change and crisis.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781915202673 |
| Publication date: |
5th December 2023 |
| Author: |
Geoff Ryman |
| Publisher: |
Angry Robot an imprint of Watkins Media Limited |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
376 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Science Fiction
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| Other Genres: |
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| Recommendations: |
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Press Reviews
Geoff Ryman Press Reviews
"HIM feels like the real story at last. Ryman’s uncanny ability to get inside people makes this one of the greatest versions of the old story. The family drama, Yeshua’s parents and siblings—all the key moments seen as if by lightening—it comes alive in a supremely vivid way. This time for real. It’s unforgettable." – Kim Stanley Robinson, award winning author of The Mars Trilogy
"Here is the Son of God you never knew. HIM is shocking, moving, profound and reverent. Only Geoff Ryman could have written this book. It is a masterpiece." – Michael Swanwick, Nebula award-winning author of Stations of the Tide
"Ryman challenges his readers as he always has, with an enormous, defiant, heart. HIM is exhilarating and liberating to believer and non-believer alike." – Paul Cornell, author and screenwriter
“Ryman offers an exceptional journey into the heart of human experience with this profoundly affecting story. Beautifully imagined. It has a transformative, compassionate power. I loved it.”
– Justina Robson, award nominated author Silver Screen
“Potentially blasphemous, definitely thought-provoking. Ryman asks a simple question and supplies a complex, multifaceted answer that stays with you long after you finish reading.” – Antony Johnston, creator of Atomic Blonde
"Geoff Ryman has long been one of our finest writers, with no two books the same (or even similar). With Him, Ryman rewrites the Greatest Story Ever Told, using all the tools he has developed from his fantasy, science fiction, and historical fiction to craft something new from material so familiar, giving an immediacy and a reality and a shocking sense that we have never encountered this story before, nor this prophet nor his teaching. It's the kind of novel that will win awards and reach hearts and minds and be burnt on bonfires too. A profoundly religious book, in such unexpected ways." – Neil Gaiman
Author
About Geoff Ryman
Geoff Ryman was born in Canada, to a journalist mother and a father in science. It was through his mother that Geoff, when he was eight, had a short story published in the local paper. But it was his father who inspired Geoff with stories of lasers – it was a fascination which was to last. His father was also an artist, a talent which has been passed down to his son.
Geoff’s apprenticeship to writing was long and hard. It was not the writing that was the problem but the imagination. His family moved to Los Angeles in 1963 and perhaps influenced by this city, he wanted to become an actor. In the mid 1970s when he had moved to London he realised that he really wanted to take his writing seriously, and his first short story was sold to New Worlds Ten in 1976.
Geoff Ryman is the award winning author of 253 the world’s first internet novel, and the cult classics WAS and LUST.
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