The Fallen Country

by S.P. Somtow

Billy and Charley lives in vastly different worlds. When Billy's world begins to threaten his very life, he discovers Charley to be a true friend and his last hope for survival.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction

200 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1986

About the author

Called by the Bangkok Post "the Thai person known by name to most people in the world," S.P. Somtow is an author, composer, filmmaker, and international media personality whose dazzling talents and acerbic wit have entertained and enlightened fans the world over.

He was Somtow Papinian Sucharitkul in Bangkok. His grandfather's sister was a Queen of Siam, his father is a well known international lawyer and vice-president of the International Academy of Human Rights. Somtow was educated at Eton and Cambridge, and his first career was in music. In the 1970s (while he was still in college) his works were being performed on four continents and he was named representative of Thailand to the Asian Composer's League and to the International Music Commission of UNESCO. His avant-garde compositions caused controversy and scandal in his native country, and a severe case of musical burnout in the late 1970s precipitated his entry into a second career - that of author.

He began writing science fiction, but soon started to invade other fields of writing, with some 40 books out now, including the clasic horror novel Vampire Junction, which defined the "rock and roll vampire" concept for the 80s, the Riverrun Trilogy ("the finest new series of the 90's" - Locus) and the semi-autobiographical memoir Jasmine Nights. He has won or been nominated for dozens of major awards including the Bram Stoker Award, the John W. Campbell Award, the Hugo Award, and the World Fantasy Award.

Somtow has also made some incursions into filmmaking, directing the cult classic The Laughing Dead and the award winning art film Ill Met by Moonlight.

Reviews

[Jessada Karnjana · Rating 4 out of 5]

ความจริงบางอย่างมันไม่ควรมีอยู่บนโลก อย่างเช่นเมืองแก้ว หรือเด็กถูกทำร้าย ผู้ใหญ่บางคนอ้างโลกทั้งใบที่ไร้ความปรานีเป็นต้นเหตุบีบบังคับให้เขาต้องทำแบบนั้น แต่ก็มีเด็กบางคนที่มีผู้ใหญ่ไร้ความปรานีบีบให้เข้าต้องสร้างโลกใหม่ขึ้นทั้งใบ

[Meizhangza · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the Thai translation of the story, not the English one. So there might be some mistakes in the names of people and places and spellings.

This story is quite satirizing. All the fantasy settings are not convincing enough. For the whole time of reading this, I was thinking of the fallen country as Billy's imagination that is made solid, in the story, just because he believes in it so strongly and so do his friends. It's more like illusion experienced by a group of people. The country does not really exist. It's just a symbol to help emphasize the idea that abused children are abused until they become insensible to the pain and torture, like being in the Fallen Country. For the children to stand up and take revenge on the abuser is not the real solution. It's just gonna recreate the endless cycle of child abuse. The best solution is to forgive the abuser and stop the abuse for the sake of other children. And it's adult's duty to take care of children safety though in most part of the story they did the opposite things.

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A modern classic of fiction for young people. Like Rowling, Somtow writes children's literature without talking down to the reader. Far too many books for young people make the mistake of thinking that children can't understand what they read. Somtow let's the story unfold on it's own without needing to censor reality. It's a pity that his work doesn't get the recognition that it deserves. Adding the original short story is a nice touch for this edition, but the novel is a true masterpiece.

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like Rowling, Somtow writes children's literature without talking down to the reader. Far too many books for young people make the mistake of thinking that children can't understand what they read. Somtow let's the story unfold on it's own with out needing to censor reality. It's a pity that his work doesn't get the recognition that it deserves. Adding the original short story is a nice touch for this edition, but the novel is a true masterpiece.