Tighe lives on the wall. It towers above his village and falls away below it. It is vast and unforgiving and it is everything he knows. Life is hard on the wall, little more than a clinging on for dear life. And then one day Tighe falls off the wall. And falls, and falls, and falls . . . Lavishly praised everywhere from Asimov's magazine to Interzone, ON is proof positive that Adam Roberts is a new author whose potential for greatness is rapidly being realised. ON is at once a vertiginous concept novel, a coming of age saga, a picaresque journey across a changed world and an epic adventure in the very best traditions of SF.
On (Gollancz S.F.)
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First Sentence
On Tighe's eighth birthday one of the family goats fell off the world. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
On Tighe's eighth birthday one of the family goats fell off the world. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By A. Key
Format:Paperback
I have to go with the reader from Sandown. There's a lot of invention packed into this book, and the main character is effectively drawn, but then it all tails off into a series of disjointed scenes and, ultimately, the arrival of a deus ex machina (in more senses than one) who explains nearly everything but then sets up a couple of brand new mysteries, and then... the book stops. Roberts fits comfortably into the millenium wave of British SF writers - the belief that novels don't need a proper ending, the obsession with gore, blood, guts and severed limbs, all the trademarks are there. So long as you can get past that it's not a bad book, but it's lacking something.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Adam Roberts' second novel demonstrates that here is an author who refuses to be straight-jacketed by the 'normal' rules of hard sf as he creates the most bizarre of worlds and then show us it from the perspective of one of its seemingly most insignificant denizens.
Tighe's story is part quest through a setting as bizarre as any in Gene Wolfe's 'New Sun' series, part the story of a coming of age into a true age of wonders. Yes, it's strange, yes it's unusual, indeed almost 'fantastic' in flavour, but it does have a very solid hard sf basis - and there's always been more to science fiction than just robots and spaceships, as Roberts more than ably demonstrates.
Give 'On' a try - take your head in new directions.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By M. Clare
Format:Paperback
I have read other books by Adam Roberts such as Salt that I enjoyed. However this book left me very disappointed. The concept behind the book is a very interesting one but the characters and plot within the book were shallow and meaningless. As for the ending - I thought I had a book with missing pages.
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2.8 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
On or Off
What a very strange book. It is based around a single, huge concept that results in a world that is almost unrecognisably alien. Read more
Published on 23 Oct 2010 by Diziet
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing and disjointed
The quote on the cover says "very high concept". This is true, but the story is driven along by the need to reveal the "high concept" underpinnings of the world, not by the... Read more
Published on 28 Dec 2007 by Pie56
4.0 out of 5 stars
Yes but...
Reading the reviews here I find myself agreeing with some of the main points- yes the main character is a bit passive, the deus ex machina explanation was a trifle unnecessary and... Read more
Published on 9 Mar 2007 by J. M. Carey
2.0 out of 5 stars
A one-concept conceit
The book started well, with some great characterisation. I really enjoyed the introductory part, which was very short, but then half the good characters got effectively killed off. Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2002
3.0 out of 5 stars
Bit of a road movie - feels like part 1 of X
Various reviewers have either raved or ranted about the lack of conclusion to the book but actually, it kind of stops on a bit of a cliff-hanger that feels like ON - Part 2 may... Read more
Published on 20 Nov 2002
1.0 out of 5 stars
Deeply disapointed...
Having read so many positive reviews for this author and the reviews on the book cover I was left deeply disapointed by the actual book. Read more
Published on 18 Oct 2002
1.0 out of 5 stars
A cardboard main character and directionless plot
If you like tightly-plotted sci-fi with believable characters and a gripping storyline then avoid this book like the plague-'cos there's none of that here! Read more
Published on 31 May 2002
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderwall
As with Robert's previous novel viewpoint really matters in ON and it is important to read between the lines... Read more
Published on 13 May 2002
1.0 out of 5 stars
Empty
There is a particular brand of fantasy writing where the author has an apparently inspired idea or concept, and then proceeds to tell you about it...badly. Read more
Published on 6 May 2002 by Jonathan Waterlow
4.0 out of 5 stars
great sophomore effort
The central premice of the novel can be worked out fairly early on,the reason for not giving it 5 stars being the rather clunky and pulpish way it is explained at the end. Read more
Published on 21 April 2002
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