On (GollanczF.) [Paperback]

Adam Roberts (Author)

Book Description

Series: GollanczF. | Publication Date: June 1, 2002

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. 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 science fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Tighe lives in a hardscrabble village on the side of a great wall that stretches as far up and down as the eye can see -until one day, he falls off (gravity operates parallel to the ground) and down into a world he never could have imagined existed. Adam Roberts's (Salt) On tells the tale of how the young stranger comes to terms with life in a foreign land during wartime, when soldiers, travelers, monsters and oracles engage in bloody battles and the secret of the "worldwall" is waiting to be discovered. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

SALES POINTS

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Gollancz (June 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0575072997
• ISBN-13: 978-0575072992
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 4.2 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,555,219 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Explores a new, interesting "way of life", December 15, 2002

By 

teeps29 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: On (Paperback)

The protagonist of "On" lives on a world with an interesting twist that changes everything about it (except human nature, of course). The book is believable, exciting, a little gory here and there, driven by both plot and character. It doesn't have a typical ending, but the ending makes sense when you think about it, and the author's dedication at the end mentions the theme that the ending fits into. A short appendix lays out the science behind this world if you missed the clear info dumps from one of the characters. I liked this book a lot.

3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars What the hell happened?, December 20, 2004

By 

Philip H. Gold (Beaverton, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: On (Paperback)

Really, what the hell happened to the end of the book? I thought it was fairly interesting -- a very different concept, with a couple of suprises. True, I found the characters pretty unlikeable and the dialog stilted, but it was holding my attention. And then -- pfft. I am seriously annoyed. If the author was making some kind of point by his non-completion of the story, as was suggested by another reviewer, I missed it. To me, it smacks of arrogance and self-indulgence; "Oh, YOU didn't get it?!?"

I'll give the book a three for concept, although I'd really like to deduct two just out of irritation!

2 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Underwhelmed, September 6, 2002

By 

Avril fan (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On (Paperback)

I have read over 2,200 SF novels in my life thus I claim some degree of expertise in this arena. This novel has potential but lacks depth and brevity. It moves slow with an over abundance of character build up. However, it does drive you to continue. The failing of this novel is in its non-plausable science and abrupt ending that leaves the reader asking the question of...........