Reviews

“Is it fair to read a novel as a stand-alone work, or must it necessarily be judged in the context of how it compares to what has gone before?,” asks Greg L. Johnson in his SFSite.com review of Adam Robert’s Gradisil. “A fine story, all by itself, and Gradisil can easily be read strictly as the story of one family’s involvement in the great events of their time. But … Gradisil’s reference points are the classic science fiction stories of rugged individuals engineering their way into space. There are echoes here of Arthur C. Clarke’s Islands in the Sky, Poul Anderson’s Tales of the Flying Mountains and, of course, Robert A. Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.”

This wealth of influences, coupled with several literary allusions, causes Johnson to conclude, “Gradisil could easily have been-top heavy, its literary allusions and political commentary deadening the story with pretensions. That it doesn’t is evidence both of Robert’s skill as a novelist and the enduring power of an ages-old tragedy. Gradisil works well as a story in and of itself, its characters not necessarily admirable but very human in their flaws and prejudices.”

I’m a little late noticing this, but Eve’s Alexandria has posted a very detailed and thoughtful analysis of Adam Robert’s Gradisil, with dueling (though not very opposed) opinions from hosts Nic and Victoria.

First off, Vicky says, “Jon Courtenay Grimwood tells us (via The Guardian) that Adam Roberts is ‘the king of high-concept SF’, and if the Arthur C. Clarke-nominated Gradisil – Roberts’ sixth novel – is representative of his work, I must concur. One of three ‘traditional SF’ novels in the running for the Award, it proves a painstakingly well-crafted and thematically dense novel, heavy with ideas…. If Gradisil‘s structure is a variation on The Forsyte Saga, the narrative thrust has all the flavour of Greek tragedy: murdered parents, vengeful children, wronged husbands and siblings in conflict, mixed together with political and social upheaval – the development of national government and the consequences of power conjoined with the fate of families.”

Then Nic offers, “I thoroughly enjoyed Gradisil, and have to agree with Vicky’s contention that it is “painstakingly well-crafted and thematically dense,” then goes into a discussion as to whether the “narrative playfulness” of the book works or not. Nic ends by praising one of the most incredible passages in the whole book, a chapter in which an astronaut falls to earth: “…an astonishing, soaring piece of writing, showing what Roberts can do when he lays aside the irony for a while.”

Meanwhile, I love the depth of this analysis and the duel-host format. And I concur, obviously, with Vicky when she says, “It would be a worthy winner of the Clarke, I think.”