Series
Vermilion Sands
J. G. Ballard · 2 novelettes · 7 short stories · 1 collection · 1956–1971
Vermilion Sands collects J. G. Ballard's linked short stories set in a decaying desert resort town for the wealthy and disaffected, somewhere between Palm Springs glamour and slow decline. The stories share the same setting and cast of artists, has-beens, and hangers-on rather than following one continuous plot, with recurring fixtures like sonic sculptures standing in for the collection's obsession with art made from leisure and boredom. First published in 1971, it's a mood piece more than a narrative series.
Summary by Loreful, from public sources
Reading order
The order the books came out.
Map
Vermilion Sands at the centre, its books fanned around what holds them. Pick anything for its details, and zoom out for similar series in orbit — the reading order above lists the same books as text.
Stats
By decade
- 1950s2
- 1960s6
- 1970s2
Shape
2 novelettes · 7 short stories · 1 collection
1 author · completed series
reads like:science fictionart and artistsotherworldnear futureeerieadult
Mood
Grim and intense: 70% of this series' placed works, the catalog's 46%.
this series · the catalog · one dot = one book10 of 10 works carry a tone
Edges of the map
- Vermilion Sandsdarkest · most intense
- The Cloud-Sculptors of Coral Dbrightest
- Prima Belladonnacalmest