- Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Gollancz; New edition edition (8 July 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0575075414
- ISBN-13: 978-0575075412
- Product Dimensions: 17.6 x 11 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 270,783 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Polystom (Gollancz S.F.)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Adam Roberts' fourth novel is his most ambitious yet. In a feat of extraordinary world building he creates a universe where a breathable atmosphere extends out between the planets, where aristocrats cruise interstellar space in biplanes and skywhals make mysterious distant orbits. Then, with bravura plotting, he undermines our own notions of reality and leaves the reader unsure which universe to believe in. Gaining a reputation as one of the UK's leading SF stylists and masters of the high-concept, Roberts, shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke award with his debut novel SALT, confirms his extraordinary potential with POLYSTOM.
About the Author
Adam Roberts is Reader in English at London University. His first novel, Salt, was nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award. He has also published a number of academic works on both 19th century poetry and SF.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Polystom climbed into his biplane one morning, having made up his mind to fly to the moon. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Polystom climbed into his biplane one morning, having made up his mind to fly to the moon. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is annoying. Few of the characters are in any way sympathetic. The story meanders.
And then it all suddenly makes sense and becomes somehow worthwhile. Incidentally, I'm not sure that this book has anything to with alternate realities (see other reviews) at all. In fact, I'll go further and say that it definitely doesn't have anything at all to do with alternate realities - and the fact that the other reviewers missed this may have something to do with their low scores.
More of a clinical exploration than a breathless dash through otherwise typical space opera territory, a book that demands a little patience as it sacrifices pretty much everything in favour of its high-concept core. But I like high concept.
Finally, one of the things that makes high-concept 'high' is the general irreality of it all. Clearly, there won't be any alternate reality that we can experience. But what happens in this book WILL happen, in some way shape or form. Therefore: read and be intrigued.
And then it all suddenly makes sense and becomes somehow worthwhile. Incidentally, I'm not sure that this book has anything to with alternate realities (see other reviews) at all. In fact, I'll go further and say that it definitely doesn't have anything at all to do with alternate realities - and the fact that the other reviewers missed this may have something to do with their low scores.
More of a clinical exploration than a breathless dash through otherwise typical space opera territory, a book that demands a little patience as it sacrifices pretty much everything in favour of its high-concept core. But I like high concept.
Finally, one of the things that makes high-concept 'high' is the general irreality of it all. Clearly, there won't be any alternate reality that we can experience. But what happens in this book WILL happen, in some way shape or form. Therefore: read and be intrigued.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Adam Roberts writes extraordinary books. There are not many science fiction (or even 'speculative fiction') writers around doing anything quite like Mr Roberts. Saying that, of course, not all his books are equally successful. But, for me, this is a good one.
Perhaps the central idea, not revealed until close to the end, is not wholly original, and perhaps the ambiguity of the ending may leave some dissatisfied but, for me, it works. In fact it couldn't really end in any other way.
Still, getting to the end is a wonderful journey. The book is in three parts: 'Polystom - A Love Story', 'Cleonicles - A Murder Story' and, finally, 'The Mudworld - A Ghost Story'. In the first, we are introduced to this rather unlikely universe of bi-planes flying to the moon and atmosphere surrounding all the bodies of this solar system. The technology is a rather whimsical 'steam punk'; the society too, seems rather Victorian. But really, it's not as clear-cut as that. Many characters have Ancient Greek sounding names - such as Polystom's uncle, Cleonicles and, as the story develops, we can see that the society in which they live is more a mixture of the Victorian or Belle Epoque age and Ancient Greece. Polystom is the hereditary Steward of a huge estate populated by servants who, as we slowly discover, are more akin to slaves. At first, this world seems ordered, almost stately, albeit very conservative. But, as we begin to see revealed in the second book, there is an underlying violence and oppression to this neo-feudal society.
The third book brings everything into sharp focus. The end of the Belle Epoque was brought about by war, and similarly war threatens Polystom's ordered society. He is increasingly disabused of his previous beliefs in the justness of his society, and these moments of revelation lead to the final scenes of the book. So, in one sense, the book is simply about Polystom's journey to a new perception of the world he lives in. But it also manages to be rather more than that. Some of Adam Robert's books, such as 'Salt' and 'New Model Army' have an overt political message. There's a similar message here, but rather more discreet. On top of that, it is a beautifully written 'steam punk' novel. And I'm sure there's plenty more to it all than that as well.
All in all, I'm slightly in awe of Mr Roberts. If you like challenging, very well written, 'off the beaten track' speculative/science fiction, you can't go too far wrong with Adam Roberts.
Perhaps the central idea, not revealed until close to the end, is not wholly original, and perhaps the ambiguity of the ending may leave some dissatisfied but, for me, it works. In fact it couldn't really end in any other way.
Still, getting to the end is a wonderful journey. The book is in three parts: 'Polystom - A Love Story', 'Cleonicles - A Murder Story' and, finally, 'The Mudworld - A Ghost Story'. In the first, we are introduced to this rather unlikely universe of bi-planes flying to the moon and atmosphere surrounding all the bodies of this solar system. The technology is a rather whimsical 'steam punk'; the society too, seems rather Victorian. But really, it's not as clear-cut as that. Many characters have Ancient Greek sounding names - such as Polystom's uncle, Cleonicles and, as the story develops, we can see that the society in which they live is more a mixture of the Victorian or Belle Epoque age and Ancient Greece. Polystom is the hereditary Steward of a huge estate populated by servants who, as we slowly discover, are more akin to slaves. At first, this world seems ordered, almost stately, albeit very conservative. But, as we begin to see revealed in the second book, there is an underlying violence and oppression to this neo-feudal society.
The third book brings everything into sharp focus. The end of the Belle Epoque was brought about by war, and similarly war threatens Polystom's ordered society. He is increasingly disabused of his previous beliefs in the justness of his society, and these moments of revelation lead to the final scenes of the book. So, in one sense, the book is simply about Polystom's journey to a new perception of the world he lives in. But it also manages to be rather more than that. Some of Adam Robert's books, such as 'Salt' and 'New Model Army' have an overt political message. There's a similar message here, but rather more discreet. On top of that, it is a beautifully written 'steam punk' novel. And I'm sure there's plenty more to it all than that as well.
All in all, I'm slightly in awe of Mr Roberts. If you like challenging, very well written, 'off the beaten track' speculative/science fiction, you can't go too far wrong with Adam Roberts.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A well written and reasonably enjoyable novel with an imaginative, if slightly derivative, dual reality ending. The problem is that it reads as if Adam Roberts had no idea how the novel would turn out when he started. The denouement when it comes in the form of the two alternative realities, one of which involves a sub-Victorian/Hapsburg alternative future, renders fully a third of the preceding tale redundant or perhaps part of a different novel, which is all slightly frustrating.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Nice concepts - failing implementation.
I have previously read three other (stand alone) novels by Adam Roberts, namely Stone, Salt and On. Well...Polystom makes 4 and I will not be buying a 5th. Read more
Published on 12 July 2004 by S. Holm
V.well written. Interesting concept, weak story realisation
I chose this largely based on the book cover notes with a mind that it may be along the lines of Moorcocks Dancers at the End of Time. Read more
Published on 3 Nov 2003 by Andrew Antony Ewing
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