A man tumbles through wild surf, half drowned, and collapses on a moonlit beach. When he regains consciousness, he has no memory of who he is or where he came from. He knows only that the woman who washed ashore with him has disappeared sometime in the night, and that he has awakened in a surreal landscape of savage beauty—a mysterious watery world encircled by a thin spine of land. Aided by strange tribesmen, he travels to the cove of the spine kings, a brutal race that has enslaved the woman and several of the tribesmen. That is only the beginning of his quest, as he struggles to reclaim his identity and decipher the mysteries of this cruel, dreamlike place. Haunting and lyrical, filled with uncommon beauty and terrific peril, A Short, Sharp Shock is an enthralling story written by one of science fiction’s most respected talents.

KIM STANLEY ROBINSON is the author of over twenty books and has won every major award in the science fiction genre. Originally published in 1990, A Short, Sharp Shock remains a singular work in his oeuvre. This anti-oedipal edition includes an insightful introduction by esteemed scholar Robert Crossley.