or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
27 used & new from £0.01
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Polystom (Gollancz S.F.)
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside another edition of this book

Polystom (Gollancz S.F.) (Hardcover)

by Adam Roberts (Author) "Polystom climbed into his biplane one morning, having made up his mind to fly to the moon ..." (more)
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
RRP: £17.99
Price: £15.29 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £2.70 (15%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Only 1 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Want guaranteed delivery by Thursday, November 12? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
7 new from £2.09 17 used from £0.01 3 collectible from £8.80
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Paperback 23 used & new from £0.01

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with On (Gollancz S.F.) by Adam Roberts

Polystom (Gollancz S.F.) + On (Gollancz S.F.)
Price For Both: £20.78

Show availability and shipping details

  • This item: Polystom (Gollancz S.F.) by Adam Roberts

    In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

  • On (Gollancz S.F.) by Adam Roberts

    In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

On (Gollancz S.F.)

On (Gollancz S.F.)

by Adam Roberts
3.0 out of 5 stars (17)  £5.49
Land Of The Headless (Gollancz S.F.)

Land Of The Headless (Gollancz S.F.)

by Adam Roberts
4.4 out of 5 stars (7)  £6.39
Salt (Gollancz S.F.)

Salt (Gollancz S.F.)

by Adam Roberts
3.8 out of 5 stars (29) 
Gradisil (Gollancz S.F.)

Gradisil (Gollancz S.F.)

by Adam Roberts
2.1 out of 5 stars (7)  £5.99
Stone (Sf Masterworks)

Stone (Sf Masterworks)

by Adam Roberts
4.0 out of 5 stars (8)  £5.99
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Hardcover: 294 pages
  • Publisher: Gollancz; First Edition edition (15 May 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0575071788
  • ISBN-13: 978-0575071780
  • Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16 x 3.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 362,398 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

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. 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 36 and a Senior 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 (Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
Polystom climbed into his biplane one morning, having made up his mind to fly to the moon. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Polystom (Gollancz S.F.)
32% buy the item featured on this page:
Polystom (Gollancz S.F.) 3.5 out of 5 stars (4)
£15.29
Land Of The Headless (Gollancz S.F.)
24% buy
Land Of The Headless (Gollancz S.F.) 4.4 out of 5 stars (7)
£6.39
On (Gollancz S.F.)
21% buy
On (Gollancz S.F.) 3.0 out of 5 stars (17)
£5.49
Salt (Gollancz S.F.)
12% buy
Salt (Gollancz S.F.) 3.8 out of 5 stars (29)
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars V.well written. Interesting concept, weak story realisation, 3 Nov 2003
This review is from: Polystom (Gollancz S.F.) (Paperback)
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. Though no relevance to that, Polystom sketches an engaging world , HG Wells/Victorians in Space, however does not follow through with plot execution or characters you really invest in whilst reading the book. On reflection its culmination veers towards a cyberpunk concept of alternate realities; interesting though not defining.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Nice concepts - failing implementation., 12 Jul 2004
By S. Holm (Denmark) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Polystom (Gollancz S.F.) (Paperback)
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.

I find myself buying his books because the ideas and concepts of this author are brilliant - especially when presented in condensed 'synopsis' form on the Amazon website.

The problem is - I have yet to witness a successful implementation of Adam Roberts' brilliant ideas. Maybe he would benefit from teaming up with a co-writer who could take the stories a step further and actually make me care about events and characters along the way.

I'll rate this one at 3 stars - solely for for the interesting concept.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliantly annoying, 9 May 2008
This review is from: Polystom (Gollancz S.F.) (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.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars An average tale of alternative realities
A well written and reasonably enjoyable novel with an imaginative, if slightly derivative, dual reality ending. Read more
Published on 6 Nov 2006 by Feldyguy

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject








i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.