Gradisil (Gollancz S.F.) [Paperback]

Well, I think I can see why this book is not taking off in America (Roberts is British). It does not paint the US or NASA in a very kind light, and makes some rather pointed remarks about the war in Iraq, by analogy. That was very cleverly done. But the story mostly dragged for me, picking up toward the middle. And when it seemed a good place to end...it kept going. My opinion, of course. Interesting to read a story that posits our near-future in space (hard to find books about that). Roberts is a very good, "literate" writer, but this book didn't do it for me. The character Paul was just so incredibly neurotic and whining. I'm sure we're supposed to dislike him, but I really didn't like spending so much time with such an unpleasant person. But it's neat to see us beginning, finally, to take our place in space, and that instead of it being the glorious miliary leading the way, it is some very real, flawed people who just happen to love living in orbit, for a myriad reasons. There's no grand "man taking his place among the stars," or even the triumph of capitalism and free markets pushing us out into space. It reads more like a mainstream novel that just happens to take place in the future. For that, Roberts deserves to be better known, I think. But sf fans are, surprisingly, a conservative bunch, and this is liable to rub them the wrong way. A powerful central woman character? Men who act like spineless jellyfish? Wow. John W. Campbell must be turning over in his grave!

This is a book that will be very appealing to some people, but quite unappealing to others. A problem is that it has been poorly marketed.

The first thing that should be stressed is that Gradisil is NOT a space opera, however hard it may pretend to be. It would be more accurate to say it is a political thriller, with a techno-futuristic bent similar to the work of Michael Chrichton. It is NOT an action-thriller like the works of Tom Clancy or Matthew Reilly. Bear this in mind before purchasing Gradisil, since disappointment is virtually guaranteed if you expect it to be something different from what it is.

The book opens strongly with a fast-paced story and an engaging narrator in the form of Klara. Indeed, if the entire book had just been focused on Klara's story I would say it would have been better. Unfortunately, things begin to go gradually downhill once the second part begins.

Firstly, the pace of the story slows to a relative crawl. Secondly, the engaging narrator of Klara is replaced by the wimpy, self-pitying and largely unsympathetic figure of Paul. Also, a major plot point is revealed almost immediately at the beginning of the second part. As a result it's nearly impossible to spoil the plot of the book because it spoils itself! However it is not revealed until the very end of the book why Paul's section is written in such a mawkish and self-pitying way.

The third and final part of the story feels like an afterthought. It does tie up many loose ends, but does so far more slowly than necessary, because it spends so much time introducing even more new characters with their own issues which go unresolved.

There is a sense that Adam Roberts went to great effort to create the world which exists in Gradisil and that he is very keen to show it off to the reader. Indeed, the book and its narrative can seem like a an excuse to show off as many details of this intricately crafted world as possible. I suspect this is at the core of the flaws inherent to Gradisil and its story structure, he's attempting to do in a book something which would work much better as a wiki.

That said, the quality of prose in Gradisil is extremely good (aside from irritating attempts to synthesise 'futuristic' grammar). The novel is well researched and I was not able to spot any obvious mistakes in terms of physical science, social science, economics or continuity. The plot has no major holes and suspension of disbelief is very easy. The main problems lie in terms of the style in which it is written and how that may interfere with its enjoyment. I trust that after reading this review, you should be well equipped to make the judgement for yourself as to whether you would be likely to enjoy it.

Although I'm a fan of high concept hard science fiction I only recently discovered Adam Roberts. I read Stone last month and was very impressed by his ability to encompass both physics and human social evolution in a novel that's essentially about one man's need to define his own existence in a star spanning society where murder and violence have become extinct.

Gradisil is much more limited in scope since it's a future portrayed just a few years down the road from our own timeline. There's been a breakthrough in technology that allows for people with the means and the time to reengineer aircraft to fly into near space by way of Earth's magnetic fields. Being intrepid pioneers they haul up large metal containers which they turn into little houses with big windows at one end for watching the world go by. The whole concept is very funky and scary sounding but also seems quite realistic in its own way and very fascinating since most writers skip over those years where we made it into space and jump staight off to FTL, AI's and extraordinary adventures with or without aliens. Remember Kim Stanley Robinson's 'Red Mars'?

Mr. Roberts takes the people as we are right now approach and does a wonderful job of inhabiting characters we understand all too well.